Wildwood High School - Breakers Yearbook (Wildwood, NJ)

Page 9 text:

Forms Silence prevails in the audience. The curtain opens—the stage is set. A pungent odor arises from the fresh ink on the playbill's surface. Act II, the sophomore year, is the purgatory of the drama. It is a temporal act, composed of many scenes, all of which illustrate how well the cast portrays the roles they have chosen. Do they feel the parts? Are they merely self-inflicted exaggerations of their talent? Are the performers a threat to the verity of their roles? Act II is a period of enigma. Those who are out of character are weeded; and even this early in the play, the true stars begin to soar over the mass. The second act is not one of idle reading. In fact, the sheer variety of the scenes gives the performer more than enough opportunities to experience the true worth of his ability. The critics sit aloft with paused pen, ready to reject or accept the methods of the cast. A decisive time. Act II is a period of tension, for the actions displayed then can prognosticate how successful the show will be. Merry-Go-Round of Togethers To Stay the Winter 5

Page 8 text:

IDENTITY? A Search . . . A Ballad of Many Todays — Act I, the freshman year, is one of orientation, adjustment, curiosity, and insecurity — the open- ing of the show. Chaos prevails in the lower ranks, while the upperclassmen view the classic scene with a parental, but somewhat condescending at- titude. Beads of sweat are involuntarily conceived on the novice performers' hands. Their composure is psuedo, but are their efforts? To be seen, to be known, to be recognized as one rather than a mass is a demi-god in itself, and unto this end the majority is devoted. The cast is assembled in a hasty manner, for it will take months before the auditions are con- cluded, and the actual drama is born. In these weeks of indecision, each finds an arbitrary role —something to cling to. It may be that of the ath- lete, the scholar, or the class leader. Some feel a more relative security in a bit part where the lines are short and few but, nevertheless, significant. Of course, there are drones and parasites who feel quite content in living from the labor of others; but these will never know the joy and self-satisfac- tion that comes from participating and working with your fellow players. On contemplating Act I, one realizes that it is a symbolic step which teaches many lessons. The days of rehearsal are over, the part is yours and its success depends upon the amount of self that is put into it. Square Root of Few Tomorrows Kinetic Life 4

Page 10 text:

Act III, the Junior year, finds the cast quite at ease in their environment and settled in the lustrous veneer of upperclassmanship. This can very readily be seen in the elevated heads directed toward the apprenticed cast. Although class-consciousness presides, Act III is certainly not a leisurely segment of the play. On the contrary, it holds the most arduous scenes to be found in the entire drama. The pace of academic life, coinciding with the infinite spectrum of exterior activities, forms a pattern in which many stars can lose their rolls if a rigid program of self-discipline and even self-denial is not compounded. The highlights of the act include two pre-proms— one built around a French cafe setting, the other in the form of a Sadie Hawkins theme—and the annual Faculty Vs. Varsity Game. These merely laid the ground-work for the stirring climax—the prom, or Nautical Night. As the curtain closes, the clamor from backstage foreshadows the realization that the major act is yet to be performed. Student Life . . . 6