Welcome to PLAYBILLDER Spotlight, where Playbill highlights shows from educational institutions or regional theatres and special events around the country (who have used Playbill's program-building service). By welcoming these PLAYBILLDERs center stage, we hope to give our readers a more in-depth look at theatre programs that are fostering the love of the performing arts in the next generation and the way theatre lovers are bringing Playbill along for life's big moments.
How to Broadway-size Your Next Party or Event with PLAYBILLDER
This week's Spotlight is Hollis Brookline High School of Hollis, New Hampshire, and their production of 12 Angry Jurors. This adaptation of 12 Angry Men, a 1957 film written by Reginald Rose and directed by Sidney Lumet, contemplates the responsibility of 12 ordinary people as they debate the guilt or innocence of a young man who has been accused of murder. Sherman L. Sergel adapted this version for the stage, which calls for an all-gender cast.
Music, Theatre, and Dance teacher Matthew Barbosa shared with Playbill how his classroom is a refuge for his students, and why he considered 12 Angry Jurors a "grueling marathon" for his students.
Tell us a little about yourself. How many years have you been teaching?
Matthew Barbosa: I have been teaching and directing for 14 years, 10 of which have been at Hollis Brookline High School (HBHS). For the past 5 years, I have also served as the Department Chair of Unified Arts, which is inclusive of all of our performing and visual arts courses, Family and Consumer (FCS) courses, wellness, and physical education courses.
What are your dreams for how your drama department can grow? Our school produces 100-plus performance opportunities annually between our bands, choirs, and theatre program. Jurors is my 30th production at HBHS. We are fortunate to have a supportive administration and community. They have consistently supported the educational missions of our curricular and extracurricular programs publicly, privately, and financially. Our current "big project" is the renovation of our auditorium and stage, which has been a wonderful process.
What are the most challenging and most rewarding aspects of teaching the performing arts to today’s students?
Regarding the most challenging and rewarding aspects of teaching and mentoring performing arts students, the answer I always come back to is two numbers, 81 and 257. Eighty-one represents the current number of students who have trusted me enough to confide in me thoughts of self harm, suicide, and more. Two hundred and fifty-seven represents the number of students who have trusted me enough to advocate for another person in the same context.
One of the unique aspects of performing arts classes (and clubs) are that we are privileged to have many "repeat customers." We can foster close connections to our students on levels that are more difficult to cultivate or maintain in other subjects. The content of our courses is always important, but being able to help students in this manner, both through our relationships and through the construction and maintenance of a community, is always the element on which I "hang my hat."
Tell us a little bit about the production.
The production is a fairly faithful adaptation of the original, Emmy Award-winning television movie, 12 Angry Men, by Reginald Rose. An exercise in the art of acting, only one of our main cast actors ever leaves the stage. Maintaining the reality of 13 characters through that sheer amount of time (never mind the innumerable shifts in emotion, internal monologue, intangible reaction, and communal impact that is an innate part of ensemble acting) is a grueling marathon for young actors.
What made you pick the show? How do you choose shows for your students?
With direct ties to the HBHS social studies curriculum, the show was selected for this year’s slate of three mainstage productions due to the variety of opportunities provided to all involved students. The thematic parallels of the contentions of the American Dream and our justice system, ethics and morality, both in the 1950s and the modern 2020s, made it an ideal choice.
How did the students participate in the design of this production?
Our production featured over 50 students leading our cast, stage management team, costume, set, and tech crews. All of the students worked tremendously hard to produce an informed, challenging, and entertaining production of this timeless, Emmy-winning television movie turned stage play.
What are the kids loving about the show?
Throughout this process, our cast and crews have grown tremendously. Our cast worked through acting exercises and methods of Uta Hagen, Viola Spolin, Michael Chekhov, and Michael Gellman. We discussed difficult and complex ethical matters. Can a person be both guilty and innocent? In what ways does our own experience color our perception of truth? To what extent is justice impacted by perception? In what ways are we blinded as "jurors" in our own lives?” This show was meant to serve our actors. I have happily found that our actors (and crews) have served each other instead.
How has PLAYBILLDER impacted your performing arts program as a resource?
The incorporation of PLAYBILLDER into our typical production process has elevated our audience's experiences, mobilizing the production process to a more prominent placement in performance. The professional quality of the printed Playbills is beyond what we could produce using school technology and more economical than the big-box printing stores. The ability for our student cast, management, musicians, and crew members to have a token souvenir from each production is also fantastic.
To design Broadway-quality programs for your next show, head to PLAYBILLDER.com. Who knows, you might just be featured in our next PLAYBILLDER Spotlight! And if you are looking for a beautiful way to display your Playbills, click here to purchase Playbill frames.
