By: Allyson Zamora
Every year Redwood never fails to entertain audiences with the fall play. Students involved in our yearly production bring much talent to the stage in many different ways, but success is only possible because of our director and drama teacher Mrs. Galvan.
Up the Down Staircase has been selected as the play for many reasons, and it takes much time and thought for Galvan to decide which play would be best for Redwood audiences. Galvan describes the play as “a piece of art that fits in our time frame right now.” This entertaining performance is more than just a production, it is a display of “what teachers go through and what students go through on a daily basis.” Much realization can be taken from the play such as how “the public education system is struggling…everybody that works at a school and what they are dealing with.”
Galvan always succeeds in choosing the right students to play the perfect roles; how is casting decided? Galvan admits that casting is hard and “it takes practice.” Although casting can be difficult, Galvan makes sure that every student has the opportunity to excel at a certain role. Galvan believes in casting characters by asking herself “who has the potential to do that part and is it a part that they have never had before?” Galvan strongly believes in “challenging the student with a part that they have not had before” because if not, “they won’t learn and grow as an actor.”
As the director of the play and our drama teacher, Galvan encounters many struggles but always manages to get through them. Mainly the struggles involve the busy lives of students in the play and the hard work and commitment needed. Some of the struggles include “people that are sick, sports students…” It can be hard because “those people missed out on an opportunity to get better at their part.”
Although many conflicts regard the students in the play, Galvan also finds herself struggling with other aspects. Personally Galvan’s challenges include the “balancing of teaching my classes everyday and coming back for rehearsal at night.” These challenges are overcome and Galvan admits “It is a struggle but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I like the challenge.”
After opening night which was on a Wednesday, Galvan felt pleasantly surprised, “That was great because it gave our students an opportunity to have an audience and feedback.” There was much improvement from opening night going into the other shows. Galvan feels proud of the performances “Thursday night was phenomenal. People are enjoying it; I’ve had a lot of comments on how realistic it is.”
Up the Down Staircase was a huge success for audiences and definitely for all students involved; Mrs. Galvan made this success possible. Galvan transformed the play into more than just a performance, but an impacting lesson about “The difficulties of our public education system.”