Students Gather Weekly to Break Their Legs

Seth Kelley

Every Friday during X-block, a group of students meet in the Harbor’s Auckland room to learn more about theater and its many facets.

Supervised by Mr. Doug Yost and headed by Dalat upperclassmen Kristiana Phillips (12) and Daye Jung (11), this X-block provides a stress-free environment for students to explore drama without the pressure that comes with memorizing lines or anticipating a performance.

“Drama Club started out at the beginning of last semester when Mr. Yost came up with the idea of doing some drama-themed club for an X-block,” recalled Jung. “In the end, Kristi and I came up with the idea to have a student-led learning club where students gather and teach each other things about drama that they were particularly interested in.”

This after-school club always welcomes newcomers, inexperienced actors, and future thespians to join in on the fun as well.

“I’ve never done drama, and [Drama X-block] is a nice and non-stressful way to see what it is like to act (at a beginner’s level),” said Hannah Lawrence (12). “The improv drama games are my favorite.”

Another regular member, Corinne Fraley (11), agreed, “The utter joy and laughter from a dimension inside an oven, the vivacious cheer of discovering the fun of pretending to be disabled and a hit song from an undead heart can’t be beat. I thoroughly enjoy the spontaneity of the moment and the way it bonded random persons together, having them rely solely on their wit and each other to create a masterpiece.”

But Phillips and Jung aren’t the only leaders; often, they will call upon members of this club to step up and lead their own unit.

“I approached Kristi about leading a stage combat unit,” said Joel Kelley (10). “I had never done anything remotely related to stage combat, but I knew it sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a shot. We had a great product, a fun class, and a good time fake beating each other up.”

During the club’s brainstorming session in September of 2018, the leaders and members put their heads together to explore different ideas; and since then, they’ve had a plethora of units to keep them going for the rest of the year.

“Within our club, we’re currently completing a scriptwriting unit and hope to explore a musical theater unit later on,” commented Phillips on the future of Drama Club. “Beyond that, we also have a couple of really fun ideas for how to wrap up Drama Club at the end of the year that may involve reaching out to the larger Dalat community.”