The De Soto High School advanced English classes took a field trip to the KC Rep theater to see a production of A Raisin in the Sun on March 23.

Junior Sam McGuire enjoyed the production overall, but his favorite part of the day was not the production itself.

“My favorite part was after the show when we got to interact with part of the cast and really break down the characters and find out who they are and how the actors saw them,” McGuire said. “But, the production was very well done and I thought the set was amazing.”

For AP Literature and Composition students, however, the production was interesting for a different reason: the students read the original play by Lorraine Hansberry as part of their summer project.

AP Literature teacher Amanda Sweet believes that seeing the performance after reading the play was very beneficial for the students.

“Any time you read a novel or play before seeing a performance or movie, you immediately evaluate what you are watching based on how much it deviates from what you pictured. While there were a few moments that I felt should have been left in the production and there were a few acting choices that did not quite fit my interpretation, I thought that the play met my expectations,” Sweet said. “My students seemed to enjoy the production as a whole. They definitely noticed some differences from the play, but their feedback was mostly positive. The actress playing Lena Younger was by far their favorite part of the play.”

Senior Kirstin Cuba agreed that the production was different than the original play, but enjoyable.

“I really enjoyed seeing it after reading it because I was able to see how certain things were interpreted and follow the story line a little easier compared to the students who hadn’t read the script before seeing it,” Cuba said.

This year was the first time Cuba was able to go on the field trip, and she believed seeing the show to be a “valuable experience.”

“This is actually my first time going on a field trip like this, but I think it would be fun to do it again, and I think the school should keep providing trips like these in the future,” Cuba said. “I think this trip has value because we have been taught, especially in AP Lit, that plays can be interpreted in many different ways and to see someone’s interpretation of the story and be able to compare it to your interpretation on it is very interesting and educational. Seeing someone else’s interpretation also allows the students to discuss any differences they saw and try to understand why certain things were done certain ways and determine the meaning of it.”

Sweet agreed, saying that “… attending a play is a unique cultural experience just like going to a symphony or attending an art show. Students deserve to be exposed to a wide variety of artistic voices and deserve to see what methods of expression are out there.”