<p>“ANYONE who’s ever been part of it knows that the thrill of theater, disasters included, is greatest when you’re unpaid and uncynical. That effect is exaggerated in New Albany, where the theater kids are not the school’s outcasts but its stars: respected and, whatever their peculiarities, generally left in peace. That’s part of their unusual confidence, too; they don’t have to waste energy validating their passion, because they do their shows in a community that validates it for them.”</p>
<p>I wonder how a culture like that is created in a regular public high school. I know the drama class at the school I attended in 9th and 10th grade was pretty much ruled by geeks and stoners looking for an easy A. There wasn’t even a real drama teacher - just the sterotypical “harried English teacher” and the productions were beyond Guffmanesque. Even mentioning that I was into theatre would have been social suicide had I not also been a cheerleader/athlete. It still got me some “You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me” looks. It must take a great, charismatic teacher to start a tradition like that.</p>