Walsh Students Embrace Theatre for Social Change

Drama Club won a gold medal at the state drama festival, for a student scripted play with a message about what students really go through daily.

Walsh Drama Club, Dramatic Paws, competed in the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild Drama Festival. The group of 40 students performed an original play they wrote called Code Yellow. In addition to awards for lights, directing and acting achievement, the student ensemble took home a gold medal for their production.

Code Yellow addresses many issues that middle school students deal with on a daily basis including, social circles, fear, divorce, exclusion, reputation, dreams and the dangers of bullying.

Code Yellow is the term used in the Framingham Public Schools, when there is a disturbance or stranger in the building causing classrooms to be in a state of lock down. The play is set in a school music classroom during a Code Yellow.

Dramatic Paws will perform Code Yellow Wednesday, May 11 at 7:45 p.m. in the Walsh auditorium.

Dramatic Paws also has been asked to perform the production to the entire student body, as a lead in for small group discussions on bullying and other issues of social competency. 

Code Yellow, does not have a clear ending, rather, it leaves room for discussion. The audience is encouraged to talk about what they believe will happen next vs. what they feel should happen next.

The message of Code Yellow, received a great deal of attention at the state's drama festival for middle schools. One Quincy school, attending the festival, has requested permission to perform the play for all of their incoming sixth grade students, as part of their anti-bullying program.

Walsh students created the play so their voice could be heard. That voice is now gaining a greater audience, said drama teacher and director Sheron Doucette.

Finding a play that was age appropriate, met the needs of our cast, and had a message that was relevant but not preachy, was a challenge, she said. After reading many scripts, we collectively decided that we could write our own.

Each student involved had a part in writing the play.  The 35 minute production included only a fraction of the monologues and scenes written. The 40 students involved, range in age from 11 to 14 from diverse backgrounds and social groups.  The entire process of brainstorming, writing, re-writing and rehearsing took place over six weeks.  Several of the characters were a combination of student work to allow for more voices to be reflected.

It is important to note that the funding for this program to enter the state competition was cut by the school administration. An anonymous individual donated money so that all three middle schools - Cameron, Fuller and Walsh could participate.