The Speech and Debate Team has been a fixture at the high school for eight years. This year, a five-student team has brought a new event to the table.
Multiple Interpretation (MULT) is a speech event in which a team of at least three members memorize and perform a roughly 10-minute skit of a pre-existing fictional work to a panel of judges. The high school’s team is made up of five members: Amelie Theunissen, Amelia Lo Proto, Elora Liang, Brielle Geller and Claire Wang. They are all first years at the high school and all new to the event.
The team is currently planning on performing a humorous skit, in which 5 characters invent ridiculous methods to survive while sheltering during a zombie apocalypse. They must perform the skit without using any props, save for a binder containing their script that they aren’t supposed to refer to.
Despite the team’s newbie status, they are working towards a goal of performing their skit at a competition in March, where they will compete against the Xaverian Brothers High School, an all-boy’s team who have dominated the Multiple Interpretation event for years, according to Freshman team member Amelie Theunissen.
Theunissen convinced her teammates, most of whom had previously only participated in debate events, to try MULT, after receiving the suggestion from her adviser.
“It’s nice because we’re all learning together, so you don’t feel like, ‘Oh, I’m falling behind,’” Theunissen said. “We are in the same shoes, and we can all work together and help build each other up.”
Freshman Amelia Lo Proto also participates in extemporaneous speaking, a different speech event. Lo Proto said she enjoys the unique collaborative aspect of MULT.
“In other parts of speech and debate, you’re kind of monologuing. You don’t really get to interact, but [in MULT] you get to,” Lo Proto said. “I really enjoy hanging out with these four girls and being able to act and have fun. It’s not something I normally do, so I like how it’s pushing me out of my comfort zone.”
Speech and debate coach Graciela Mohammedi said that the collaborative nature of speech and debate helps students gain skills that they might not have otherwise learned in a classroom.
“You’re learning how to work with other people, you’re collaborating, you’re building yourself a team, and that’s huge,” Mohamedi said. “What I’ve seen over the years of coaching the speech and debate team is that my team members turn into a mini little family.”
Mohammedi said that in performance categories like MULT, performers must be aware of their body language and facial expressions. The team also has to hone important techniques for their amusing performance, including timing and the ability to be funny.
“It really makes you think about the body language that you’re giving and receiving from others,” Mohamedi said. “That’s one of the things that I love about the performing events, because you have to be in tune that way.”
Lo Proto said that although the team struggled at first to express their characters, they have since built confidence and capability.
“I think we’ve all gotten more of a natural flow. Not only working with how we feel the character would actually be, but also with each other [and] how the dynamics of the characters compare with each other,” Lo Proto said.
In March, the team will perform their skit in front of a panel of judges. The only audience they will have are the judges and potentially their opponents, who have the option to watch the competition. Theunissen said that while she and her team would be extremely excited to win the competition, she hopes, above all, that everyone will enjoy the show.
“I would want [the audience] to remember how well we work together, how much time and effort the whole group put into bringing it alive,” Theunissen said. “And the fun we had while doing it.”
