Students at Lincoln High School are using the March for Our Lives movement as an inspiration for a social justice theater performance this month as the Theatre Arts Department presents the play Spring by Tanya Palmer on April 12-14. It’s one of five plays or musicals about to take the stage at high schools throughout DMPS.
Set in a modern day high school, Lincoln’s production of Spring takes the audience on an authentic journey of potential traumas high school students might deal with, tackling hot button issues such as mental health, bullying, domestic violence, gun control/school shootings, and suicide.
“The idea to do the show was in the works before the tragedy in Florida,” said Lincoln drama teacher and director of the show, Michael Williams. “I feel the play sends a powerful message of empowering our youth to find and use their voice. We started rehearsals and casting just after Parkland.”
The goal of the production is to create honest and open dialogue between and amongst adults and high school students. Tapping into the energy of the March For Our Lives movement, Spring will empower youth to dispel the delusion that so many parents share: “These things won’t happen to my student.”
Following the Friday and Saturday evening performances (April 12 and 13), the audience will be able to engage with the cast as well as local mental health advocates and “get real” about what high school students truly face on a daily basis. With these conversations, Lincoln students hope to play their parts in ensuring that “enough is enough!”
This show is recommended for an audience thirteen or older due to strong language and mature content.
The Spring theater schedule for all five DMPS high schools is as follows:
APRIL 12-15
East High School
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
April 12-14 at 7:30 PM; April 15 at 2:30 PM
APRIL 12-14
Lincoln High School
Spring by Tanya Palmer
All shows 7:00 PM
APRIL 13-15
North High School
School of Rock
April 13-14 at 7:00 PM; April 15 at 2:00 PM
APRIL 20-21
Roosevelt High School
Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Jesus Christ Superstar
April 20 and 21 at 7:30 PM; April 22 at 2:30 PM
MAY 3-5
Hoover High School
Los Ochos: A Dance With Death
All shows 7:00 PM
