Last school year, in the hours after the bell, in room C120 at Mission San Jose High School, a group rehearsed for the production of an original play—its directors and actors and writer, all students.
The one-act production titled “The Removal” was written by Alisha Arora, a rising senior at Mission San Jose and a member of the school’s drama club, Universal Performers.
Every year, the Universal Performers Club makes it a tradition to attend LENAEA, an annual high school theater festival and competition hosted in Sacramento. However, for their club to attend and perform an existing play, they would’ve had to pay for a license.
“Mission San Jose is very much a STEM-oriented high school, and there isn’t a lot of funding for the drama program,” Arora said. “We didn’t have funding for a license, so I decided to step in so that we could save on the budget.”
Because the [Mission San Jose] campus does not have a theater stage, the group had to improvise by finding rehearsal locations elsewhere after school—either in classroom C120 or at a nearby bench outside
The play is set in a dystopian society and centers around five characters who are chosen to participate in a government-sanctioned event. Throughout the play, the characters go through rounds in which they must vote to remove one person from their society. For Arora, the idea for it came from her personal interest in civics and political education.
“Growing up, I used to feel like I was just one person who didn’t influence the real world,” she said. “When I reflect now, I think that we all have some influence over our political and social system in some way. I wanted people to watch my play and consider their own role and participation in our government.”
Arora’s writing process started with reading dystopian novels and analyzing the archetypes of different characters. When the play’s production began, the drama club’s members helped her point out inconsistencies in some of the characters and plot holes during rehearsals, which she then used to revise her writing.
The production process was a combined effort from the club’s members. Arora co-directed the play with Tommy Baria, another Mission San Jose student. Because the school’s campus does not have a theater stage, the group had to improvise by finding rehearsal locations elsewhere after school—either in classroom C120 or at a nearby bench outside. The club also does not own a lot of production material, so members found ways to simplify the set design.
After months of rehearsals and preparation, “The Removal” took home the bronze prize for the one-act performance category at LENAEA, and Arora won gold for her original script.
Arora discussed the reactions she received from audience members at the festival. “The conversations that were happening between characters started as very lighthearted, and then turned into something deeper and more serious, and I think the audience didn’t expect it.” At the end, the judges told her that the play made them feel uncomfortable, as was her intention.
“It’s supposed to make you feel uncomfortable,” she reflected. “The play ended with a tragedy, as the cycle of the ‘removals’ continues. You’re left feeling like the characters should have done something, but they can’t go back and fix what already happened.”
Arora plans to continue with the drama club and attend the theater festival again next year, and has aspirations to pursue law in the future. In the meantime, she has a message for other young artists: “Art is everywhere and can be about anything. If you have a message that you want to convey to the rest of the world, the arts and performance are great ways to do it.”
