Piece Comment

Review of Where Were You Fifth Period?


Ah, cutting class. A time-honored high school tradition that unites us all, ditching has been practiced by pretty much every high school student. "Where Were You Fifth Period" takes a look at the reasons why students cut class, from the ordinary ("I woke up late!" and "The class was boring" have been student excuses since the Stone Age") to the exceptional - one girl didn't go to school for three days in order to attend a concert.
The best part of this piece, though, was the way it exposed a little of the school system's hypocrisy through the casual student responses. Two girls admit that they cut class in order to finish a class project, and another says that since the school wouldn't let her father pick her up (he wasn't on the "emergency contact" list) she had to just leave instead. These responses lent a very interesting light to the piece, making it more than just another humorous montage of teens doing funny things.
The piece would work well in a larger magazine-style show about high school; it might be a little short to stand well on its own.