Drama High: The Incredible True Story of a Brilliant Teacher, a Struggling Town, and the Magic of Theater

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Rachel Kramer Bussel, October 2, 2013 (view all comments by Rachel Kramer Bussel)
In Drama High, Michael Sokolove returns to his high school, now called Harry S. Truman High School, to profile drama teacher Lou Volpe, who, despite budget cuts and a flagging economy, has brought acclaim and popularity to his classes and spawned several generations of drama students. While never fawning, Sokolove makes it clear that Volpe has had a disproportionate effect on many of his students, including the author, who never took a drama class. By pushing his students to go deep into the material of plays like Good Boys and True, the main one covered in the book, and the controversial Spring Awakening, he takes many of them out of their comfort zones into something even better.

Sokolove contrasts what's happened to Levittown since its founding with its current conditions (for example, of the five giant swimming pools, four have now been filled in) as well as Truman's drama program with competing schools. Along the way, he also tells Volpe's story of coming out (both to himself, his then-wife and, though never as explicitly, to those who know him) as well as his path toward living and breathing theater. While focusing in on a specific school and one extraordinary teacher, Sokolove also paints an often disarming picture of what modern public schooling has become, a numbers game geared toward test scores. Against that backdrop, Volpe's achievements become all the more impressive, and the wealth offered by the very rigorous involvement required turns out to mean more than can be measured on any test.

Sokolove intersperses the story of the two years he spent at Truman High with interviews of former Volpe students, and, though brief, their dedication and vivid remembrances of Volpe speak volumes. A fascinating read, which in some ways reminded me of Joe Miller's look at a school's chess team, Cross-X, especially in its underdog element. The students themselves are book smart and street smart and their outlooks and personal dramas, and especially the way they see their theater involvement impacting their futures, stands out. In an age where we so often read about mothers like the ones in Emily Matchar's The New Domesticity, who want to tightly control their children's environments, seeing kids grow up in much tougher circumstances but being both realistic and often striving for more (the scene where Volpe chastises a 23-year-old former student for resting in being "comfortable" is wonderful, not to mention a message that readers of all ages can take to heart) is refreshing. Sokolove owns his own biases, but is never too fawning or matter-of-fact. He is an interested observer who situations Volpe's dedication as rare but never saintly. Highly recommended.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9781594488221

Subtitle:

The Incredible True Story of a Brilliant Teacher, a Struggling Town, and the Magic of Theater

Author:

Sokolove, Michael

Publisher:

Riverhead Hardcover

Subject:

Educators

Subject:

DRAMA / General

Subject:

Biography-Educators

Copyright:

2013

Edition Description:

Hardback

Publication Date:

20130926

Binding:

Hardback

Grade Level:

from 12

Language:

English

Illustrations:

b/w photos throughout

Pages:

352

Dimensions:

9 x 6 in 1 lb

Age Level:

from 18