As a member of both the cast and the crew of The Visit, I’m grateful that so many Gunn teachers support the drama program, and glad that so many of them liked the show. However, I wish some of them had expressed their appreciation in a slightly different manner.

Some teachers liked the show so much that they didn’t just encourage their students to go see it, they actually offered extra credit to students who attended. This seems like it would be a good way to utilize a teachable moment while simultaneously boosting our ticket sales—two educational birds with one stone. Honestly, though, this didn’t really work in anyone’s favor. The offers resulted in many students coming who saw the play as nothing more than an easy way to earn a bit of extra credit, and who felt no qualms about behaving badly. An audience member who is just there for a few extra points, and doesn’t actually care about the show, is an audience member who can easily ruin the experience for everyone else. These audience members are the ones who fill our sound system with static and our house with glowing screens by keeping their cell phones not only on, but fully employed. They are the ones who spend their time chatting with their friend in the row behind them, forcing the cast to compete with them for everyone else’s attention. They are the ones who snap up all the tickets before friends and family of the cast can even get to school, then disappear during intermission, because they have enough information to convince their teacher that they learned something. Obviously not all students who received extra credit for attending acted so badly, but it was clear that the offers of credit resulted in many more instances of disruptive behavior than would normally have occurred.

I doubt this kind of situation is really all that useful to the teachers, either. The Visit was chock full of discussion topics and food for thought, but someone who is only there to get credit won’t feel the need to focus on the intricacies of the moral dilemma presented in the play. The students who cause problems for us are likely learning minimal amounts at most. I don’t mind at all when teachers verbally encourage their students to go—I really appreciate their support—but I’d rather our audience came to see us out of genuine interest, not because of an academic incentive. It’ll be better for all concerned.

—Senior Shaina Davis