CVRep seeks local teens for upcoming anti-bullying theater production

Local high school students have the opportunity to audition for a professional theater production addressing bullying and school violence when Coachella Valley Repertory holds tryouts later this week.

Auditions for “Power Play” will be held Friday (Aug. 29) from 4-7 p.m. and Saturday (Aug. 30) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at CVRep, located at 68510 E. Palm Canyon Dr. in Cathedral City. Students should prepare a short monologue or be prepared to read from the script, which will be provided during auditions.

The audition process will select students to fill five distinct character roles in the one-act play by Canadian playwright Lindsay Price. The characters include Bitter, a goth girl with sarcastic wit; Belly, an overweight student who uses humor as a survival tactic; Brawn, the star football player; Beauty, who calls herself the most popular girl on campus; and Breaker, a small Korean girl who is intelligent but withdrawn.

Students selected through the audition process will work alongside professional designers, directors and backstage crew in the fully professional production directed by Howard Shangraw, CVRep’s director of conservatory and youth programs.

“Technically, it’s a challenging piece,” Price said. “The play gives student actors the opportunity to do some really detailed character and physical action work.”

The production will be part of CVRep’s observance of National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month in October.

“Violence is all about power. So is high school,” Price said, calling this the most important quote from her play. “The play looks at the boxes in which students are defined: beauty queen, goth girl, athlete, funny fat kid and then blows those boxes apart.”

Price added that the play addresses serious topics including bullying, verbal abuse and school shootings. “School violence is real and happens every day,” she said.

The students cast through auditions will perform for their peers during student performances scheduled Tuesday through Friday, Oct. 7-10, at 10:30 a.m. The performances are free for students, and CVRep will provide buses to transport students to and from their schools.

All performances will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the cast, crew, CVRep Executive Artistic Director Adam Karsten and Shangraw. Free study guides and classroom materials for preparation and post-performance discussion will be available to schools.

Shangraw said the opportunity for students to participate in addressing bullying behavior through theater remains important.

“Trying to make a dent in the epidemic of bullying and abusive behavior by young people and adults seems can be discouraging,” he said. “But the values we respect require that we continue our efforts no matter what.”

He cited statistics showing that at least one in five children is bullied and 13 percent of tweens ages 9 to 12 have reported bullying in school or online. “Bullying is responsible for youth suicides and school shootings,” Shangraw said.

“With such compelling and honest storytelling as in ‘Power Play,’ the participation of high school students from the Coachella Valley, and support from our schools and bullying prevent organizations, we can make progress,” Shangraw said.

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