By Marilyn Jozwik
In the past year students of all ages have certainly become familiar with virtual learning. In First Stage’s “Unmuted,” by First Stage playwright-in-residence Alvaro Saar Rios, we see a virtual gym class going rogue when their substitute teacher goes missing mid-class.
The 20-minute slice of a pandemic year classroom, part of First Stage’s Amplify Series featuring plays by playwrights who fall into the categories of Black, Indigenous and People of Color, features some catchy tunes along with a spunky bunch of performers playing, well, what seem to be themselves.
The show, directed by Anna Skidis Vargas and presented online, looks like a Zoom classroom with a handful of students going through the motions of a gym class. Until they realize their substitute teacher is no longer “in the room” (he had mentioned having trouble with internet) and all their microphones have been unmuted.
Their newfound freedoms prompt a catchy tune about the joys of being unmuted. All the young performers display pleasant vocals, augmented with lots of movement and wide-eyed enthusiasm as they sing about their teacherless virtual classroom. One student provides a verse in Spanish.
Student Mighty Monarch has taken control of the classroom and the youngsters fill the remaining class time with a game of Secret or Dare, which helps us better know them – Mighty Monarch loves to draw superheroes of color, another doesn’t like her long name. One even shares a string of auto-corrected texts that includes some funny results such as, “No, I didn’t send you a Texas.” Finally, a secret leads to a realization they all have – “I miss school!”
Which is the perfect segue to the final tune – another danceable, singable, bouncy bit, which lists all the things the students miss about in-person classes, from lunch and having kids laugh at jokes, to singing in circles and even going to the principal’s office.
Youngsters will be able to relate to the student performers, who peek into their uncharted world of remote learning in an entertaining and timely way.
Especially enjoyable is the music, which is sure to have the kid viewers dancing in their seats and humming along. Deborah Wicks La Puma did the music and lyrics. The virtual presentation synced up the tunes nicely to showcase the kid actors’ great vocals.
Student performers are Allie Snyder, Noel Rubalcava, Ariel Nelson, Reese Bell, Dayanara Sanchez, Annie Sturtz, Ryon Davis and Naima Gaines.
The play is available on the First Stage YouTube channel through May 30. While making a donation is not required for streaming access, all donations help support the artists involved in the Amplify series and First Stage. To learn more and to register, go to: https://www.firststage.org/amplify.