Falcon Theatre Traditions
A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. They are a component of cultural expressions and lore. The Falcon Theatre program is steeped in rich traditions with which the members within carry long past their short tenure at TCHS.
Opening Day
Hanging the Poster
In the hall outside of the Black Box, there is a long line of framed show posters. Prior to opening each show, the director delivers a heartfelt speech differing each time. Poignantly illustrating the more delicate meanings of each forthcoming performance, they share parables relating the work to life and the audience experience. After hanging the poster, he/she officially announces that the show is open!
Dress for Respect
During school, before opening night, all Falcon Theatre students and directors dress up in their fanciest attire to show respect to the most sacred of rituals: Opening Night. Joining with countless other theatre artists across the globe to celebrate and partake in the oldest and greatest of all art forms: The Telling of Stories.
Auld Lang Syne
Originally composed in the later part of the eighteenth century by Robert Burns, the song quickly rose in popularity across the lands. It eventually became a staple in modern New Year's Eve traditions encouraging listeners to reflect upon the year coming to a close before celebrating the year to come. Inserting this aural tradition into Falcon Theatre was natural. It gently nudges the participants to cherish relationship, as this is the thing we desperately long for: a life of bearing one another’s burdens and sharing each other’s delights; That which makes our memories worth celebrating, when all is said and done.
Front Row Attendance
Each and every student serves as part of an underlying support system for the greater Falcon Theatre community. As such, during the opening night of all shows, the students not participating in the current performance sit in the first few rows of the audience to show support for their fellow Falcons.
Reading "The Secret Dream"
While not originally published as a stand-alone poem, the lyrics are embedded in the mid-section of J.B. Priestley’s "Delight" (1949). As a reminder to all who hear it, Priestley's words champion the virtues of small-scale, high-quality creativity while encouraging more personal, community-focused art. It is a message which withstands the test of time that generations, both young and old, are able to remember. Regardless of those potential detractors, that might say dreams are for fools, we carry an unsated desire to entertain through storytelling.
The Secret Dream
The Secret Dream
The hunger that can never be fulfilled
To come out of a late rehearsal and smell the lilacs
To have a play done as well as it can be done
By dear friends and tired colleagues
Not indifferently produced on all the stages of the world
But in that one dear familiar theatre
Some of my friends will be onto me
Before you can say knife
To tell me that such a place does not exist
Outside a daydream
But some of us
As we go
Hold to a notion quite different
For ours is the Secret Dream.
- J. B. Priestly (excerpted from J.B. Priestley’s essay, Delight)
Closing Night
Amongst the sweat and tears indicative of a company leaving every last bit of energy they could muster on the stage. Before they strike, after hugs and high-fives, the cast gathers together backstage to partake in one final tradition. Like so many performances that came before, and the many still to come, a handwritten title awaits it glorious fate. The director reviews the performance, praising the cast for a job well done, before striking through the show title... officially announcing that the show is closed!