Students come together for fall showcase BY SUNNY LI
T
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY MELISSA CHEN
PATRICIA WEI — EPIC
he chatter of the audience dies down. The room dims, and the stage is bathed in light. Over the next hour, passionate monologues, heartfelt scenes and tense �ights take place onstage. From Nov. 15-17, advanced drama students held a showcase for their annual fall show at Studio 74. Rather than performing a play as in past years, students directed, produced and wrote various short pieces. Students originally planned to write an act as a class and perform it, but due to literature and drama teacher Naomi Rollins’ leave of absence, they decided to perform as groups instead. Literature and drama teacher Dani Howard stepped in to help students with the fall production. “[Howard] helps us really have a perspective on what we’re doing,” said junior and lighting technician Srikari Gudipalli. “We are in the advanced class, and we have an idea of what we want to do, but she’s helped us �igure out the best way to do it.” Full run throughs for shows are typically held two weeks in advance to work out technical aspects and put the show together. However, this time around, the drama students had an especially tight schedule, and those rehearsals only took place a few days before the showcase. Despite the dif�iculties, the showcase was a success. “It all worked out really well, because the students were amazing. The reason that I was able to do a successful fall showcase is because they’re really on top of it and really knew what they were doing,” Howard said. “Having them act that way and really be on it made my job really easy, and it was so much fun.” The showcase gave students more freedom to choose what they wanted to express through their different pieces. Though there was an overarching theme of comedy, the pieces dealt with topics ranging from college interviews to secret agents. The night started off with “Car Keys,” a monologue written and performed by junior Abdullah Ashiq. Ashiq took the role of a reporter who comes across a dead body in a car with no
keys. Next was a heartwarming piece titled “When I Grow Up” about a mother who re�lects on her own mother while speaking to her daughter. A piece poking fun at college interviews, “13 Ways to Screw Up Your College Interviews,” performed and directed by juniors Shiv Sankhavaram and Stephen Tao, displayed extreme tactics used to succeed in college applications. Continuing with the laughs, the following piece, titled “I Don’t Know,” depicted a secret agent as she attempted to in�iltrate an unintelligent mob boss’ poker game. Arguments between a disloyal husband, his wife, his mistress and his mistress’ brother �illed “A Fish Called Wanda.” Although these acts were comedic, others tried to elicit different emotions from the audience. “We want the audience to laugh and enjoy themselves, but for the scenes that deal with darker themes, we are trying to move the audience and communicate ideas about being alone and recovering from traumatic events,” said junior and director of “I Don’t Know” Emma Nguyen. In the longest piece of the night, “I Love You Pumpkin,” written and directed by junior Deni Ureten, a teenager deals with the trauma of a car accident that killed her brother and struggles against inner demons to overcome her guilt. Following Ureten’s one act, senior Mohini Adkar’s monologue expressed her character’s hatred for the rich. The �inal act conveyed the bond between two friends as they conversed at 2 a.m. about one friend’s true love, a mermaid. Though students performed their pieces individually and in groups, the showcase ultimately brought the whole class together. “Everyone in the class got involved, which I liked,” Adkar said. “Usually, the way a show works is that you audition, and you get cast as a part. This showcase was more inclusive.” After the last enthusiastic round of applause, the audience trickled out of the room and it was empty once again. However, drama students look forward to the next time they will be on stage again: the spring musical, “Beauty and the Beast,” as well as the Lenaea High School Theatre Festival in Feb. 2019.
San Jose hires homeless to clean up city BY DHRITI IYER
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ith rising house prices and living costs come increasing rates of homelessness. According to a census taken in 2017, there were 4,350 homeless individuals in San Jose. Since November, San Jose has been piloting the Beautify San Jose Program, in which the city pays homeless citizens $15 per hour to pick up trash around the city. San Jose hopes that the program will set homeless individuals on the path to self-suf�iciency. The Beautify San Jose program employs a total of 25 homeless citizens from local shelters to clean up trash for 4 to 5 hours a day in San Jose. Forty hotspots, including Tully Road in East San Jose and Saratoga Avenue in West San Jose, have been selected as locations for trash collecting. The program has partnered with Goodwill and the Downtown Streets Team, two organizations that work with volunteers to better the lives of those in need. Goodwill is a nonpro�it that provides job training and employment to people in need, and the Downtown Streets Team is a program that focuses on helping
homeless citizens integrate back into society by providing stable housing and jobs, while also �inding ways to bene�it the environment. Both organizations have been tasked with overseeing the program, running it from their respective centers. “I think the city should try to help to the best of its ability because of its responsibility to keep the residents of San Jose healthy and happy,” said junior Sathvika Anand, a volunteer at Inclusive World, a program that assists people with different disabilities. “It’s a program that would really help with that.” Based on a simple application each candidate was required to �ill out, the Downtown Streets Team selected 25 workers for the job. The workers’ tasks include picking up trash from the sides of busy roads, allowing them to work toward getting back on their feet by providing them with a steady income. While the job is simple and straightforward, it helps workers build a skill set that will aid a transition back into a stable lifestyle and future jobs. “I’ve met a lot of homeless people at homeless shelters, and from a lot of the stories I’ve heard, after getting sober after
coming out of prison, they didn’t really have many resources to help them get back on their feet,” said senior Rita Chen, one of the two community project chairs in Interact Club. “I think it’s a really good program for them to really be able to restart their lives.” Nevertheless, the city is still testing out the program to see if it yields fruitful results and makes a positive impact on the homeless community. Funding the program costs around $200,000, with half of the money granted to Goodwill and the other half to the Downtown Streets Team. If the program yields positive results, the city is hoping to expand it and reach more of the homeless community in San Jose. “It will help get them off their feet, give them a job, provide them with some income so they can possibly do something with themselves and give them hope,” said English teacher Andrew Seike. As rates of homelessness continue to rise in the community, the Beautify San Jose program works toward combating this issue by providing homeless citizens with stable jobs that will help them in integrating back into society again.
BOYS BASKETBALL // PG. 14 Keeping the team spirit alive during an eventful season