Societal Problem:
Education is a part of everyone’s life and is an issue because it causes stress, inhibits creativity, and encloses kids in an isolated bubble for a large part of a person’s day. Creativity, for some, is natural and for others, it is something which they need work hard to acquire. It is a very valuable skill to have and helps a person in life tremendously. For this reason, I am choosing this as the central theme behind the opera. It relates to everyone on some level and could intrigue a person to learn more about the topic through the conceptualization of the problem at hand. In order to relate to the audience, I will be talking about classic stereotypical
The Plot of Educational Harmony:
In the 7th grade, there were terrible things happening in the small enclosed world where the teacher, John Piccolo, demands silence and imposes his equations on the kids. Larry and Christine, who are students of John, are tired of the same boring teaching and want to leave the class. But, if they try to leave the classroom they get a point deducted from their standardized tests which will RUIN their lives. They start whispering to each other and Alyssa, another student, tells John that they’re talking while he’s teaching. This results in the separation of Larry and Christine to the corners of the room where they can’t talk or even see each other. The bell rings and they meet each other in the hall and head to lockers which are all identical. While they’re about to head to the next class they get confronted by the principal of the school and get asked for him to come with him. What could it be? Are they in trouble? Was it from John’s class or was it from something else they did?
ACT ONE
Scene: The principal’s office, he rushes in with the two students.
(The lights brighten and they sit in a small cubicle with no windows)
Principal Conner: Please take a seat; I would like to speak to you guys about your clothes.
Larry: Yeah, What about them?
Principal Conner: For one, you guys aren’t following school policy of a blue button-down with cream pants. Instead, you (pointing at Larry) are wearing a sweatshirt with blue pants and you (pointing to Christine) are wearing a white T-shirt with jeans.
Christine: With all due respect, this school is making us into robots where all of us look and act the same without any room for being ourselves. Even our lockers are ruined.
Larry: Yeah! The teachers also act like prison guards and we never learn anything that we like.
(the bell rings and a song is being played while everyone is making their way to class. The song is a woman singing “Please go to class because there is no late pass”)
Principal Conner: Ahhhh, I love this song, it reminds me of when I was a kid. Alright (he bangs on the table), you guys get to class and come back at the end of the day. I’m not done with you guys.
(The lights dim and while they’re setting up the desks for the next class, the song “Another Brick in the Wall” by Pink Floyd is being played)
ACT TWO
(The lights brighten the desks are set up like a square with the teacher at the head of one the squares)
(The screeching of the chalkboard is heard and the students are cringing their teeth)
Math teacher: Hello everyone, does anyone want to summarize our last class? Jill? Shawn? Anyone? (face is turning red) OK. Since nobody wants to answer; we will be having a pop quiz. You have 10 minutes to complete it.
(Mozart’s Requiem is playing while they take the quiz as well as the loud sounds of the clock ticking)
(Christine and Larry finish early and hand in their papers)
Math teacher: Wow!!! You guys finished quickly, are you sure you want to hand this in now?
Christine and Larry: YES
Math teacher: Ok, since you guys are so confident, let me grade it right now!!!!(chuckles to himself)
(Starts rambling to himself in an angry tone and students start biting their nails and sweating)
(Beethoven’s 5th symphony starts playing)
Math Teacher: Get to the principal’s office, you guys did terribly.
ACT THREE
(The lights dim slightly and a flowery scent fills the air)
Principal Conner: Hey guys, good to have you guys back here. As I was saying before, you guys are out of school dress code and I applaud you for your creativity. I would like you guys to work on a petition for advocating creativity. I don’t want standardized testing, a school dress code, or the classrooms to be indoors anymore. Rather, it will be outdoors and more interactive. Are you guys ready such a task?
(Both staring at each other in shock, they nod their heads and smile)
Christine: I think we would love to take up such an offer and have a chance to say what we want for once.
Principal Conner: Thank you guys; the instructions to do all these tasks are outlines on this paper and you guys have to follow school procedure as well.
Larry: We look forward to the change which we could offer this school and potentially many others.
(lights are out and all the actors line up in a row to bow to the audience)
THE END
The costumes are the uniforms which I described above which play a large role in conceptualizing the way that education and its environment inhibits creativity. This all starts from the morning of any person. When putting on something which one is told to put on it is very different than picking it yourself. It takes away from one’s own identity. Furthermore, the lockers are the same color to convey the same message. Additionally, the stage sets in a school full of the classic school look. But, the rooms don’t have windows which really shows the “jailed” environment that the students grow up in for the majority of their childhood. The music is very diverse with a different song and artist for each one to try to familiarize the audience with the diversity, which is needed for creativity. The lights are bright for the majority of the time to show how blinding it could be to be part of a set education your whole life without thinking outside of the box for even a moment. These lights are bright throughout the opera except for the last scene. In the last scene, the lights are dimmed to normal lighting to show the new perspective which is shown when the principal wants to advocate creativity in his school. This opera isn’t a solution to the problem but is a conceptualization of school problems. Whether it’s the same uniform, a lack of self-esteem or an inhibition of creativity, schools need to start changing for the better by offering more interactive areas. I once heard that when an art piece has a set definition it is dead. This hit home for me because it showed me that my opera could have much interpretation and even though I made this myself that doesn’t mean that other ideas can’t stem from such a “masterpiece”. I hope you enjoyed!!!!
By: Alon Bezalel
