However, in the process of creating these plots and themes, the media industry inadvertently creates many stereotypes, such as the “dumb jock” and “unpopular nerd.” These stereotypes cause cliques to form where individuals with similar traits separate into exclusive groups. Consumers of this media internalize these stereotypes, even though in reality, they are little more than fiction.

According to Visual and Performing Arts teacher Kristen Lo, these stereotypes must be established in the beginning of a play in order to kickstart the main plotline.

“(High School Musical) starts out (with) everybody in their little cliques, and it’s like, ‘Don’t get out of the status quo,’” she said. “And so, when everybody is coming up on stage, you basically have the four different cliques that you have established.”

These stereotypes in media depict jocks as large, muscular bullies with little intelligence, but popular for their prowess in sports, and nerds as thin, unfashionable and unsociable, picked on by the jocks. The girls are also portrayed similarly, with popular, pretty and unkind girls bullying those seen as social outcasts. These stereotypes almost always have a defining quality as well, such as jocks only playing basketball or nerds being weak and thin. This forms the belief that certain traits are mutually exclusive to a designated social group.

The light in which stereotypical cliques are portrayed is also of paramount importance in terms of influencing the way teens act. Whether or not these actions in movies enable teens to replicate them in some form or another is a key factor in evaluating the impact of this genre of high school movies.

“This is always the (issue): ‘Does art influence people in bad ways?’” Lo said. “Do people see things take place in art and they say, ‘I’ll do the thing that they did in Mean Girls?’ That is the catch with art – can that happen?”

The messages portrayed in media significantly influences students’ perceptions of high school cliques: Some imply that students should stay in the roles given to them by their community, while others present the idea that students can be anything they want to be and do anything they want to do.

The idea of students striving for popularity can be seen in “Mean Girls.” In this movie, students are either a part of “The Plastics” – the group of popular and pretty girls – or social outcasts. The expectations of their actions portrayed by these cliques create a stigma around the average high schoolers’ acts. For instance, The Plastics “banish” one of their own after they wear sweatpants because it was a violation of one of their rules. This scene conveyed the message that students should stay within their cliques’ ideals and that having different personal beliefs is unacceptable.

However, other examples of media offer an exception to these characterizations, such as in the movie “High School Musical,” where a jock falls for a nerd and they both end up auditioning for a musical together. This plot broke stereotypes by bringing individuals of different social groups together.

It is important to promote the creation of pieces of media such as these, as they act as examples for students to act in accordance to their own feelings rather than how others believe they should. Encouraging the embrace of individuality makes space for an expansion of interests past what society deems acceptable for a certain person to do. This will not only help enrich a teen’s personal growth but also promotes a more inclusive culture that values authenticity within the high school community.

Unfortunately, however, movies that feed into stereotypes are still extremely prevalent. According to theater performer Connor Engstrom, in certain films, these stereotypes may not be apparent, but can still be implicitly involved.

“I feel like, to an extent, Harry Potter did perpetuate stereotypes,” he said. “It’s like the jocks (are) the Quidditch team, and then other characters are nerds. I think it’s more tamped down in terms of stereotypes than (other) movies.”

These forms of media are also not as free in expression, according to Engstrom.

“I think other mediums of art are a lot more stringent with the rules that they apply in terms of who you can be and what you can do,” he said. “I think of movies and TV shows as being very restrictive of stereotypes. For instance, (in) “Modern Family,” you’re either a nerd or you’re popular.”

Even though these forms of media can have wholesome themes, many of these movies seem out of touch with present high school norms.

“I feel like the stereotypes are a thing of the past in most cases, or at least a thing of twenty years ago,” Engstrom said. “People are still cliquing up, and they’re hanging out with others who have similar interests to them. But I think those interests are more broadly spanning than before.”

Gunn also defies these long-standing stereotypes with a culture that applauds individuals for striving for intelligence rather than popularity. This value breaks the stereotype that prioritizing academics automatically means that being unathletic and a target for bullies.

“Gunn is a really special place,” Lo said. “I have worked at three different schools, and Gunn is the one that bucks stereotypes the most, mostly because it is extremely cool to be intelligent here. Everyone here is being pushed towards wanting to go to an elite college, and so the stereotypes don’t really fit here.”

Gunn students participating in a diverse amount of extracurriculars also decreases the hostility that some characters feel in high school movies when attempting to cross their group’s boundaries into another: The feeling of belonging to more than one group is not frowned upon, perhaps even normalized at Gunn.

The perpetuation of stereotypes can play a role in forms of media besides on-screen entertainment. Although many stereotypes may stem from plays and other theater productions, theater offers a way to defy these stereotypes. The ability to do other activities, like sports, while also being in drama, is a direct contradiction to the portrayal of only being able to do one at a time.

“I don’t think my basketball teammates think any less of me because I do theater,” Engstrom said. “They’ve seemed relatively supportive and have asked interesting questions, like ‘What do you do during rehearsal?’, which is indicative of a good school space in my opinion.”

To break out of this representation of high school as an exclusive landscape where each person is automatically sorted into a group that is completely polarized from another, literature and media creators should seek to catch up to the current high school culture. Staying in the past creates a division between teens’ perceptions in media and their true identities.

The play is based on Disney’s 2006 film “High School Musical,” which follows the new girl at East High School, brainiac Gabriella Montez, who meets star basketball player Troy Bolton during winter break. After Gabriella and Troy accidentally audition for the Winter Musical, the whole student body starts to examine the cliques they belong to.  

Theater Director Kristen Lo chose “High School Musical” to commemorate Gunn Theater’s productions returning to Spangenberg after not performing in the theater for four years. “We were looking for a musical that we thought would be fun and joyful, and we wanted to start with something a little closer to home as we welcome in a new audience and students who haven’t acted on the Spangenberg stage before,” Lo said. “We also thought it has a fun history, with a lot of this generation growing up on it.” 

Lo made efforts to include various student groups across campus in the musical, such as the cheer, dance and basketball teams. “I really tried to make this a musical where we could accommodate some of the different groups on campus who maybe were not reached out to before, so they could get to showcase their talent to a lot of people,” she said. 

In the few weeks prior to opening night, the cast and crew have been focused on assembling and fine-tuning the details for the performances. “We are working on the designer run-through, where we show what we have to all the designers, and they give their feedback on lighting, staging (and) costumes,” Lo said. “Once we do the run-through, it’ll be really clear on everything we need to work on for the next two and a half weeks.” 

Senior Fae Crane’s experience playing Gabriella Montez has differed greatly from playing characters in other Gunn Theater productions. “We have worked on finding ways to express our emotions through singing rather than acting because it’s been a while since we did a musical,” she said. “Really exaggerating those expressions is something that I’ve learned.” 

In fact, the “High School Musical” production itself diverges from the typical types of plays Gunn Theater presents, as they often spotlight lesser-known pieces. “A lot of productions we’ve been putting on are something that’s kind of hidden within the theatre community, but I think the fact that “High School Musical” is Disney is a big factor in why people know it,” Crane said.  “I think it’s going to attract a lot of crowds.”

The familiar setting of the play has allowed Sidhant Lochan, who plays Troy Bolton, to empathize with his character.. “Troy isn’t that different from me—he’s just another high school kid,” Lochan said. “Getting into character, for me, is envisioning if (the play) was my life and what reactions to things and what emotions I would have in scenes.”

With the musical’s large ensemble, including the four cliques—jocks, thespians, brainiacs and skaters—ensemble members, such as skater junior Tommy Sullivan, have also had the opportunity to further explore their characters. “As an ensemble character, I get to create the personality and feelings of my own character,” he said. “I feel like that’s a lot more expressive and theatrical than just having a character set for you.”

Being back in Spangenberg, the production is taking place on a larger scale than those done in the past couple of years. With a cast of over 70 students, co-costume crew head junior Sofia Hussian has had to create costumes to fit specifically within the early 2000s era. “(The) mood board was heavily influenced by 2000s red carpet looks because ‘High School Musical’ is a really nostalgic production for lots of people,” she said. “We really wanted to go all out with the costumes and make sure that it looks like 2006, so that means lots of bright colors and dresses over jeans.” 

With the majority of characters in the musical being high school students, Hussian collaborated on costume choices with actors. “It is a little bit more modern of a piece, so we could pull things from (cast members’) closets and ask them what styles they like to make sure that everyone was feeling like their best self,” she said. 

In addition to the change in the era, there are also many quick costume changes throughout the musical. “The quick changes have been really intense and go by really fast but it’s been great because everyone’s working together and now it’s like a well-oiled machine,” Hussian said. “Everyone knows exactly what their part is and does it so quickly and efficiently.”

Along with more complicated costumes, the set design has been more complex, as it features a two-story component, making this set unlike any others which co-construction crew head sophomore Jackson Lamis has worked on. “This was the biggest set that’s been built since ‘In the Heights,’ which was before COVID-19,” he said. “I’ve never built anything this big so it was a lot of work. The main problem was making sure we followed the safety guidelines to have the second story be safe and available to work on. There was a bit of a learning curve, it was almost like driving: at the start it was  really slow, but once everyone got comfortable using the tools, we got a lot faster and efficient.”

Co-paint crew head junior Nina Rajwar agreed that the set design for “High School Musical” was different from previous productions. “Painting sets for ‘Translations’ and ‘Comedy of Errors’ was more technical things whereas ‘High School Musical’ was definitely more mass production, where we have the same wall texture and same paint making it a bit more uniform,” they said. “We’ve had to make everything super big and look like a high school. They (Gunn theater production sets) all have different artistic ways of expressing themselves.”

To purchase tickets and find more information about performance dates and ticket prices, go to gunntheatre.org. 

Gallery • 14 Photos

Raphael Semeria

From March 17 to 25, Gunn Theater performed their first on-stage musical since 2019, “High School Musical.” Junior Mariam Kurbursi took on the role of Sharpay Evans while junior Rohit Divekar played as her twin, Ryan Evans. Together, they executed an energetic dance number to the song “Bop to the Top” during a callback audition for the school’s musical. “Once we started to do dress rehearsals, (the scene) really started to come together and it was really nice,” Divekar said. Kurbursi echoed Divekar. “I’m not a dancer, but it made me want to do more of it.” Overall, Kurbursi enjoyed performing alongside fellow peers. “It’s a really good feeling to have an audience in front of you to perform (to),” she said. “It brings out the best in actors. It’s exhilarating.”

The Spring Festival is a first for Gunn Theater, as it is in lieu of the Student-Directed One-Acts which normally conclude each theater season. Rather than limiting the seniors in her Theater 4 class to a single act, Theater Teacher Kristen Lo gave them the opportunity to direct any material of their choosing. “I wanted to broaden [the format] because I don’t think all the best theater is written in one-act format, and I think it’s getting harder to find good one-acts that are worth the students’ time,” she said. “These seniors are so ready to take on their own projects, and since I pick the other plays of the season, I love seeing them also picking stuff that they love. It gives a bigger diversity to what is on stage.” 

The festival features four plays of varying themes and genres: “The Comedy of Eros,” directed by seniors Saman de Silva and Quincy Rosenzweig, “First Year/Last Year,” written and directed by seniors Dante Morse and Emma Grant-Bier, “Oh Hello!,” directed by senior Oren Schube and “Prophet’s Light,” written and directed by senior Vincent Schillings. 

Some of the student directors based their pieces on their own lives, while others explored material that they had worked with in the past. Grant-Bier, for instance, took inspiration from her high school experiences for “First Year/Last Year.” “We wanted to do something that encapsulated our life at this time, so it’s about senior year and the stress of finding your place in your life right now, as well as in your idea of the future,” she said. “One of [the songs] is a quote that my history teacher liked to say before a test: ‘I can do hard things.’”

Meanwhile, for “Comedy of Eros,” De Silva and Rosenzweig combined four scenes from different comedic works by Joseph Bologna and Neil Simon—two playwrights whose pieces they had performed in previous years. “We both had a lot of fun working in these late-twentieth-century romantic, dramatic comedy pieces,” Rosenzweig said. Additionally, combining multiple stories has allowed them to contrast different plots while comparing similar themes, as well as create more energy on stage with quick shifts between the various scenes. 

Rosenweig explained how directing has provided him with new perspectives on the production process. “It gives you a better sense of not just what it’s like to act on stage, but also everything else that’s going on,” Rosenweig said. “When you’re acting you’re mostly focused on your character and the relationships that your character has with the other characters, whereas Saman and I need to focus on all of those different relationships and manage tech, find costumes and props and figure out what we want our sets to look like. It teaches you a lot about communication, leadership and how to manage a lot of things at the same time.” 

Senior Mishaal Hussain, who is playing the lead character in “First Year/Last Year,” emphasized the difference between being under the direction of students as opposed to teachers. “Working with student directors makes the entire thing more collaborative because I think in general people are more willing to volunteer their ideas with the student directors,” she said. “Everyone always learns from every show they do, but it’s just such a more intense learning process because everyone’s going through this learning curve together. It’s also just super fun because these [directors] are people who I know and I love and I want to succeed, so I want to do the best I can to make sure they succeed.” 

The learning process is, according to Lo, one of the best parts of student-directed productions. “They’re running into all of these wonderful challenges of [not only] what it is like to put on a play, but also direct any project that you have to direct in your life,” she said. “Watching them go through the challenges and then coming out victorious has been really wonderful to watch.” 

Mistaken identities and misconceptions are at the heart of both the laughter and the emotions of Gunn Theater’s spring production, ‘‘The Comedy of Errors.’’ The story follows Antipholus of Syracuse, a man separated at birth from his twin brother, as he sets off to find his family. He is accompanied by his servant, Dromio.

Unfortunately for everybody in the play, their counterparts in the city of Ephesus are also named Antipholus and Dromio. Because they are identical in face and name, nobody is able to distinguish one twin from another. “It
drives everybody [in the play] absolutely crazy,” director Kristen Lo said. “They think either they’re going mad, or the person they’re talking to is going mad, because everything is happening in double.”

“The Comedy of Errors” will be set in East and West Berlin at the time of the Berlin Wall’s fall, as opposed to
the original cities in Ancient Greece. According to stage technician senior Quincy Rosenzweig, the dreary settings
of the play contrast its cheery content. “It has a downcast, dark theme to it for a very light and comical presentation,” Rosenzweig said.

Junior Matt Herrema, who plays Antipholus of Ephesus, notes that the lighthearted elements of ‘‘The Comedy of Errors’’ are what drive the plot and spirit of the play. “It’s a very accurate title,” Herrema said. “It’s really fun because we get to do a lot of audience interaction. We’re actually weaving in and out of the pallets [on the quad].”

Serving as both the stage and the seating area of the play, the quad will be the unique location for this year’s Shakespeare play. Although COVID-19 restrictions have forced this decision, Lo has been able to work it into the
theater experience. “It’s going to be very immersive, with audience interaction and connection,” she said. “Shake-
spearean comedies ask for that, and we’ve put ourselves in a position where we can do that.”

Tickets to watch “The Comedy of Errors” can be purchased at gunntheatre.org. The opening night gala is on March 18, and the show will run until March 26.

According to play director Kristen Lo, the show is set in the year 6000, when robots rule the world and being a robot is the standard. “Every once in a while, a human decides that they want to be a robot,” Lo said. “It’s kind of like “Mean Girls.” Robots are popular [and] attractive. Everybody wants to be them; everybody wants to date them. Some-
times, people living their meager lives would like to be robots, too.”

The story follows one human, Joe, who desperately wants to become a robot. Senior Quincy Rosenzweig, who plays the human protagonist, explains his character’s motivations. “[Joe is] very unhappy with life,” Rosenzweig
said. “[My character] hates being a human. At the start of the play, I am watching the robots dance, and I quickly become obsessed with becoming a robot and becoming good. I start to associate being a robot with being good.”

Junior Chloe Lee, who plays robot prostitute Garlic Press, noted that on a philosophical level, the play examines the futility of striving for perfection. “It has something to do with trying to be absolutely perfect,” Lee said. “That’s something that’s actually very toxic for you.”

Rosenzweig agreed with the sentiment that striving for complete perfection can be harmful. “I’ve been tying the play to social media and being fake on it,” he said. “Also, the idea of being true to yourself rather than admiring the idea of something else comes up.”

On the tech side, Stage Manager senior Daniella Maor said the sets and costumes will reflect the setting as well as the vanity of the characters. “We want it to look post-apocalyptic,” Maor said. “The set itself is going to have robot propaganda on the walls and maybe some human graffiti.”

This year the play will take place on the N-Building steps instead of the Spangenberg Theatre. The N-Building steps, with their almost Brutalist architectural style, will serve the play well. The costumes will be less silver and futuristic than classic robot images. “More than looking robotic, I just want them to look good,” Lo said. “When you look up pictures of the performances, it’s more like they are popular clubbing people than they are metallic ‘Terminator 2’ robots.”

As the first live and in-person theatre production in more than a year, the play has obviously dealt with COVID-19 restrictions. All of the actors and members of the stage crew provided vaccination cards in order to make the group feel safe. “When they’re on stage performing, they will not have their masks on,” Maor said. “We did ask for all their
masking comfort levels to make sure that they’re okay with it. While they’re not on stage, they will have to have their masks on, along with [the tech crew].” Audience members will be required to wear masks for the entirety of the show.

If the fascinating concept, fun sets and fantastic acting aren’t alluring enough, perhaps the return to Gunn’s tradition of excellent theatre productions is. “This is something that we’ve missed during COVID-19:—sitting next to somebody and reacting and hearing the reactions of the audience,” Lo said. “Coming out and experiencing art with other people is even more important now that we are reestablishing these connections with humans rather than just watching something on a screen.”

The production premieres at the N-Building steps on Nov. 5. Students can buy tickets at gunntheatre.org.