WINTHROP — The students had to choose.
The director handed them three scripts. One story chronicled a young girl’s struggle to gain self-confidence. The other two scripts focused on the tragic effects of bullying.
The play about the insecure girl was simpler, less emotional.
But Winthrop High School students knew they had to choose the script that they most related to: A story about loss and hope, tragedy and redemption.
The result was “Out of the Darkness,” an ensemble production that tells two stories; one about a bullied classmate who kills himself; the other about a beleaguered student who brings a gun to school to seek revenge.
“Everyone felt it was important to talk about bullying because it doesn’t get any better when people live in a bubble and refuse to discuss it,” said Senior Corinna Coulton, a cast member. “By talking about it, shedding light on bullying, it offers people a way to prevent bad things from happening.”
Still, the decision to perform a play about suicide and school gun violence was not an easy choice in a community that has witnessed more than its share of tragedy. But, bullying, the students believed, deserves more attention throughout Maine and the country.
The play evokes emotions of guilt, shame, fear and anger, but it also offers hope.
“The message was that whenever you may feel down, or whenever something is going wrong, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel,” said cast member and junior Vincent Scott. “Somebody is always there for you.”
Though the performance emotionally tested the student actors, their courage and resilience paid off.
On March 10, “Out of the Darkness” earned Winthrop first place in the Maine Drama Festival Class B competition. The students will go on to compete in the State Class B Finals Friday, March 24, 7 p.m. at Yarmouth High School.
Winthrop High School Theater Director Dennis Price credited his cast for tackling a difficult issue.
“The play illustrated the extreme people can go to if they’re bullied,” Price said. “The beginning is rough, angry, and then in the end, we show that if people change the way they talk, change the way they relate to others, good things can happen.”
Price also appreciated Winthrop High School Principal Keith Morin’s support for a production about suicide, a topic that remains sensitive in Winthrop, where five former high school football players killed themselves between 2003 and 2006, in the years after they graduated.
“Keith trusted us with some very sensitive material,” said Price.
The student cast was also concerned how the community would react to “Out of the Darkness” after the loss of another student to suicide in 2014 and the arrest of a 17-year-old student, charged with killing his parents in October 2016.
“I was a little concerned, to be honest, given Winthrop’s history,” said Coulton, who has participated in the state’s drama festival for the past four years. “I thought, ‘This is going to be a difficult play for us to put on.’ ”
Students perform several dramatic scenes in “Out of the Darkness,” including one in which the harassed student’s friend berates the class president for not doing more to silence the bullies.
“I didn’t do anything,” Emily explains.
“Exactly,” counters Jack, the deceased boy’s friend. “You didn’t do anything.”
“What was I supposed to do?” Emily asks.
“How about have some guts. God, why is everyone so afraid? What are you so scared of? Do you want to be class president that badly?”
At the Maine Drama Festival, “Out of the Darkness” received a standing ovation from the audience. Several wiped away tears at the play’s conclusion. The intense scenes and dialogue also affected the cast.
“I definitely have a different perspective towards bullying,” said Scott. “I wouldn’t say I was quiet before when I saw bullying, but now I’d be more confident in intervening.”
On Tuesday, March 21, at 7 p.m., Winthrop students will perform “Out of the Darkness” at their high school for the community. Donations will be accepted to help defer the cost of the cast’s hotel expenses during the state finals in Yarmouth.
Price and his students hope their play will resonate with Winthrop residents, and that the production’s message will prompt discussion and awareness of how words can either wound or heal.
“We didn’t want the show to be preachy, but we hope that the audience will understand Martin Luther King’s words that darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.”
Barbara Walsh is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and the author of August Gale: A Father and Daughter’s Journey into the Storm.
Director Dennis Price, far right, first row, poses with the Winthrop High Theatre Arts cast and production crew for “Out of the Darkness,” which won first place in the Maine Drama Festival Class B Regional competition March 10. Winthrop will perform the play at the school’s Performing Arts Center, Tuesday, March 21, at 7 p.m. Students compete in the State Class B Finals Friday, March 24, at 7 p.m. at Yarmouth High School.