April 4, 2022 By Carol Britton Meyer
What started out as a distressing situation for the Hingham High School Drama Club led to a show of community support.
Following an issue at HHS that caused the Club to cancel a scheduled performance in front of fellow students on Friday, March 18, Zoe Bradford, President & Co-founder of The Company Theatre, invited Club members to attend the play, "Something Rotten!" as her guests.
Bradford gave the Drama Club members in the audience a warm welcome, noting that The Company Theatre's mission has always been to be "welcoming and inclusive."
The play was especially meaningful since Hingham High School student Kate Schembri is among the performers. In addition, Tim Bevins -- who plays Joseph in the upcoming production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" -- is also an HHS student.
A Facebook post about the incident at HHS prompted Bradford to take action. The post mentioned the recent HHS and Hingham Middle School walkouts -- in conjunction with other students across the country -- opposing the passage of recent LGBTQIA+ legislation in Texas and Florida and in support of their fellow LGBTQIA+ students.
The post referred to a disruption by a student who loudly and publicly mocked their efforts, "marring what should have been an uplifting moment for the LGBTQIA+ students at the high school."
This led to the cancellation of the in-school play performance "because members of the Drama Club do not feel safe at this time expressing themselves in front of the school community," according to the post.
In conjunction with the HHS Drama Club's participation in the METG (Mass Educational Theatre Guild) One-Act Play Festival -- performing "Princess Party Smackdown" -- the Club recently presented a preview performance in the HHS auditorium for anyone who wanted to attend as a supportive audience member. The Drama Club advanced in the competition the day after they attended the Company Theatre performance.
While admission to the preview performance was free, donations were collected for the Anna Quinlivan Memorial Scholarship. Anna, a member of the Drama Club, passed away on July 31, 2020, from cardiac arrest following a run, just three weeks after her 16th birthday. This would have been her senior year at HHS.
In another round of community support, student performers wore small "Pride" ribbons on their costumes as a show unity and solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community.
You can view a clip of Zoe Bradfords speech here.
