The School Play

Case Study: The School Play

The eighth graders at Fairview Middle School are sharply divided into two groups, the “popular” ones and the “unpopular” ones. The popular students have little time or tolerance for their low-status peers, and a few of them regularly pick on a small, friendless boy named William, usually by ridiculing him but occasionally by physically poking or shoving him.

Justifiably concerned about students’ disrespectful behaviors toward certain classmates—and especially concerned about the bullying—members of Fairview’s English department suggest that the annual eighth-grade play take a different form this year. Rather than holding tryouts and selecting only a handful of students as cast members (as has been done in previous years), all 103 eighth graders will participate in some way, perhaps in the cast or perhaps in scenery construction, costume design, lighting, or marketing.

A humorous, two-act melodrama is selected, complete with a handsome but clueless hero, a resourceful heroine, a dastardly villain, and several other central characters, along with a 10-member chorus that will provide the occasional cheering and booing any good melodrama requires. The often-bullied William is chosen to play Lucifer Nastybuns, the dastardly villain.

The students and many of their teachers work on the production throughout late winter and early spring. The sheer ambitiousness of the project and the fact that the class’s efforts will be on public display on opening night instill a cohesiveness and class spirit that the faculty hasn’t seen before. William surprises everyone with his spirited portrayal of Lucifer, and on opening night, his classmates give him rave reviews: “Who knew William was so cool?” “OMG, Will wuz fabulous!” “FOFL!!!”

Middle school students often divide themselves into different social groups, with some groups having higher social status than others. Why might social groups be so important for young adolescents?

What benefits might the all-class school play have? Why does it pull the class together?

Discuss what you learned from the case study