For many students public speaking results in a sudden rush of adrenaline and a clammy sensation in their hands as their throat tightened and stomach churns just from standing in front of an audience.This is something English teacher Joseph Susick’s speech and drama students no longer fear or struggle with. The familiar feeling of confidence surges through them as they give a speech or presentation with ease and comfort.
For most of the day, Susick teaches English 12, but he gets to end his day with his own favorite class. Drama is a one-semester course that teaches students to come out of their shells and dip their toes into the creative arts. Susick dives into how to appear confident and poised and collect feedback in a controlled environment on how to improve the quality and execution of the speech, even if the confidence is not there. Drama class is performance-based where they cover monologues, accents, costumes, sound effects and lighting, and for the final, the students create and direct their own skit.
“I have a lot of students that have no drama [or speech] experience or very little, and they are just trying to get a taste of [drama]. It’s a very odd encompassing. I do not go deep into any one area,” Susick said.
Because the class does not have a state curriculum, there is no need to follow a strict timeline. Susick has the freedom to teach topics as he pleases. Bane Thurman, a senior in Susick’s drama class, has been involved in theater since his freshman year and plans to major in acting at The New School in New York City in the fall. Even with Thurman’s familiarity with the necessary baseline skills of drama and acting, he still can benefit from the class.
“Susick’s [drama] class gave me a unique view of speeches and introduced me to different types of them. [The class] had helped my improv skills while acting and deciding what to say when there is no script or anything,” Thurman said.
Senior, Josie Sobieraj is an A.P. art student who volunteered their time to do a live drawing of the drama students during their mask project along with their nonverbal assignment. The mask project was to create a mask that creatively symbolizes themselves; later in the course, Susick’s students will eventually have to come up with accents and monologues inspired by the masks. The students participated in a nonverbal acting exercise where they were given a prompt and they had to try and act it without using any words. “[Drama] is soft and gentle and it is more fun. [With] Speech [it] is harder because of the nature of speech and because speech needs to get people to a certain point,” Susick said.
Sobieraj sketched the students’ live as they were presenting their projects and the acting exercise. Sobieraj was drawn to the way the students can use movement to convey emotion, as Susick describes the fluidity of drama and the structure of speech. With abstract movements, like flaying of arms and backs bending or being on all fours, Sobieraj found a way to capture that energy on paper.
“I want to practice live sketching. We studied contour drawings at the very beginning of the semester. I’ve always been intrigued by those, so I wanted to explore a bit more and I thought [of] the kids in drama class, especially when they are learning to be expressive without talking. It’s art itself,” Sobieraj said.
Sobieraj’s view on their work changes as they advance in their A.P. art portfolio. They adjust their perspective as they try to add live sketches to the rest of their work and how they can relate to the other pieces. Sobieraj draws their art pieces in their portfolio in sets of three and repeating objects. Each artwork ties together. In a sustained investigation, every piece has to follow inquiry-based guidelines that the artist decides on at the beginning of the course. Their chosen materials play a key role in shaping their cohesive visual medium.
“I really like the thick lines you can get with a charcoal pencil. Usually, I draw in a more cartoon or expressive style with bold shapes and colors,” Sobieraj said.
Although the style of a medium and utensils can change, Sobieraj has found their preference and stuck with it. Their use of sketch lines and color blotches mimics the movement of the subject in their piece. This dynamic approach to capturing motion also reveals their appreciation for other expressive arts, including performance.
“Drama in itself is such an informative and amazing class. I wish I had taken it even though it is not like the paper art that I am used to, it is still an expression of performing. They look like they are having a great time and that is amazing,” Sobieraj said.
Susicks class is currently dominated by seniors and juniors, but he is trying to expand his audience. Susick takes advantage of opportunities like he did with Sobieraj’s art project to reach a wider demographic of students. When students step into Susick’s class they do not only learn how to give a speech or act out a monologue, they learn how to express themselves through the use of visual arts. For students like Sobieraj, the overlap of drama and physical art provides new and more creative ways of capturing a model’s expression, while for drama students and actors like Thurman, the class serves as a tool for shaping their future careers. Susick’s class is open to any student who is willing to step out of their comfort zone and try new things.
