Spotlighting diverse casts in theater

BY NICHOLAS LAWRENCE & ALEX COTTRELL Staff Reporters

The bell rings. Thousands of students stream out from all the classrooms at Sequoia. While some go to practices for sports to Sequoia’s fields, some go to parking lots, and some go to after-school club meetings, a small contingent of students go to Sequoia’s Carrington Hall. Drama supervisor Talia Cain shouts stage directions from the center, as students from all parts of Sequoia run about the dark foreground. Students recite their lines, and some manage the lights from the catwalks that spread across the Carrington ceiling. This energetic scene, visible at Carrington Hall from 4 to 5:30 p.m. everyday, was not always the case.

Drama has morphed into something new over the past few recent years, with more people participating in Drama than ever before. While Drama is undergoing change, there’s still a lot of work to be done, especially with diversity and inclusion.

Talia Cain first arrived at Sequoia Drama on Zoom during the 2020-2021 school year. Prior to the 2020 school year, Daniel Broome, a former teacher at Sequoia, ran all Sequoia Drama programs. When Cain first came to Sequoia, the only class available for Drama was Stagecraft. Stagecraft primarily dealt with the workings of theater and was less focused on acting. A lot of Drama activity was limited to the Drama Club and extracurricular activities that could not offer the same structured experiences that classes have. This led Drama to be less accessible, since the lack of formalized training or schedules often scared away novice actors.

The stigmatization of Drama is an important part of the growth conversation, as the perspective that Drama is only a small clique of hyper-dedicated kids is very common amongst Sequoia students. This hurts Drama, as people have traditionally only entered Drama from close friends and family, and people rarely joined after freshman year. At least, that is the perception.

“I think students should not put the program down. Because I’ve heard a lot of people say, ‘you’re just theater kids. What are you good for?’ Students shouldn’t do that, they should uplift one another. And here in Drama, there is a sense of a small community,”Valerie Olayo, junior and Drama Club president, said.

This sentiment has been reinforced through the actions of Drama as of recent as well, hosting inclusive coffeehouse nights and expanding the accessibility of the program through individual classes and clubs. Drama has expanded, offering many different ways to be part of the community. There’s the Drama classes, a club, and the performances put on, which don’t require people to be part of the class or club.

One issue that clouds Drama is the stigma that’s put on students who do theater.

“I think that if people were to come and see that and not just base us on that stereotype that’s been put on us, then they’ll think ‘This actually seems likew a fun thing that I’d be willing to do.’ Again, Drama isn’t just about acting or producing or directing or writing. It’s also about lights, sound, mics, [...], they don’t need to act or write a play or direct play,” Olayo said.

However, there’s still progress to be made. Drama always needs more members, especially to harder-to-reach populations. “Drama needs a little more diversity because there aren’t many people of color in Drama. I am one of few people of color in there,” junior Janmarco Flores said. This is one issue that Drama has historically failed to address in the past, and there is still a long way to go.

While Drama is a unique activity, different from other sports, lessons can be learned from the marketing of other activities.

A critical aspect of getting people to join Drama is awareness about the program. “I think we just need more advertisement, because a lot of I think is the same for all high schools, where a lot of the sports, especially football, are more in the spotlight than any other extracurricular. So, I think that spotlight needs to include more people and more clubs, because high school isn’t just about sports or football. It is a big chunk of our high school experience,” Olayo said.

“When Mr. Broome retired, his class became Drama II. Right now, there are over 60 students enrolled in Drama classes between those Drama I and Drama II, and the Drama Club has grown. Furthermore, our production right now is involving around 100 students in both the cast and the crew,” Talia Cain, Drama supervisor, said.

However, this growth has not come without effort. More specifically, the Drama

Club has created new initiatives to bring students, one being Fall Coffeehouse Night.

“We had students sign up to be baristas, where they would make coffee, coffee drinks, hot chocolates, or tea for our patrons and sell it, and then we had students sign up to perform. Anyone could have signed up to perform; they could have been a student in drama or not a member of Drama Club, it was open to anyone,” Cain said.

The Fall Coffeehouse Night was very successful for drama at bringing new students in. The inviting nature of a coffeehouse night provided a safe medium for Sequoia students. “It was a lot more successful than I thought it would be,” Cain said.

This is the first time that Sequoia Drama has undertaken an initiative like this. Prior to the arrival of new Drama supervisor Talia Cain, Sequoia Drama often limited the amount of outreach it did in favor of focusing on plays and other shows. However, this signifies an effort to make Drama more casual.

Another idea that’s gaining momentum is the prospect of adding IB Theatre as an IB class. “It would definitely legitimize the program and attract a lot more students, say, those doing the IB Diploma,” Cain said. While seemingly farfetched, adding IB Theatre would bring a lot more resources to the program, as well as giving an alternative to the essentially mandatory Business, Psychology, or Art electives for IB students.

“I think that if Sequoia drama was more put out there, if teachers were to talk about it more or if they gave the opportunity to people like ourselves. We’re very inclusive and we want to kind of give her a little synopsis of the program. I think a lot of people would see that we’re not, you know, just theater kids. It’s a lot more, it’s a small community,” Olayo said.

It is well known that IB students often come from more privileged backgrounds. While IB Theatre may invite more people to Sequoia, it may not truely alleviate diversity and equity concerns within Drama.

Drama aims to be diverse and representative by creating an inclusive environment. Students are able to express themselves because Drama has a very positive culture where students are uplifted. “Nobody is judgemental of anything,” Flores said.

For now, it seems like Sequoia Drama has come a long way from its humble beginnings. From Stagecraft to holding Coffeehouse Nights, Drama is always progressing. The Sequoia Drama program will continue to offer students a great experience and allow them to express themselves. “I feel that because I got this little bit of experience in high school, I won’t be so timid going out there in the real world and saying ‘I want to audition for this’,” Olayo said.