Drama Class: The Beginning! (Open)

[Robin Douglas]

Robin was at her desk, sort of. If one was to be completely accurate then she was currently underneath her desk as she tried to get free some of the truly ancient gum that had somehow gotten stuck to it. She wasn’t sure how long the desk had been in storage, but given that she had spent a solid half hour cleaning it so far she could safely assume that it was a while. Well at least it was her own desk even, if it was some half metal and half wood rust bucket. All the same Robin pulled out her cell phone and made a quick note to make sure her tetanus booster was up to date.

Robin was really excited about the chance to teach back at her high school, it was a total blast from the past. She tried not to think about what it all meant for her though. She had not made it in NYC, so maybe she could not make it anywhere. She did know that she could make it in Vermont though, and that was something. However this was not a stopping on her way to success, this was her new success. She could not just do this for a little while and then move on, she was thirty, and she was tired of doing that. Honestly, right now the thought that she was never going to make it big was kind of a relief.

It allowed Robin to get a little more creative in her imagining. She fancied herself an inspiration, or at least imagined being one, now that she was working at a high school. She wasn’t counting on having a George Clooney or a Meryl Streep, because in all honesty a Pauly Shore would do. Robin shuddered as that thought crossed her head. Ok so maybe not a Pauly Shore, anyone other than Pauly Shore.

Robin got out from under the desk and dropped the gum in the trash before applying liberal amounts of hand sanitizer. She didn’t have all too many plans for today. Instead she was just trying to get a feel for the students who she was going to be working with. She’s try to get a feel and then go from there, but she did have a few things she wanted then to at least try out. That was mainly some monologuing so it could wait.

The bell rang and Robin sat, smoothing her hands over the desk. She was excited, not anxious. After all, she never got stage fright anymore.

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

Harmony wasn’t exactly thrilled about walking into drama class. It wasn’t that she hated drama. Or that she was afraid of talking in front of the class, at least not that she’d admit. No, what her current frustration was the fact that her mother had all but forced her to take this class.

And nothing her mother wanted her to do could have any hopes of being enjoyable.

But after several phone call concerning Harmony’s lack of extra curricular activities, and a lot of yelling from both sides, she had signed up for drama class. At least her mother had backed down on her joining drama club as well.

The cheerful expression on the teacher’s face when Harmony walked in didn’t help to improve her mood. After all, if Harmony wasn’t enjoying herself, then no one else had a right to either.

Throwing down her backpack, Harmony slumped into a desk in the back row. She pulled the brim of her hat over her eyes and sunk even further down into her desk. With any luck the teacher might not even notice her.

[Isaac Marcotte]

Isaac was having schedule issues. He needed to take difficult classes to impress his father, but the school was more interested in making sure Isaac made the “necessary social adjustments”. And on top of that none of the classes he wanted to take would line up. The secretary people had told him the classes would line up, but Isaac decided to take it upon himself to prove them wrong. After much trial and error Isaac finally set up a schedule he was content with. The only problem was he had to take Drama; nothing else would fit. It's not like Isaac had anything against drama, he just didn't want to take it. (More like he didn't want to be coerced into prancing around a stage like an idiot.) still beggars can't be choosers.

Isaac slipped into the classroom. He took a seat near the front; second row teacher's left side. Isaac once read an article that said teachers subconsciously prefer kids who are in the front on the teacher's left. It had something to do with how people read left to right. There was another kid in the room. She looked nice enough. Isaac waved. The teacher looked happy; too happy. Isaac prayed he wasn't stuck with one of those bubbly “I-want-to-save-the-world-one-child-at-a-time” sort of teachers.

[Robin Douglas]

Robin watched as some students entered the class. They seemed to be in the younger side of those who went here, and she was slightly glad for it. She wasn’t sure if there were any serious theater buffs here at Hammel, but she’d rather start out with more of the basics. Robin stayed behind her desk, smiling, but her mind was elsewhere. She wanted to hurry them all in so that she knew exactly what she was dealing with. She was tempted to speed time up just a bit, but she knew she would be getting ahead of herself if she did that. This was her new beginning, and she wanted desperately to jump into it and find what she was looking for.

Robin forced herself to stay still for a few minutes. Then she could not hold it in any more and she looked over the students with the intent of actually addressing them. However what she found were grim little faces. The smile faded a little bit. This possibility had not occurred to her. She thought that it would mostly be neutrality and they’d get to downright ‘I don’t want to be here’, but not start out with it. This was going to take some acting on her part. As such she managed out the first few words.

“Hello,” she started as she took out a blank piece of lined paper and dated it. “I’m Ms. Douglas and I’m going to be your theater teacher.” She handed off the paper to the first student. “If you could all just sign in on that it’ll let me know that you are here and generally where you are.” She felt like she was falling flat already. Robin tapped her fingertips on the desk. “Do any of you have any theater experience or any particular interests? Anyone? How about you?”

[Isaac Marcotte]

Isaac took the blank piece of paper and signed his name, and passed it on as he considered the teachers question. When Isaac looked up he saw the teacher looking at him. Unfortunately teachers also subconsciously call on kids in the front too. Well, you can't have everything.

Of course Isaac couldn't say the truth. No teacher likes to hear that their students are completely apathetic to the subject. The best Isaac could come up with was “Nope this is my first class” Isaac smiled (because every one likes smiles). Isaac wished he could have said something about his “particular interests.” He didn't really have any. Heck he didn't even know what she meant by “particular interests.” Still it would have been nice to come up with some sort of BS to give the teacher.

Isaac turned around in his chair to see the other students. Perhaps their answers would be less lame. But looking at their faces they were just as excited about the class as he was. Isaac couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not.

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

Harmony kept her head down as the other students filed in. She didn’t want any of them thinking that she actually wanted to be here. In fact the only class she’d actually liked so far was gym. And that was only because she got to push other people around.

She grumbled as the teacher started to address the class. Wondering if Ms. Douglas could sense the total lack of enthusiasm coming from her students, Harmony leaned up to poke the boy in front of her. “This is completely pathetic, right?” she whispered to him. “Who’d wanna teach this lame class?”

She signed the sheet as it came around and then realized with horror that the teacher was singling out students with basic lame first day questions. “Me?” she asked, leaning back in her chair. “Well I’d like to think I’ve done some good acting jobs to get some cops to let me off the hook a couple of times.” It was a bit of a stretch to be considered the whole truth, but she still glanced around the room, hoping for a smile or a laugh from someone. “That count teach?” she asked, grinning.

[Robin Douglas]

Robin looked around the group. In all honesty they seemed dead bored and she wasn’t sure exactly where to take this. She didn’t want this class to be a drag, but she understood the system of having to take an elective. For Robin the choice had always been clear and enthusiastic, however it appeared that she was seeing the other side of things now. This was disheartening but not a deal breaker as Robin was nothing but determined at the moment.

She got no after no as a response and smiled and nodded in response to each. The best thing that she could do was just act her way through this, and that she could do. She started to mentally run through what she wanted to go over with them. This seemed to be a younger group so she didn’t want to jump into any text that would be too confusing. More likely she’d have to work with some adaptation. Maybe monologues? She’d have to see about that. Then a student surprised her.

Robin, refusing to be thrown, kept smiling and nodded. “Well then, you’re ahead of where I was in that sort of acting. I can’t remember fake crying to get out of anything with the police until I almost got my first speeding ticket.” Robin leaned back a little against her desk. “So yes, it counts, everything counts. Think about your day, think about how often you put on a face to get through something. I think some of you are doing that right now. It is everywhere, even when you don’t realize it. The only difference between that and what we are going to do here is just upping it a level or so.” It was going to take more than that to throw her.

[Isaac Marcotte]

“This is completely pathetic, right?” she whispered to him. “Who’d wanna teach this lame class?” Isaac ignored her, but he had to agree that she was right. On this list of lame classes Drama came right after art history, and just before interpretive dance. On the second point Isaac thought the answer was quite obvious. The teacher seemed quite enthusiastic about her subject. And on the topic of lame, what sort of person would use a word like “wanna” anyway. Is there really a subculture of people who are so lazy they wont even pronounce the T in some words?

Isaac cringed. Hadn't this girl ever heard of the importance of first impressions? First she was whispering in class (quite loudly). Now she was admitting to lying to cops. Isaac had to concede that going for the shock-factor looked like fun. But they would be stuck with this teacher till the end of the year. Being on the teacher's bad side would only make life worse.

The teacher seemed unfazed. Well, I guess she passed her first test, Isaac thought to himself. Then Isaac and the class were treated to their first rant. Except that isn't the right word what it was. It was more of an impromptu impassioned monolog. Isaac hoped the teacher wasn't expecting him to do one.

Isaac was so busy trying to find the right word for her speech that he almost missed the point. He let the teacher's words sink in. “Think about how often you put on a face” That described nearly all of Isaac's life. “We are going to do here is just upping it a level” This class could be Isaac's key to surviving in Hammel. Social interactions are hard without being able to put on a mask.

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

Harmony didn’t enjoy being ignored by her fellow classmate. She was glad to see that her little speech had given him something to squirm about. But still she was hoping for a little more than that, like the grins and giggles she had received from some of the other students.

She was debating poking the boy in front of her in the back, when she realized what the teacher had just said. “Wait a minute,” she said, waving her hands around. “I never said nothing about crying to no cop.” She scowled up at the teacher. Just who did this lady think she was, calling Harmony a whining baby in front of the class. “Maybe you turn into a sob-fest whenever you’re in trouble, but not me lady.”

There, that cleared things up.

Ignoring the end of the teacher’s next little speech, Harmony leaned forward in her desk again and poked at her classmate. “Hey,” she whispered again. “You really into this drama junk or somthin’?”

[Robin Douglas]

Robin felt like she had just jumped over the first hurtle when it came to this class. At the same time she didn’t let herself feel any self satisfaction about it. In fact it was honestly a shame. Part of her had been hoping that she would at least find some interest coming from her students, but she didn’t right now. She just reminded herself that it was early yet and these things took time. Plus, they were at a difficult age when it came to self expression. Middle school? God bless.

She was slightly surprised with the ferocity with which Harmony came back at her, thought she kept her face as even as she could. Robin knew that she had a couple options. In all fairness she could send that student out, or she could say nothing and let her stay. Robin, being new to this, did her best to choose the middle route.

“Hold on now,” she said calmly. She spoke to the class in general once again, not feeling pushed far enough to single Harmony out in this. “Please raise your hand so I can call on you before you speak. I’m sure we’ll have some chaos in here, but that isn’t the sort we want. Also, please be respectful while you are speaking, I take that very seriously.” With those crucial bits started Robin simply chose to continue.

“Now I know that for some of you this class was your first choice for an elective, and for others it wasn’t. I expect everyone to be patient with each other as we all take on this new territory. Writing assignments for this class will be minimal, though I will require a few reflections from you throughout the term. I will keep the readings reasonable.” Robin reached back and picked a small stack of papers off of the desk.

“Participation is the most important thing in this class. I know that won’t be comfortable for some of you, and so you might have to push your personal comfort a little. However, I want to emphasis that this is a safe space for that. What happens here, stays here unless you choose to bring it into other aspects of your life. Maybe it’ll be easy for you, and maybe it won’t, and if it isn’t I will be here to help. Now if you could just take one of these and then pass them around.” She handed the stack to the student closest to her.

“This is just a written bit with pretty much the same expectations and rules. It’s just a little syllabus with some assignment information. If you need to contact me about anything, questions or the like my information is there, including my email. I check it fairly diligently so you can expect a reply within a day or so if you do. Does anyone have any questions?”