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Girlfriend resonates with teens at the student matinee

posted by Lizz Guzman on Wed, May 5, 2010
in At the theatre , Backstage buzz , School of Theatre

"Authentic, intimate, and romantic” is how the San Francisco Chronicle described Girlfriend at Berkeley Rep. And this was the show to which we were expecting a large group of high school students for the student matinee on April 29.

Berkeley Rep’s student matinees are a rare opportunity for high-school and middle-school teachers to expose their students to theatre and to the transformative power of art. Our hope at the School of Theatre is that the matinee serves as a memorable, educational, and fun theatre experience for all involved.

As the rest of the School of Theatre staff and I donned our nametags and took our positions a little before noon, I wondered what the audience response would be. I scanned the faces of the students as they arrived, but I could not read the energy of this crowd. How would these teens handle the sensitive subject matter and tenderness of the story?

As the house lights went down and the band picked up, I held my breath.

The reactions of the audience quickly put my mind at ease. It became clear as the show went on that the group really related to the awkwardness of first love and the challenges of being different. Every uncomfortable silence and rambling conversation was greeted with a knowing laugh. It seemed like this audience had a more profound connection and empathetic understanding of the situations and emotions in the play.

Were there uneasy giggles? Sure. Soon, however, the laughter and the chatter faded away. I could feel the nervous energy in the theatre turn to focused concentration. The teens seemed to be as moved by the tenderness and sweetness of the scene as I was. At the end of Act 1 when Mike leans in to kiss Will, the entire audience held its collective breath in anticipation. When the two actors finally kissed, the theatre erupted into cheers and screams, students and teachers alike on their feet. My skin prickled with goosebumps as the ovation continued. And continued. The actors and band had to finish the song above the applause that continued until the house lights came up for intermission.

As the house lights rose, Dave Maier, our outreach coordinator, began his usual speech, “Those of you who have to leave – thanks for coming. The rest of you can just hang out. The actors and band will be out in a few minutes to answer some questions.”

Not a single person moved. Every single audience member stayed for the talkback.

During the talkback, cast members Jason Hite and Ryder Bach deftly and maturely addressed the question of their own sexuality and portraying intimacy onstage. The revelation that the young men were straight was met with exuberant cheers from all the girls (and one exclamation of “aw, man!” from a young man in the front row).

After the talkback, as students and teachers took pictures, got autographs, and spoke with the cast and band, I stood back and reflected on the event. The success of the matinee lay not in box-office sales or the number of filled seats, but in the discussions beginning among the students and teachers about being in love, about being different, about being gay. As someone who works with teens, I was moved the most by seeing those “ah-ha” moments as the students made connections between their own experiences and what they witnessed onstage. These students, whether theatre fans or not, left affected and changed in a positive way.

In his performance report that afternoon, Michael Suenkel, Berkeley Rep’s very patient stage manager, expressed perfectly what we were all thinking: “Some days it’s hard to believe you get paid for this.”

Above photo: Jason Hite (left) and Ryder Bach in Girlfriend. Photo courtesy of kevinberne.com.