Metea Valley’s Theatre Department provides leadership opportunities to students through the Winter Scenes program.
Winter Scenes is a student-directed play showcased on Feb. 8-10 at 7 PM in the Black Box Theatre. Choosing the directors and preparing for the play is a lengthy process. English teacher Tiffany Gervasio and Social Studies teacher Benaiah Lundy, co-sponsors of Winter Scenes, interview potential student directors. Once they have chosen three groups of directors, the student directors are tasked with selecting a script for a 15-20-minute scene.
“The design of winter scenes is to give students the opportunity to experience directing and producing,” Lundy said.“So the plays are student-chosen or student-written, student-directed, and student-produced.”
Metea Valley’s Theatre Department provides this opportunity to students to teach students leadership skills. Student directors must learn to communicate with their actors and tech crew and be responsible for the completion of the show. These are traits that the co-sponsors look for in potential student directors.
“We had interviews in late October, and we talked to prospective directors about what their vision is and why they want to have this experience, and then we choose basically on a balance of experience versus vision,” Lundy said.
Student directors report positively on the experience. According to the Director of ‘Speed Date’ Nisha Iyer, leaders feel supported in this new role and learn the people skills necessary for their futures.
“We have an acting coach, Miss Lisa, she comes in, and then Ms. Gervasio [and] Mr. Lundy is kind of supervising, so it doesn’t feel like we’re alone at all. It’s really nice to learn how to be in an authority position, but also to connect with people.”
Not only does Metea’s Theatre Department encourage upcoming student directors, the department also supports student writers.
“[Nevaeh Maxey and Ciniyah Young] wrote a play called ‘Imagine’ based on a slam poetry that they had done,” Lundy said. “It’s all about the African American experience in the United States from their perspective, and it’s going to be really powerful.”
‘Imagine’ is a play that involves poetry, which is something new in Metea’s Winter Scenes, and speaks of persistence through injustices in the world.
“This [play] is an experience like never before and it’s also very important that we understand that civil rights movements are never going to end,” Maxey said. “It’s a process, and to understand that we must hear it.”
The student directors support and encourage each other and grow together.
“The other directors have been fantastic,” Director of ‘Cut’ Kai Szala said. “It’s really awesome and it’s great seeing all the hard work that they’ve put in as well. It’s just a fantastic community, we all really support each other here.”
