SPAM: Short Plays and Monologues

SPAM:Short Plays and Monologues was a black-box-styled theatrical presentation of the Quaker Valley High School Drama Club. The school is located outside of Pittsburgh in Leetsdale, Pennsylvania. SPAM was conceived in 1999 by newly hired teachers Marc Duchin and Steven D'Addieco, who that year formed and co-sponsored the school's first official thespian group. Mr. Duchin was hired specifically to teach Drama and direct productions as part of the Quaker Valley School District's Strategic Plan. He has a Master's Degree in Educational Theater from NYU. Mr. D'Addieco, who earned a Bachelor's Degree in Film from UCLA, joined Mr. Duchin in establishing a new theater arts focus at the school. The hallmark of their four-year run with the Drama Club, and resurrected in traditional proscenium style in 2010, was an annual, two-evening presentation of student- selected and directed one-act plays and monologues. The black-box venue was created by placing choral risers on the stage to form tiered seating along three sides of the performance area. The limited number of seats increased intimacy between audience and actors and decreased the impact of limited audience turnout. SPAM's advantages over single, full-length fall play offerings was that it involved more students in more capacities, and no student was ever rejected from participation offstage or on. The SPAM acronym was conceived in 1999 by Sarah Canter, who was then a Quaker Valley High School senior and member of Drama Club.