Nestled in the backstage area of Hayfield Secondary School's auditorium, you will find an extremely unique, diverse host of characters. These actors and actresses are what make up the heart and soul of Hayfield's Drama Department. Today's scene in Theatre Arts 3-4 is a tense one as Rebecca Wilburn, the high school drama teacher, asks her next question — "What scheme do Poins and Hal devise to trick Falstaff?" A collective sigh is all that is heard before a dozen pencils scribble down the answer to the relatively easy question on William Shakespeare's "Henry IV, Part II" (the class has finished studying "Richard II" and "Henry IV, Part I" already — next on the list is "Henry V").
The only thing more demanding than being taught by Wilburn in class, as the Drama 3-4s (the upper tier in Hayfield's four year Theatre Arts program) well know is being directed in shows. Almost all these students began their high school drama career as freshmen under Wilburn, where it quickly became apparent that hard work, dedication, and maturity are the key values in the Hayfield Drama Department. "We know we have people who get on our nerves [as freshmen], but Drama changes them and they come through as better people," says Wilburn, commenting on the fact that even as freshmen, drama students can count on support and guidance from the upperclassmen, creating a community that is very teamwork-oriented. "We have an unselfish desire to put on a great production," says senior Nathan Shropshire, Hayfield Drama student since his middle school days.
What's so great about this team is its diversity, with actors, actresses, sound technicians, lighting technicians, dancers, athletes, leadership students, and musicians as members — and that's just the Drama 3-4 class. "We're not all little gingerbread people cut from the same mold," says Julia Miller, a senior at Hayfield.
"THERE IS NO SECRET to Hayfield Drama," says sophomore Kelsey Mahoney, "it is what it is. Hard work. Period." And it is very true that extra-curricular drama is a demanding "hobby." During production season, casts are expected to rehearse for three hours after school five days a week and then are expected to come for longer rehearsal hours on Saturdays. Students are expected to do well in all their classes at Hayfield, and rehearsals begin at 3:20 two days a week so students in shows can make up work and get extra help from their other teachers. Huge time commitments aside, the show-stopping dance numbers in the department's musicals require both mental and physical coordination, and oftentimes students who have never danced before are cast in the dancing chorus. The goal they have to achieve is that no one will know which dancers they are by the nights of the show. The light-and-not-so-light-of-foot are not the only ones who find challenges in Drama. Public speaking skills are naturally developed through class projects and monologues — "Drama's helped my confidence and I don't hate presenting projects in front of classes anymore," states Suzanne Rowley, who plans on continuing her drama career in college next year. Performing in front of an audience demands poise and a certain degree of enjoyment in the process; indeed, the most fondly remembered experience of the group was performing a tap number from "42nd Street" on the Kennedy Center stage at the Cappies Gala. (The Cappies Critics program is a high school level theatre critics and awards program, founded by local theatre advocate Bill Strauss. Hayfield students are proud that the very first Cappies Gala was presented in Hayfield's auditorium.)
IN ADDITION to learning acting skills, maturity and life lessons are a major part of the curriculum, brought out by Wilburn herself. "I remember in Drama 1, we would begin to talk abut plays being studied and end with a huge class discussion of connections to life today." says Junior Brian Gartland.
For nearly 30 years, Wilburn has been graduating students who are not only capable actors (with students being accepted into theatre departments at schools such as Emerson, Ithaca, and North Carolina School of the Arts) but also capable human beings. As a result, a high moral base is present throughout her classes, and there is a low tolerance for actions that would cast the department in anything but a classy light. "We have an unspoken loyalty to Hayfield Drama, and we know everything we do affects Drama first and foremost," says Miller.
Hayfield's Drama Department is dedicated to turning out educated theatre lovers. Under the surface, however, it's more than that — this program takes in personalities from every inch of the spectrum and teaches them how to work together in and out of class. Perfect ensemble is the goal. And those who become involved will be a part of 34 years of tradition expressed by the words on the Hayfield Drama shirt: "Hayfield Drama: A Class Act."