Middle School Theatre Director under fire for profanity-laced rant at students
by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder
A theatre teacher at a Kansas middle school is under fire today over an alleged incident during performances of Basehor-Linwood Middle School's production of “Charlotte's Web”. The teacher, Sarah Homan, is accused of launching into a profanity-laced rant directed at students over missed lines and other mishaps that occurred during the production.
Multiple parents have issued complaints to the school over the Homan’s behavior.
According to local reports, the alleged tirade occurred between two performances of the show.
The students reported several missed lines of dialogue replaced by ad-libs and some nervous giggling throughout the first performance, leading to the reportedly harsh criticism of them. Parents described as the second show got underway that evening, several actors were in tears, distraught at their teacher’s behavior and wishing to avoid her.
While Homan did not respond for comment, she did send two emails to the students following the performances.
She wrote,
Sarah Homan
“Please remember that when emotions are high it doesn’t always bring out the best in us. This show was my baby and I was sad that our last show seemed to go in reverse. But, just because I was disappointed in that moment does not mean I’m disappointed with everything we worked for. I love you all, and just because I was angry that things didn’t go as planned does not mean that I don’t believe in you. It means that I care about how hard we worked and it was hard for me to see us mess up. Please remember that. Theatre can be tough. We are emotional people that are passionate about life. My directing style is unique, I will admit and may seem tough, but it’s because I see so much potential in you.”
A second email was, in her words, a “follow-up” a few days later:
”I wanted to take a moment to apologize for how I made some of you feel during Sunday night’s show. Emotions were elevated and it was a high-stress situation. I know now that criticism was not the best thing to add to the situation. You have made me realize that everyone reacts to situations like this differently and that I must be aware of the sensitivities of all students. I apologize for how my words may have offended anyone. I hope that this will not discourage you from staying involved in theatre as you are all amazing and should continue with it. Have a wonderful rest of your year.”
Basehor-Linwood Superintendent Doug Powers responded for comment with the following statement,
”I am aware of the complaints arising from the performance. We have followed policy and negotiated agreement in dealing with this.”
My take is that obviously, Homan’s alleged behavior is unacceptable. Her rant wouldn’t be the norm at any level of the theatre, whether it’s Broadway or schools. I also find both her emails to be the wrong response. They go from her playing the victim to gaslighting. The fact that she would call her abusive directing style “unique”, speaks to an inflated ego and is everything this industry is trying to change. Also, it’s more than a bit preposterous that she’s taking middle-school theatre so seriously that she would rant against the students between performances for missed lines.
I don’t know much about the Basehor, KS community. But if you can find a better teacher to direct middle school theatre, now would be a good time to bring them in because Sarah Homan clearly isn’t fit for this.