NORWICH – Members of the Norwich High School Drama Club explored misperceptions about homelessness in an original one act play recently performed in the school’s theater.
“The Buck Stops Here,” set in a busy Manhattan subway station, was written, produced and performed by eight juniors and seniors who are studying public speaking, drama and improvisation under the guidance of their teacher, Richard Bernstein.
The drama depicts flaws in society’s perception of what makes individuals homeless, what types of people are likely to end up that way, and who is helping or not helping them under the pretense of helping. The student actors played hobos, philanthropists, executives, a clean-needle doling volunteer, and an enthusiastic college sorority girl whose interactions while waiting for their trains were both very funny and painfully sad.
The hobos, played by Shannon Richards as the drug addict, Peg, and Charles, a guitarist played by Jeff Wilkinson, are huddled together inside the station discussing their latest meal or lack thereof. While Peg complains of a canker sore, she identifies the various chords, cadences and keys to the new tune Charles plays. The two appear intelligent, resolved in their state and oblivious to the passing of time, or as Peg says, “Time’s not my thing anyway.”
Lorraine and Stella, activists against poverty played by Julia Simcoe and Ashlee Zammiello, enter the station, see and approach the hobos and yell loud and clear at them as if they were deaf and daft.
“Helloo! Have you eaten today?” sings Lorraine. “Oh that’s right, you’re probably stuffed from the meal of macaroni and cheese with cornbread you had last night at the soup kitchen. You’re welcome, by the way.”
They are smug, and Lorraine congratulates Stella for joining her group and helping to make a difference in the lives of the poor. “I wish I were there with you in the beginning, but I was busy getting my college degree,” said Stella. “Little did I know I only needed to marry a wealthy man to dedicate my time to helping others.”
Meanwhile, Peg and Charles say they often travel many blocks and wait in lines all night long in order to receive food that really isn’t very good.
In walk two corporate executives complaining about the quality of the donuts offered during a Friday afternoon business meeting. One of them, “Rich, played by Sean Sheldon, displays his ignorance when referring to the hobos as government workers paid to entertain commuters. “You would think they would give them a uniform or something because their clothes are really awful,” he says.
When Rich proceeds to tip Charles, his associate, Vivian, played by Molly DeMellier, laughs at his ignorance - while professing her own - saying the hobos are homeless “or at least pretending to be” and “sit in the subways at rush hour to mooch off people like us who actually have jobs.” She makes Rich take his $5 back, saying the money will be used for drugs, “not new clothes or food or any of the essentials he wants you to think he’s using your money for.”
Seeing this, the activists chastise Rich for his selfishness.
Vivian steps in to actually suggest that flushing money down the toilet is America’s best way to feed the hungry because the sewage would ultimately reach the world’s most starving people, the people of India. She professes to have learned this from watching the movie, “Slumdog Millionaire.”
