Big school aniversary celebrations
RVHS recently (by recently I mean today) had a big 70th aniversary celebration. It was a huge affair that tooks months of planning by everyone involved and was designed as showcase of our performing arts CCA's, replacing the school's annual "reverie" concert. I was actually quite anticipating this one, given that it was produced by the folks at The Theater Practice, and for sure they delivered on the spectacle front. I'm still reeling from the incredible stage lighting and the work by our own school performers
More dubious though was the storyline itself, which essentially set out to define what the "RV Spirit" was, and by the end I suppose the audience members were to have an epiphany that it was the the "RV Spirit" was made up of the people who make RV what it is today and continue to shape it. The problem is that most of the various stories (This production is promenade theater) don't ever deepen or atempt to interrogate that thesis beyond surface platitudes or outright don't have any relevance at all to the theme. The choice of stories don't add up to a coheisve whole, which inevitbale hurts the finale and the catharsis it tries to achieve. As a result, I tend to take more notice of shameless manipulation like playing videos of various past and present school staff and students affirming that they are part of this big happy family or by giving us government speeches about our unsung heroes at the end of a performance.
Ironically, all this led me to gain a newfound appreciation for what this elaborate production replaced. During the finale when they were playing the videos and got everyone to sing the school song, I felt like I was observing a eulogy. For something that was supposed to celebrate the people, it lacked a sense of an alive, organic human touch. of The annual "reverie" concert can't match the scale or technical proficiency of this production, yet when the credits roll, when everyone sings along with the performers on stage and wave their phones together, I know the connection I have at that moment with the people who make up this school feels more authentic than the one this production longs so desperately for
Maybe this squeaky clean, public relations approved production is more representative of the school spirit, which only means my 5 years here hasn't taught me much at all. I almost don't believe TTP made this.
I hope other's people's experiences with school aniversary celebrations are much more meaningful than the one I had