To bring Iola High School’s fall play, “Up the Down Staircase,” into the 21st Century, “All we had to do was change blackboards into whiteboards, chalk into markers and letters to instant messages,” said Director Richard Spencer.
“Up the Down Staircase” chronicles the trials of a young inner city English teacher who wishes to inspire a love of language and literature in her students.
Instead of willing minds, she finds regulations and red tape on the part of the administration and indifference on the part of the students.
The play is based on the 1965 book by Bel Kaufman. It was turned into a movie two years later and adapted for the stage by Christopher Sergel in 1969.
Kaufman was a Russian emigre who came to the United States at age 12 and attended New York City public schools, to which she ultimately returned as an English teacher. The book, based on her teaching experiences, sold more than 6 million copies and was republished in 1991.
IHS student actors overwhelmingly said they found the story relevant to their lives today.
“In every class they tell you something different, ‘til I don’t know who to believe,” Helen, played by Jasmine Bannister, notes in the play.
“Even the building seems hostile,” one teacher says.
Though the topic could be weighty, the play is instead “a serious comedy,” Spencer said.
A factor in choosing “Up the Down Staircase” was because of the wealth of roles, Spencer said. Twenty-six students have parts. More than half are freshmen, including stage manager Kayla Blackburn.
“We’re getting a lot of experience from this show,” Spencer said.
The large cast provides many opportunities for one-liners and comedic interjections. IHS students dive into the roles, copping attitudes and indifference, surly sneers and sultry saunters.
One, Mickey Ingle as Alice Blake, goes moony over handsome English teacher Paul Barringer, played by Jordan Strickler.
A straight-A student, her infatuation derails her studious nature as she composes her teacher a love letter instead of taking a test.
In the desk behind her, Carole Blanca, played adroitly by Hallie Wolf, all but mocks her classmate for her obsession.
Autumn Snesrud, as novice teacher Sylvia Barrett, along with Cody Cokely as Vice Principal McHabe, give their roles the gravity expected of such positions.
Cokely especially never fails to stay in character, asserting his desire for order in the chaotic confines of underfunded education.
“We have posters,” he repeatedly offers Barrett, “blue on white, education is knowledge, and yellow on green, learning is earning” he drones.
His nemesis is slacker Joe Ferrone. Colton Schubert is at home in the role, playing with an ease and natural inflection befitting the smart but world-weary teen.
IN KEEPING with the era of its origin, Spencer used a technique perfected in the old TV comedy “Laugh In,” when staging the play, he said.
“There are opening doors and shouted out lines,” he said, plus “suggestion boxes where the suggestions are spoken rather than read.”
The method lightens what could otherwise be a more somber atmosphere.
Once such instance is when the school nurse, played by Lauren Tomlinson, interjects, “poor nutrition is often the cause of poor grades,” as though teachers could control the home lives of their students.
Later, in actual dialogue with Barrett, the nurse explains that legally, she cannot offer students even a BandAid for their wounds.
The implications are not lost on the players, or the audience: Teachers are hamstrung when it comes to actually reaching out.
Though much of the play takes place with only a couple of actors on stage at one time, it truly comes alive during the classroom scenes when a gamut of student types is represented.
The beleaguered foreign student, for whom English is a second language and “home” is a different couch each week, is played with great effect by Gerardo Rojas. Travail Pulley is “Edward Williams, Esquire,” a boy with an air of debonair, though he, too, lives in this scrap of a neighborhood.
Michael Wilson is Harry Kagan, the would-be teacher’s pet. And Audrea Stahl is the studious, yet underappreciated, student who causes no trouble.
When asked what it was like to play a character her own age, Stahl noted “We actually had trouble just being ourselves at first.”
An actress to keep ones’ eyes on is Kristin McGuffin. As student Carrie Blaine, McGuffin could care less about school. But her facial expressions and gesticulations mesmerize. She perfectly inhabits the character, and one can only wonder what she would do with a more central role.
“Up the Down Staircase” is being staged at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center tonight and Friday. The 7 p.m. shows are free and open to the public.
‘Up the Down’ remains on target
