The McIntosh High School Drama program is proud to present the high school premiere of Student Body by Frank Winters on October 18th and 20th at 7:00 pm in the McIntosh Auditorium. Tickets are $5 for students and $8 for adults. Tickets can be purchased at the door or reserved by emailing info@mcintoshtheater.org. All ticket sales will be donated to the Southern Crescent Sexual Assault and Child Advocacy Center, a local non-profit working to reduce sexual violence.
In Student Body, a group of students gather to decide what to do with a video that appears to show a fellow student sexually assaulting another student. In one intense night, friendships will be broken, secrets will be revealed, and no one’s life will be the same.
In addition to the performance, there will be a presentation by the Southern Crescent Sexual Assault and Child Advocacy Center detailing the services they provide, and a presentation on underage drinking and social hosting laws.
While the play is not graphic, it deals openly with sexual assault and may not be appropriate for younger audience members. “Student Body deals with situations that, as a teacher, I would like to think don’t really happen, or wouldn’t happen here,” said Ken Buswell, the drama teacher at McIntosh. “But we know these things do happen, and they can happen here. As long as we pretend they don’t, things will never get better – the problem of underage drinking and sexual assault will not get solved, and the victims of assault will continue to suffer in silence.”
Student Body has been performed by college and professional theaters, but McIntosh is the first high school ever to perform the play. Student Body was originally written for college students, but the playwright, Frank Winters, re-wrote the play for high school students. “We read a lot of plays at the end of last year, and Student Body was the unanimous choice among the students,” said Ken Buswell. “This is an incredible script. Frank gets high school students – he gets how they talk and think, and he doesn’t sugar-coat what they have to deal with. Yes, it is difficult to watch at times, but it is also incredibly relevant and important.”
“The play tackles serious situations that, even though we don’t want them to be, are very current. But this cast is so supportive and loving – we push each other to do our best and to focus on telling this powerful story,” says senior Grace Kilgore, who plays Daisy in the play.
Senior Katherine Mitchell, who plays Natalie in the play says, “This play is extremely topical, and I feel like this is something everyone should see. The show is really thought provoking. It makes you think about what you would like do in this situation and how that might differ from what you actually would do.”
“Most shows that you read about high school students can be very stereotypical with a cast of characters that are far from authentic; however, this one was different,” says junior Lydia Campbell, who plays Maggie in the play. “All the characters are raw and truly unique. They don’t fit any clichéd high schooler mold and that is what makes this play so powerful. It has real characters that tell a story that needs to be heard.”