Griffiths students strike gold with Trouble in Tumbleweed

Griffiths Middle School 7th and 8th grade Advanced Drama’s ‘Trouble In Tumbleweed.’ Courtesy photo

DOWNEY – Earlier in May, Jessica McNeil’s Griffiths Middle School seventh- and eighth-grade advanced drama students presented Tim Kelly’s *Trouble in Tumbleweed* free to the community. The play was inspired by Nikolai Gogol’s classic *The Inspector General*.

An advanced drama class? That means these students must have had at least some prior experience as tenderfeet in drama during sixth or seventh grade.

Griffiths was recently recognized as a California Distinguished School. It is impressive that in the Downey Unified School District, students have the opportunity to participate in theater at such a young age.

With the remodeling of our middle schools, DUSD seems to have had the foresight to recognize that its beautiful gymnasiums could be converted into theaters with large stages and room for sizable audiences. Dedicated district staff transform the gyms and operate the lights and sound.

Earlier this year, Mrs. Knox’s sixth-grade drama club students presented a delightful *Alice in Wonderland* in Room 92, which was converted into a sweet, intimate studio theater that seats about 85 people. But this was the big time for these advanced drama students.

*Trouble in Tumbleweed* is a cockeyed farce that takes us to the Arizona Territory in the 1880s and the dusty town of Tumbleweed. The pompous Mayor Oates has been hired by a Boston businessman to build a town that one day will become the territory’s capital. To fill local positions such as sheriff, schoolmarm and doctor, he hires his incompetent relatives, kickbacks included, of course.

The news that a Pinkerton detective is coming from Boston to inspect the town’s development throws the whole family into a panic. Since they have been pocketing the businessman’s money, the town hall is nothing more than a hole in the ground and the schoolhouse has no roof.

A medicine show huckster, Professor Burns, is stranded in town because his dancing bear has tangoed away. The relatives assume the professor is the detective, and he is only too happy to take advantage of their mistake. Together with the glamorous cardsharp Lily de Lilac, he has the relatives tripping over one another in hysterical attempts to bribe him.

Just when you think the dust is settling, the real detective arrives.

The audience was enthusiastic.

Theater education provides students with valuable life skills that go well beyond the stage. It introduces literature while building empathy, discipline, literacy and self-confidence. Through hands-on collaboration and teamwork, students also learn to navigate and overcome complex challenges.

The real magic of this production is the way it brought our community together and the experience it provided for our young people.

Huge thanks go to the dedicated adults who worked behind the scenes to make it all happen. It is safe to say the audience is already buzzing with excitement for whatever these talented young performers tackle next.