SPHS Drama performs Middletown Students deliver a riveting and powerful performance.

STORY ADA BORREDON & HANNA BAE

PHOTO EMIKO (EMI) ESSMILLER

SPHS Drama carried out a captivating performance of the play Middletown over the weekends of Nov. 4 and 11. Conveying the dark and depthful themes of the story, student actors beautifully portrayed the dynamics of their characters to put on an immersive and moving production.

Middletown was the first Fall play to be held indoors since the coronavirus pandemic. After experimenting with performances outdoors and online, the return to the Little Theatre has been an emotional experience as SPHS Drama teacher Nick Hoffa cites the nostalgia the setting carries for him.

“To be honest, it is pretty emotional,” Hoffa said. “I have so many memories of being in that space.”

As the play opened, eyes were drawn to the screens on the side panels of the stage and images of South Pasadena flashed by, accompanied by lengthy dialogue describing the humble Middletown, an eerily familiar small town. The audience was first introduced to Mary Swanson, played by senior Taylor Calva, who had recently moved in to start a family. As her husband becomes increasingly preoccupied by his work, Mary is left to settle on her own. There she meets John Dodge, played by senior Cole Dickey, who offers her support as she navigates a new chapter of her life and receives guidance from his own struggles. The two begin to open up about their hardships, building a vulnerable relationship.

Middletown tackles subjects of mental illnesses and trauma but stays grounded in its portrayal of serious topics. As opposed to some portrayals dependent on oversaturated scenes and inflammatory performances, Middletown maintains relatability. The darkness of the material made the actors’ performances all the more commendable. The actors successfully integrated their own style into each character without sacrificing the substance of the content at hand.

“We felt so prepared and incredibly lost at the same time. It was honestly hard,” Dickey said when asked about emerging into his character. “I think you just take it as seriously as you can and commit to doing some vulnerable stuff.”

In addition to commendable performances, the costumes were high points in the production, practical and intentional. The costumes and set design cleverly depicted the small town. Swanson often wore summery dresses reflecting her more optimistic character, while Dodge’s attire more accurately displayed his lack of attentiveness to detail. The production’s modest yet meticulous use of hanging windows and isolated props fully integrates the congeniality of a small town with a somber storyline. The play offered new experiences and sentiments for many of the actors, allowing them to immerse themselves in their characters and embody the mature themes in the production.

“Mr. Hoffa told us in the very beginning, this play is about life and death, and it is about hope. I think that through diving into Ms. Swanson and getting to see and meet these other characters, everybody is just trying to find happiness,” Calva said. “In my life, I have started to appreciate tiny moments of thankfulness and joy through all of my stress during college applications… and in life because of this play.”

Middletown was also nostalgic for many of the actors. As most of them were seniors, it was their last time on the stage of the Little Theater, slowly bringing an end to their high school careers.

“It’s a really bittersweet feeling, because although I am so grateful to have been able to finally perform in the place that I call home, it is also so sad that this is the last time,”

Charlotte’s Web CHARLOTTE DEKLE

Gentleman’s Agreement

Usually, my columns are about some personal affront I have recently experienced. But given the recent surge of antisemitic rhetoric online around Ye’s incendiary comments, I need to discuss a movie that struck a chord with me: Elia Kazan’s Gentleman’s Agreement. I was not expecting this film from 1947 to deliver such rich and poignant commentary on modern antisemitism. But its fresh out of World War Ⅱ take on bigotry rings especially true.

The film follows journalist Phillip Schuyler Green (tall glass of water Gregory Peck), who ostensibly pretends to be Jewish to write a story about antisemitism from a first-hand perspective. The title itself refers to an unspoken accord at the time that some venues restrict Jewish attendees and how everyone should respect the agreement.

The only Jewish character introduced before the hour mark was Elaine Wales (Jane Havoc), who expressed her disdain for Jewish people who are unwilling to conform to the Gentile status quo. This alone is a groundbreaking concept; addressing antisemitism within the Jewish community is almost unheard of, even in 21st-century discussions.

Dave Goldman (John Garfield), the other Jewish character, plays a rather self-defeatist role in the events. After a despicable incident surrounding Green’s son, Tommy (a baby Dean Stockwell), being called a slur by a schoolmate, Goldman tells Green that he “knows it all,” referring to the entirety of the Jewish experience. His demeanor is entirely understandable when one’s livelihood and existence is distilled to a constant battery of hatred.

The film takes aim, not at the Nazi-adjacent extremists of the time (Gerald L.K. Smith, for one), but at the good-hearted liberals who cannot help but expose their thinly veiled antisemitism through microaggressions. For instance, Green inquires about a Jewish doctor to another physician who remarks, “Good man, completely reliable, not given to overcharging or stringing visits out like some do.” It is easy to know where the Klan stands on Jewish people, but harder to pinpoint where liberals who uphold the system of oppression by not actively condemning antisemitism are.

Gentleman’s Agreement is a shockingly modern take on antisemitism and hatred. The crux of its moral comes when Green says, “I’ve come to see that lots of nice people who aren’t [antisemitic], people who despise it and detest it then deplore it and protest their own innocence, help it along and wonder why it grows.”

Jewish hate crimes have been the highest in decades, and discussions of the Holocaust or other atrocities are fading. According to a survey of adults 18-39 by the Claim’s Conference, 23% of respondents said they believed the Holocaust was a myth, had been exaggerated or weren’t sure. Antisemitism has never been a fringe belief; thus, it is paramount to wonder how these attitudes are espoused. Gentleman’s Agreement posits the message that antisemitism pervades every aspect of society, not just from the right or far-right but from the centrists and the left. A far more insidious actor in oppression is the one who pretends they are the solution.