Proficiency Friday – Oct. 16: Theatre is Lit

This week’s Proficiency Friday feature explores Kate Torcom and Hector West’s Theatre is Lit offering. Torcom is RPA’s theatre director and West teaches humanities. 

Each week, students read a scene from Begets: fall of  High School Ronin by Qui Nguyen (who also wrote She Kills Monsters, RPA theatre’s 2019 fall production).

Begets is “an action-packed samurai story set inside the halls of an all-American high school, Begets: Fall of a High School Ronin tells the tale of Emi Edwards, a high school geek girl whose fighting to overthrow the cruel shoguns of her school,” according to Concord Theatricals, the production’s rights company.  

Begets tackles a variety of topics from violence, to feminism, and the LGBTQIA+ community in a high school setting. Every Friday, Torcom and West’s group reads a scene together (breaking the characters up amongst the group) and then discussing the themes of that scene. Conversations have ranged from Japanese culture to “The Princess Bride.” 

West also provides great dramaturgical insight to the group covering historical (and other) references in the text. 

Proficiency Fridays were created to provide an opportunity for fun and engaging activities for students at RPA. 

Created by educators, the activities range from clubs to virtual outdoor activities. Topics typically cover areas teachers are passionate about, allowing them the opportunity to share this passion with students.

The next offering of Theatre is Lit occurs this Friday at 11 a.m. –– accessible here, through Zoom.