Theater Arts at Saints Cyril and Methodius School

Sixth through eighth grade students at Saints Cyril and Methodius (SSCM) School in Deer Park came away with a lot more than a Playbill with their name in it last weekend, as the curtain came down on their final performance of Twelve Angry Men. The dedicated group of youngsters have been in rehearsals since September and played to a pretty full house in the Father Behan Auditorium all weekend long.

Together with a small stage crew, the group worked tirelessly at not only memorizing lines, but learning a surprising amount about our legal system, group process and communication, peer pressure and more. Terms such as “due process” and concepts such as “reasonable doubt” had never taken on such true meaning as the group worked to understand the challenge that each of the jurors they were playing was up against. (If you’ve never seen the play, teleplay, or either of the movies based on the play, they come highly recommended and the movies are both available streaming on Amazon.com.)

The level of attention to detail was evident from the simple, but well-planned set design to the character development of some of the most outspoken jury members and the meekest. Clearly, an impressive amount of preparation and comprehension went into the planning of SSCM’s production from start to finish.

Perhaps most fitting of all, since this was performed by a group of 11 - 14 year olds dramatically discussing the serious topic of a man on trial for the murder of his own father, it was ingenious that the Director of the school play took time after each performance to bring the group of tweens and teens back onto the stage for a bit of discussion time with the audience. They shared with the audience, almost James Lipton-style, a bit about their acting process, about what they’d learned and what they’d taken away that might have been completely unexpected from their theater experience.

From the mouths of babes, as they say, eh? Some of the youngest performers, quite maturely, shared that they had never realized that sometimes, it just takes one voice...one person in a crowd, to have the courage to stand up for another human being. It occurred to them after reading through the play and then acting it out, that this kind of courage is possible and if we have the strength to be that one voice, one solitary person can make a difference. Others shared that the whole experience was very meaningful to them on a personal level, some of them having to stand up to friends who may have been less than supportive when they’d mentioned signing up for the play early on. While another few mentioned that the thought of public speaking had always scared the daylights out of them, which is why they had decided to challenge themselves and go for it!

It was clear that the students took away a whole lot more than a playbill and a flash new hat from wardrobe. Getting involved in theater arts is a valuable outlet for students of any age, and particularly on-stage time. With nearly 75% of the population experiencing glossophobia or fear of public speaking, getting accustomed to stage-time early in life can be so key in developing the skills to overcome such anxiety. After all, as Shakespeare wrote, ”All the world’s a stage” - is it not?

Heartfelt congratulations to all of the performers, stage crew, faculty, staff and those who volunteered their time to make SSCM’s performance such a success!

For more information about Saints Cyril and Methodius School, contact the school office at 1.631.667.4044, ext 131, via email at admissions@sscmweb.org, or visit us online at www.sscmweb.org.