Arts

This year, the Theatre Arts Department presented the The Desk Set, a witty yet insightful comedy written by William Marchant.

The play is set in Manhattan during the mid 1950’s. Four brilliant women are researchers in the Reference Department of a radio/television broadcasting company. Bunny Watson, played by Ginger May, is the head of the department. She and Sadel Meyer (Lila Dettleback), Peg Costello (Darpan Chahal), and Ruthie Saylor (Samantha Barnes) work unfailingly and devote themselves entirely to their career.

When methods engineer, Richard Sumner, played by Ian Katz, arrives at their doorstep with plans to install EMERAC computers or “electronic brains” as means to keep the workplace efficient, the four women fear they may lose their jobs. The play eerily captures the still present fear that humans may lose their effectiveness in the midst of rapid technological advancement.

However, when Miss Warriner (Margot McCann), EMERAC’s operator, introduces the computer, Bunny, Sadel, Peg, and Ruthie demonstrate the power of the human mind and the incompetence of technology in comparison.

While The Desk Set acknowledges that the effect of developing technology is inevitable, it declares that the human mind is an extraordinary machine that cannot ever become obsolete.

published March 2020

On Friday, January 10th, BRHS held its 6th annual Poetry Out Loud competition. Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages high school students across the country to study poetry. Students have the opportunity to pick any poem they would like from an anthology and recite from memory in front of the class. By participating in this initiative, students can enjoy literature and become confident speakers.

In order to encourage students to perform at their best, Poetry Out Loud includes a contest. The competitions begin at the classroom level where winners can work their way up to school, regionals, states, and ultimately National Finals. This comprehensive format adds excitement for students to the experience of learning poetry.

In December, several BRHS English teachers hosted classroom competitions where every student was required to memorize a poem from the Poetry Out Loud anthology and present in front of their classmates. Although this competition can seem daunting, it actually became a cooperative experience for many students as they learned to appreciate poetry with others. Teachers evaluated their students on memorization, presence, voice/articulation, dramatic appropriation, and evidence of understanding. The top two scoring individuals in the class moved on to the school wide competition, where they were required to perform a second poem.

Ms. Doherty is the district coordinator for the school-wide competition on January 10th and she held multiple rehearsals for students to get comfortable for the tournament. Several high school English teachers were present to evaluate students on their performances and determine the winners. After all performances were finished, the teachers discussed and released the results. In 3rd place was Cameron Kalik, in 2nd place was Polina Rogalsky, and in 1st place was Cathlin Naughton. As the 2020 Poetry Out Loud Champion, Cathlin will advance to compete in the regional competition at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown on Wednesday, February 5th. For regionals, Cathlin will have to memorize and perform a total of three poems.

Students collectively felt that Poetry Out Loud was a great opportunity for them to express themselves. Cameron chose “Cartoon Physics, Part 1” because he believed it “had an interesting message about how children should not be exposed to the harsh realities of the world.” His second poem was called “Self-Inquiry before the Job Interview”, which he chose because of its relatability as it “details anxiousness before a job interview and class differences.” Cameron enjoyed Poetry Out Loud because he “likes performing and sharing his emotions with others.”

The 2020 BRHS Poetry Out Loud competition was a successful event for students and English teachers to enjoy poetry together. Students can take advantage of this opportunity as a way to share their sentiments with others. It will be exciting to see BRHS students get excited about new poetry for next year’s Poetry Out Loud competition.