Tag: Drama

  • Royal vs. Jokers

    The rally stage. The infamous rally stage that houses the butts of seniors during lunch and nutrition, is indeed the throne to kings and queens: seniors, the rulers of the kingdom we call Long Beach Polytechnic High School. The little, itty-bitty specks we call “freshman” perhaps would be named as “the jokers”. Their lower status prevents them from being able to rest even a pinky on the brick steps of the almighty rally stage. Even at twenty arm lengths away, just the thought of one of these jokers on their rather dirty and cold stage creates a fire hot rage for the kings and queens of Poly High School.

    One day in the Kingdom of Poly High School, a brave group of freshmen – I mean, jokers – were getting ready to eat their grub. At the rally stage, the kings dined fancy with their Hot Cheetos bags, every last crunch of processed cheese flavor bringing them closer to a bad case of diabetes, while the queens ate their lunch out of perfectly crafted Tupperware. As the jokers innocently pause in their steps to sit on the rally stage – I mean, throne – of seniors, the kings and queens were enraged at the sight of a lowlife joker on their beloved cathedra. The royals got up in a fury, walking almost a mile to the other side of the stage, catching their breath as they got to the jokers after their long trudge. A good workout, I might add, after all the Hot Cheetos, but that’s besides the point. The jokers trembled in their little boots as the royals huff and puff and blow them off the stage. The royals laughed in their victory, thinking they will never see or hear of the jokers on their stage again. Or so they thought…

    The next day, the kings and queens change it up and are instead fine dining on sweet and spicy Takis, satisfied with the lack of jokers around them that would contaminate their air. As the end of lunch grew closer,  more jokers, left and right, surrounded the stage with their new weapon: a sign. The sign read, “Freshman (Jokers) Welcome Here”. Their sign, a flag representing their will to fight the system created by the royals, waved high and proud over the stage, the blue and green markers bleeding through the paper due to the damp air. A great inspiration for all jokers and for those to come. A symbol of their strength and the f’s they don’t give. The royals, taken off guard soon begin to realize the persistence of the jokers, but prepare to fight back. Ripping the war flag off the catwalk, the seniors take back their turf. However, the jokers didn’t even blink, they didn’t give one rat’s ass. Instead, they sat right back down. Cheek to cheek, they sat their cheeks on the throne.

    The previous story is based on true events at Poly High School. The arrogance expressed by the seniors that inspired this tale is not necessary. Don’t kick poor freshmen off the stage. Poly is supposed to be a place where we welcome everyone. Seniors, sit down!

  • Drama Gets Help in Screenwriting

    Poly’s drama department has hired professional writer and actor Marcus Folmar to help students develop scripts for plays they will be performing April 4 – 6.

    For two weeks, Folmar has been showing up to the 7th period Play Production class to instruct the drama students in the art of playwriting. He started by giving lessons on constructing the basics of a play: the plot, setting, and characters. Then the class started learning more about nuanced aspects of playwriting, such as the dialogue, giving characters the right voice, and conveying a theme, or some kind of deeper meaning.

    After learning about what components make up a whole script, the students began actually putting together their own stories. They came up with their own original ideas and pitched them to the rest of the class. Folmar and the other students then gave each other feedback on what would be good to see in the play and how to make it work.

    Folmar and Poly drama teacher, Linda Bon, helped guide the class through the creative process of writing plays. Finally, when the scripts had been completed, every student read theirs out loud to the class, and Folmar and Bon selected which ones would be performed in the show in April.

    Marcus Folmar has acted in roles in popular TV shows such as Shameless, The Big Bang Theory, I’m Dying Up Here, and Modern Family. He also wrote ABC original movie, The List. The drama department will be putting on a show of a handful of their student-written plays in early April.