Supplemental Article: “Up the Down Staircase”
Supplemental Article
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April12, 2011
CONTACT: Melissa Woodrow, (831) 998-0751
E-MAIL: Click to email Melissa Woodrow.
AUTHOR: Written by Daniel Tarker, TWS Writer
“Up the Down Staircase” Hits Close to Home for Local Actors
Every actor draws on personal experiences to create a character
Sometimes it can be extremely difficult to bridge the divide of years, geography, and culture to find common ground between the actor and the character. Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Sophocles come to mind.
Other times, though, finding common ground is easy, as when the actor has walked in the character’s shoes. Such is the case with many of the actors in The Western Stage’s upcoming production of Bel Kaufman’s “Up the Down Staircase.”
The play follows Sylvia Barnett, an enthusiastic English teacher, as she takes her first assignment at Calvin Coolidge High School in New York City with the idealistic intention of transforming her students’ lives by teaching them about great literature.
Her idealism is quickly challenged as she confronts a classroom of indifferent students, a cynical and overly bureaucratic staff, and a tyrannical administrator who punishes students for even the slightest infraction. Add to the mix crowded classrooms, lack of supplies, and emotionally troubled students, and you have all the ingredients for a thoughtful and compelling social comedy.
Joelle McGrath, an Independent Study Teacher for grades 9 through 12 at the Monterey County Home Charter School, says she certainly faces similar challenges as the veteran teacher she portrays in the play.
“As a high school teacher, ‘Up the Down Staircase’ mirrors what I deal with every day,” says McGrath. “Potential dropouts, teenage pregnancy, fear of going to school because of violence. It’s one challenge after another. The obstacles students overcome just to walk through the classroom door can be overwhelming. However, as a teacher, it is my job to offer my students a safe, risk-free environment, so they can — to quote ‘Up the Down Staircase’ — have a place ‘to be exposed to education.’”
Meanwhile, veteran actor Jeffrey Heyer is drawing on his own experience as a student to help create the world of the play. He is playing the same part in this production that he did nearly 30 years ago while attending high school himself — the overly strict administrator James J. McHabe.
When he previously performed this role, he could not appreciate the humor in the play.
“It wasn’t funny to me because I was in the middle of it,” says Heyer. He admits his high school experience was pretty bleak, like it is for many of the kids in this play. “But now as an adult, I can appreciate the humor. Back in high school, it just hit too close to home.”
Although Heyer is now able to laugh at the chaos and bureaucracy depicted in the play, he also acknowledges there is something disturbingly ironic about returning to this seminal work that explores the working conditions of the public school system in the 1960s.
“None of the problems Kaufman deals with in the story have been fixed,” says Heyer. “Except now we have less money to fix them.”
The actor who can draw the most from her personal experience is Sara England, who plays novice teacher Sylvia Barnett.
“The character of Sylvia feels very familiar to me. As I am only in my second year of teaching at Notre Dame High School, I am well acquainted with the moments of confusion, frustration, and helplessness Sylvia encounters,” says England.
No matter how many walls Sylvia comes up against, she is still incredibly proud of the work she does in the classroom.
“I get to see how special and different my students are and participate in a very important part of their lives. Sylvia says that’s really the one reason she keeps going: to make a permanent difference in the life of a child. As a new teacher, I feel the pressure to make a positive difference because it will be permanent.”
Opening May 6, “Up the Down Staircase” plays Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. through May 22 in the Studio Theatre, Hartnell College Performing Arts Center. Tickets can be purchased through the TWS box office (831) 755-6816 or online. Season tickets are still the best bargain with several flexible purchase options that will provide patrons seats to other upcoming productions like “The Little Shop of Horrors,” “Sunsets and Margaritas,” and “Chicago.”
—Daniel Tarker
