JET BRINGS “MEAN GIRLS” TO DEARBORN MIDDLE SCHOOL

Photo by: Sue Suchyta

Courtney Zimmer (left) as Jill, Katie Terpstra as Megan, Lisa Lauren Smith as Haley and Lulu Dahl as Cheryl presented Maddee Sommers’ “Mean Girls” at Stout Middle School Feb. 3 to share its anti-bullying message along with coping strategies. The program is sponsored by the Jewish Ensemble Theatre’s Youth Education Services.

 

            The Jewish Ensemble Theatre’s Youth Education Services brought Maddie Sommers’ one-act play “Mean Girls” and its anti-bullying message to Stout Middle School on Feb. 3, capturing the attention of its middle school female audience. The play is both different and unrelated to the popular movie by the same name.

BULLIES BEGONE

            The male middle school students say a performance of “Word” with a similar bullying theme in the school gym.

            Dearborn’s Bryant Middle School is scheduled for performances in early April.

CYBER-BULLYING A THREAT TO GIRLS

            Director Harold Jurkiewicz said that today cyber bullying is an even bigger threat than physical bullying for girls. He explained that a talk-back session after the show with the students and the staff help middle school students identify manipulative and hurtful behavior and how to cope with it and stop it.

ACTRESS CAPTURE TEEN IMPATIENCE AND PRESSURE

            The talented cast includes Katie Terpstra of Zeeland as Megan, a queen bee, Courtney Zimmer of Orchard Lake as Jill and Lulu Dahl of Detroit as Cheryl, who both play bystanders and a victims, and Lisa Lauren Smith of Detroit as Haley, who plays the banker or secret-keeper.

            The four talented young women in the ensemble, who are all in their early- to mid-twenties, convincingly portray teen girls with their physical energy, strong grasp of teen idiom and inflection, and their personification of teen impatience, insecurity and the pressure to please one’s peers.

AUDIENCES CAUGHT UP IN THE DRAMA

            Jurkiewicz said that in the past some audience members found the cast so believable they had difficulty recognizing that the women were really actors play roles.

COPING STRATEGIES SHARED

            He added that the feedback session after the one-act performance of “Mean Girls” not only identifies the bully-behaviors for its middle school audiences, it gives the students recognition tools and verbal coping mechanisms.

TO BOOK A SCHOOL VISIT:

            For more information about the JET’s youth education services, contact outreach coordinator Mary Davis at (248) 788-2900 or at outreach@jettheatre.org, or go to www.jettheatre.org.