Up The Down Staircase

WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Up the Down Staircase is a comedy/drama based on a best-selling novel from the 1960s about the adventures of a brand new young teacher in a tough inner city high school The original novel was told through pieces of paper - memos, letters, notes, entries in a suggestion box, etc - and is both very funny and an unflinching look at what's wrong in education - overworked teachers, mountains of paperwork, kids who are hard to reach, etc. The play reflects the comic sensibility of 60s tv shows like LAUGH-IN, with short comic blackouts and characters popping out of walls to deliver a line or two, only to be replaced by others popping out of a different spot. The basic set is a classroom, surrounded by some kind of apparatus to allow for the quick-time one-liners. The major conflicts of the show involve the efforts of the new teacher, Sylvia Barrett, to maintain her idealism about teaching while learning to handle all the disruptions and distractions. Comedy is provided by the students, a very well-written ensemble of characters who maintain individuality while still reminding us of "types". The antagonists are a no-nonsense assistant principal and a brooding, troubled boy that Sylvia tries endlessly to reach.

WHAT'S GOOD - there are about 30 roles for characters ranging from students to teachers. The lead character is an idealistic female teacher. There is plenty of humor in the personalities of the characters and the trials and tribulations of an urban high school, all of which are depicted cleverly and without talking down to the audience. Even now, 40-some years later, the play retains a fresh and contemporary feel. The set could be fun for a creative team - how to build the multi-level fantasy set-up behind a more or less realistic classroom setting. There is good name recognition for those who are old enough to remember the original.

WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD - with 30 roles, lots of them have very limited stage time. There is not much action, and the teacher characters are (mostly) not as interesting as the students. The leading character is onstage almost every minute of the play. The writing is a little inconsistent - some scenes land beautifully, others are not quite as successful. One subplot involves the attempted suicide of a student, inadvertently caused by the actions of a teacher - a plot that is pretty much dropped midway through the script. The show might rank fairly low on the "acting challenge" index - maybe better for developing talents than for more experienced performers.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Post comments! I'll comment on another script in my next posting.