The High School Drama team performed the play “The School for Scandal” on April 14-16, though specific times varied. The play was a culmination of a year’s work of stage setting, memorizing lines, and rehearsals. 

The original version was written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in 1777. Although it has undergone minor revisions, it is widely considered one of the greatest English comedies, focusing on witty speech, high society, and the duality of humans. This iteration was directed by Sarah Kim (12) and featured nine cast members, each taking on a major character within the play. 

The play is set in 1770 London, around a “school” of wealthy and chronically bored aristocrats whose favorite pastime is spreading rumors and hearsay to ruin the reputation of others. Chief among them is Lady Sneerwell, and her most recent interest has been the relationship between a young woman called Maria and the man she loves, Charles Surface. She hopes to ruin the relationship between the two so that she can marry Charles, and her co-conspirator can marry Maria. Lady Sneerwell, and by extension the other characters, drives the plot forward into some of the most iconic comedy plays and paints a deeper picture of the duality of individuals.  

“Overall, I think the play was good,” Ethan Choi (10), actor for Joseph Surface, said. “There were definitely some challenges with preparing the play, including with staging and memorizing the scripts, but the overall result was satisfactory, and I had a fun time performing in front of the audience as well.”

The group performed a total of three times, though the difficult time slots of the play, namely during the first period, lunch, and activity period, made full participation on the part of the students difficult. Regardless, the play represented the fruit of a year’s labor and was worth watching for many.