Current Issue 
Face to Face is a feature that allows two members of the Redwood community to grill each other, argue, or simply converse about a relevant issue.
Band or Drama?
Which program do you think is better and why?
Keira Sullivan: I’ve always been a theater person and I’ve always found a place in theater. It’s provided sort of a home for me. Being in theater has helped me not only gain skills in acting, but also how to function as a person.
Jonathan Ballard: I believe that band is the superior program at our school because unlike drama, band teaches not only an art form, but also a discipline that develops a part of the cerebrum that is usually untouched by normal academics and activities. Furthermore, in band, the only thing that will get you far in life is natural talent and hard work, and you can’t get a good grade by playing heads, shoulders, knees, and toes and sound ball all day.
KS: But being in theater definitely teaches you discipline. You can’t just be like “Oh, it is just theater. Everyone loves each other. Heads shoulders knees and toes.” You have to work your ass off. If you do EPiC right, you’re going to be there every day during class, most days after school, and every weekend you’re going to be working.
Which program requires more effort and inspires more passion in students?
KS: Well, I think that being in theater takes a lot, not just physical effort for building sets, but also mentally. You can’t just walk into the theater and be like, “Well, I’m a wonderful actor. Bow down and kiss my feet.” You have to put in the work and you have to listen to your director to change and be a versatile artist.
JB: I would have to say that it would be a lot easier for someone to stand on a stage and read lines and be presentable than it would for someone to hand them a trumpet and say, “Play this part.” Playing a musical instrument requires starting at an early age, learning something similar to a foreign language, being able to tap into an artistic part of your mind that no other part of school requires you to do, all under pressure, which requires a certain amount of ballsyness on its own. In music, you’re just not going to cut it unless you got your part down.
KS: You can’t fake playing whatever instrument, and I guess there are people who can fake the acting thing, but you can’t fake the work that it requires to be involved in theater.
JB: I would say that a slacker procrastinating freshman would be more inclined to take beginners drama than join band, just because of the fact that they would be able to coast by without any intervention from anyone as long as they did their little thing and sat in the back. On the other hand, in band, if you are not exceptional, you won’t make it. We do breed a higher, more superior, line of people.
Which program has more sexual innuendo?
KS: I’m going to have to say drama. Have you seen our couches?
JB: I don’t know. We have an entire section devoted to blowing.
KS: I feel like, this is true not just of EPiC, but all theater kids I know. We are very touchy feely people.
JB: An old working musician once said, what would a porno be without a soundtrack, so there’s definitely a little sexual tension going on in the music department.
Last thoughts?
KS: I come from a family of musicians and I don’t disrespect what it takes to be a musician. I just strongly prefer theater because it has more energy. Just the feeling of being on stage in front of a live audience and knowing it was your work and the work of the ensemble that put you there.
JB: Drama people and band people are all very similar with an emphasis on teamwork, outstanding performance, and striving for excellence. On the other hand, in a band, there is no offstage, there is no director, no costume designer, all of that goes into what’s on stage performing. There is no room for error. There is no one who can be behind the curtain. You are all performing on the spot and in the spotlight.
