Advanced theater fights “bystander blues”

Cathryn Cearing and Cat Cearing

On Oct. 4, a video on bullying was shown to students during their fifth hour Matrix period. Instead of it being a professional public service announcement, the video featured a group of LC’s own actors and actresses.

“Every once in awhile, [Mr. Robin Tobias, Principal] comes to us with different ideas of stuff we can help with. Lots of times, it’s disaster drills, but this time, since LC’s really trying to crack down on bullying, he had us do this script as something to show the school,” Kaitlyn Badger (12) said.

Badger played the victim of bullying, but the film itself centered on the characters who saw what happened. It focuses on the regrets, the “should haves,” “would haves” and “could haves” of students who witness someone being bullied.

“I think bystanders are actually the most important factor when it comes to bullying. They can either step up and go against the bully, or they can just stand back and let it go on. And, unfortunately, way too many people go with the second option. But it doesn’t need to be that way. If more people stood up for the victim, or even just befriended them, bullying wouldn’t be half as much as an issue as it is now,” Badger said.

Not only did the video spread a good message, but it also gave students the chance to work onscreen, rather than onstage.

“[Working on the video was different] because we had more than one shot at the performance,” Jackson DeLisle (10) said.