By Ms. Miller’s Journalism Class 

Jeanne Arrigo, who plays Judge Barnes, addresses the crowd to begin the play “Defamation.” (Photo courtesy of Michelle Harris ‘17)

On Monday October 17th, the Wyoming Seminary community spent a day together to discuss sensitive social topics after viewing the nationally touring play, “Defamation.” “Defamation” is a courtroom drama where a black woman sues a Jewish man for defamation. The play included six actors and a jury of 500 audience members. At the end, the audience makes the ultimate decision of who is right, who is wrong, and why.

A group of 18 students and two faculty members saw the play last year at Malvern Prep High School in Philadelphia, and were asking to bring not only the play to Sem, but to bring the conversation with it. The goal of the play is to question topics that might otherwise be pushed to the side or too difficult to talk about in everyday classroom conversation.

When asked what the point of bringing Defamation to Sem was, Defamation Stage Manager, Anders Goodwin explained, “To get the civil discourse of race, class, gender, religion, [and] all of the things that come up in the play, to people who don’t have much exposure to it. [And to people who] have thoughts about it but haven’t had the chance to express their thoughts. These are conversations that we have to have in society but it’s hard to get these conversations started in a place that doesn’t feel threatening.”  

Sem Students watching a video about race in college admissions. (Photo courtesy of Parshwa Sheth ‘17)

A main goal of Monday was to get students to listen to each other and think about what they are saying, before they say it. “Listening to your peers and teachers, because you start to realize that everyone has their own views on the play. We’ve all seen the same thing but we all come out with slightly different perceptions on it.” Goodwin explains.

Following the play students were sent to afternoon sessions; two per student based on their choice. Many controversial topics such as race, religion, gender, class and the law were covered in the fifty-five minute sessions. Each session was hosted by faculty and special guests with relatively small group sizes of around twenty students.

This was a unique experience because these subjects are often not approached in a school environment. Sessions were varied, some being more informational and material based, while others were more discussion based. But the sessions not only informed students about what was going on in their world today but also what they will be facing in the coming years. Topics included safe spaces and free speech on college campuses, treatment of people with different sexual orientations, along with other concepts.

Some sessions ended with students being more informed, while others left students arguing with one another over their own beliefs.

Sem Students engaged in a discussion about Racial Segregation. (Photo Courtesy of Parshwa Sheth ‘17)