I Wish My High School Had Done More Serious Plays

Truman High School’s production of ‘Our Town’

by Chris Peterson

Looking back, I wish my high school had done more serious plays.

That is not a knock on the shows we did like You Can’t Take It With You, Don't Drink the Water, A Comedy of Errors. Comedy has a real place in school theatre. A big crowd-pleaser can bring in an audience. A funny play can give students confidence, especially the ones who are still learning how to take up space onstage.

But looking back, I do feel like I missed out on something.

We did not really take on the kind of plays with heavier material or build characters who were dealing with something more complicated than a joke. I did not know it at the time, but that kind of work would have stretched me in a different way.

High school students are capable of more than we sometimes give them credit for. They are already dealing with stress, grief, pressure, family issues, identity, and the general messiness of growing up. Serious plays do not introduce teenagers to difficult emotions. They give them a safe, structured way to explore them.

That does not mean every school needs to jump straight into the darkest play on the shelf. It means directors should make room for drama as part of a well-rounded theatre education.

There are plenty of strong options. A school could take on Our Town and let students wrestle with memory and how quickly life moves. Radium Girls or These Shining Lives can give students historical drama.

The Diary of Anne Frank gives young actors a chance to approach history with care. Even classics like The Crucible, Antigone, or A Raisin in the Sun can challenge students to think about power, fear, family, justice, and moral courage.

Are all of these right for every school? Of course not. Some require deeper conversations with administrators, parents, and students. Some need content warnings. Some need a director who knows how to guide young actors through emotional material. Serious work should be chosen carefully, not just because it sounds important.

But careful is different from afraid.

When high schools only choose comedies, students can start to think theatre is mainly about being loud, funny, quirky, or entertaining. Those are useful skills, but they are not the whole art form.

Some students come alive in comedy. Others are waiting for the chance to do something quieter, deeper, and more honest. They may not know that about themselves until a teacher gives them the opportunity.

I wish I had gotten that chance earlier.

High school theatre should make students laugh. It should also ask them to think. A season can have the big comedy, the musical everyone wants to see, and one serious play that asks more of the cast and the audience.

Students deserve that range. They deserve to know theatre can be fun, but it can also be brave.