There Are No “Them” and “Us”

Tanner Stout, Grade 12, St. Mary’s

As she finishes, the room is silent. It is a silence amplified by the heavy curtains and dark floor. Her eyes are seemingly masked by grief and tears roll down her rigid cheeks. And then, slowly, applause shatters this weighty silence. Laughs and congratulatory words swirl around the room. Someone asks if she is alright; she smiles her enigmatic smile and says, “That was acting.”

Similar occurrences are not uncommon at the twice-weekly rehearsals of the upcoming St Mary C.S.S. original production, “Just Us.” After a five-year hiatus, the drama department returns with a show that promises to deliver. “Just Us” is an innovative concept to create an engaging and entertaining insight into the life of high school students. This production promises to be part tragedy, part musical, part learning experience, which will centre on a single theme and have a script entirely decided upon by the student cast.

The cast and crew of students have touched upon some of the most important issues for youth today, giving rise to the title. “Just Us” is the result of the realization that regardless of the arbitrary labels society uses, people are who they are and who they are must be accepted. This is a fitting theme for a high school play because grades nine through twelve are a time when many young people are attempting to find their footing in the wider world, and are occasionally branded as something they are not.

As the cast and crew work diligently toward an April debut, each member of the team is mindful that art, whether it makes us cry, laugh or wonder, has a higher goal. Art is merely vanity if it is not accompanied by a message that causes the intended audience to reflect, and the play “Just Us” is just that. As our director is fond of saying, “There are no ‘them’ and ‘us,’ just ‘us.’”