Student actors reviewed by peers

Daniela Mohor

Friday, Oct. 19, 2001 | 4:22 a.m.

Fifteen-year-old Harrison Decreny confidently walks across the stage at the Black Box Theater at the Las Vegas Academy.

Other students loudly move ladders to fix the lighting, but Decreny doesn't allow the noise to disturb him. He recites his monolog with conviction.

Harrison obtained his first leading part in the play, "Our Town" by Thorton Wilder, and knows this is one of his last chances to prepare for the show. In a few more days he will be reviewed for the first time, and not by just anyone. The Cappies, a panel of high school reviewers, are coming to the play.

Created in Washington in 1999, Cappies is a national critics and awards program that is expanding across the nation. Its main purpose is to make the community more aware of the theater work accomplished by high school students. But it is also a way to invite students to learn from each other.

The program started only a few months ago in Las Vegas and involves seven schools and about 55 students.

Each participating school presents a play and a musical to be reviewed during the academic year and selects a group of three to 12 reviewers.

To be eligible, students must have a theater background, a 2.0 grade point average and writing skills. They must also have daily access to e-mail.

The Cappies see all of the shows and write reviews, which are then submitted to local newspapers for publication. During the whole process, students are assessed by mentors, who discuss the plays with them, supervise their work and eventually edit their pieces.

"It's fantastic," said Gerry Born, a drama teacher at the Las Vegas Academy and the director of the school's production of "Our Town."

"It gets kids together from different schools to talk and watch theater. It encourages them to develop communication skills, to look critically at pieces of art and to put their abstract feelings into terms."

Mikelle Cortez, the Las Vegas Cappies program director, agrees. Cappies, she said, is not only an opportunity for drama students to reach out to the community; it has precious educational value.

Cappies allows theater students to become familiar with a variety of plays, see different sets and interact with people other than their own drama teachers. Such exposure to a variety of environments fosters their creativity, Cortez said.

"If all (students) see only what they do, it's not going to educate them," Cortez said. "It's like a writer who doesn't read other people's books."

Students themselves say that watching live plays outside their schools is an enriching experience. They regret not having the opportunity more often.

"I love going to see plays," Decreny said. "I put myself in one of the character's shoes, I watch and I think of things to do, maybe things that would have made the person playing that (character) better. It's kind of neat to think about new things. It helps you in class.'

Another educational aspect of the program is the criticism itself. Although some students admit that being reviewed by their peers makes them a little nervous, most of the teenagers at the academy anticipate it.

"It's good to have peers as critics. It's more comforting because sometimes adults baby us," said Emily Foster, a senior who was previously reviewed by Washington Cappies at the International Thespian Festival in Nebraska. "High school kids expect a lot of us."

Criticism, she added, helps her find out how to become a better actress. Foster is part of the cast of "Our Town."

Reviewers, on the other hand, try to be indulgent. One way for the performers to identify the shortcomings of their show, Jeremy Juarez, one of the academy's Cappies, said, is to look at what is not praised in the review.

"We try to stay away from the negative aspect of (the play), " said Juarez, who found in the Cappies program a way to combine his interest for theater and journalism. "We try to keep it positive so that they have more incentives to do better."