SHOULD SHE STAY OR SHOULD SHE GO?

Hauppauge High School Theatre Department’s extraordinary talents recently were on display in an impressive production of Up the Down Staircase. The play depicts the first, trying assignment for a young, idealistic teacher at a New York City high school.

The production’s title refers to the staircases inside an overcrowded, public New York City high school with a number of troubled students. Fresh out of graduate school, Sylvia Barrett, played by Hauppauge High School Senior Maria Johnsen, has just been hired to teach English to the teens in the school who come from various races and ethnicities. Many are undisciplined; a few are hanging out with gangs. Barrett is confused at first by the required regulations, daily reporting and other paperwork. Her students also continually seem disruptive and playful. Alice Blake, played by Alexa Cunningham (11th grade) has a crush on a male teacher, Paul Barrenger, played by Francesco DiFlora, (10th grade) and tries to jump out of a window; Joe Ferone, played by Craig Bottner (12th grade) on court probation, with a high I.Q. but a mixed academic record, tests her patience, while another boy, Charles Aarons, played by Henry Sweeney (9th grade) works nights and falls asleep in class.

Not everyone in the school is agreeable with Barrett’s quiet approach to the situation, but she intends to get the teens to become good students and get them into real learning. She succeeds finally by getting the students into a lively discussion about classic literature, followed by a lively mock trial, before weighing whether to continue or resign from her teaching position.

“Once again, I am truly amazed by the talent and the hard work of everyone involved in the production of Up the Down Staircase,” stated Hauppauge Theatre Teacher Ruthie Pincus. “It is an honor to collaborate with such a delightful and dedicated group of students.”

Photos by Frank Beyer.