Dekle’s Swimming Upstream

Students perform a captivating play created by junior Charlotte Dekle

STORY MORGAN SUN

PHOTO EMIKO (EMI) ESSMILLER

The SPHS drama department put on the studentled play created by junior Charlotte Dekle, titled Swimming Upstream. Dekle wrote, directed, and acted in the play, along with seven other co-stars. Performing on the Friday and Saturday of Feb. 10 and 11, the actors portrayed a beautifully moving yet humorous play.

The play was delightfully written, with each tense moment broken up by well-placed jokes. It stayed grounded in its portrayal of real life. Each scene took place in a room with minimal decor only to illustrate the setting. The set changes were quick and efficient, and each prop transferred into the next scene — a wall for one scene was transformed into a bed for the next. The costumes were from the actor’s own closets to immerse the audience in the humanity of each character.

The themes touched on typically taboo subjects including polyamory and LGBTQ+ stereotypes, and included mentions of sex and sexuality, setting the content advisory to 13 years or older. The story incorporated an authentic love triangle between Mallory, played by senior Lauren Dubria, and two other lovers. After another Friday night date ruined, Mallory attempts to find “The One” by dating two people at the same time — Pamela, played by sophomore Shelby Collins, and Grant, played by junior Sam Franco.

“I wanted my characters to represent real people, and that they are all very flawed, dramatic, witty, funny, and smart,” Dekle said. “I thought the actors were perfect. I think that they definitely portrayed all of the humanity of the characters.”

In Mallory’s storyline, she continues to fail at gaining the love of her life after scaring off each potential date with her clinginess. The play addresses her lack of self worth and her use of “The One” to fill her emptiness. She sifts through potential life-long partners as quick as a dime and falls head first in love just as fast. The ambiguous ending emphasized human tendencies to get attached to the same unhealthy cycles while creating empty promises to escape.

While the story mainly centers around Mallory’s struggles to maintain a love life, the plot also follows Mallory’s best friends Simone and Taylor. Simone, played by the creator Dekle, navigates a turbulent long-term relationship with Georgia, played by sophomore Lisa Zhang. Played by Mikala Toshima, Taylor is the supportive friend that is involved in a steady polyamorous relationship with two other people.

Near the middle of the play, Simone and Taylor get into a heated argument about their respective love lives, where Simone judges Taylor for their polyamorous relationship.

A prominent point in the play was the bisexual stereotype of cheating on a significant other, in contrast to Taylor’s healthy poly relationship. Taylor refutes this claim, mentioning their mutual consent and contentment in the relationship. This moment becomes a turning point in Simone and Taylor’s friendship, where Simone accepts Taylor even though they go against her societal norms.

Between the beats of the play came a tension diffuser in the form of a commercial. At each dimming of the light, a different dating app commercial would play to give the audience a moment of reprieve in the interlude. This play was the ultimate mix of humor and solemnity. An exquisite combination touching on deep-rooted human flaws while lightening the mood with innuendos, Dekle and the students who contributed to the play did a phenomenal job with bringing the production to life.

“It was surreal seeing people say my words,” Dekle said. “On the whole, I was pretty shocked by the audience’s reaction. I thought they would like it, I didn’t think they would love it as much as they did. I wasn’t expecting all of the gasps at the twists…I wasn’t expecting all of the love, honestly.”

Charlotte’s Web CHARLOTTE DEKLE

Now for everyone here who did not see Swimming Upstream, where were you? If you were in Sacramento not seeing Gavin Newsom, I respect that. If you were doing the Afram research paper, however, how dare you? If you had just climbed out from under a rock, I wrote a play entitled Swimming Upstream, in which I also directed, produced, and starred. Swimming Upstream has changed my life. The sheer amount of adulation I received should only be reserved for Hugh Grant. But now that it is over, one question has been percolating in my mind. What should I do next? Now this question is not an internally created one.

After each performance, legions of people harangued me about what my next project is. Am I going to extend the run? Am I going to write a new play? These kinds of questions are understandable. From teenagers, they want to see more of what I produce, which is very kind of them. From adults, they may see potential and want me to capitalize off of this success. Little do any of them know, I have no desire to capitalize. I posit that I do not need the next step. Swimming Upstream was my conclusion, not my beginning. Our society is so obsessed with results and climbing the ladder that individual moments that were a culmination of years of hard work are not enough.

The process of writing, producing, directing, and starring in Swimming Upstream was a laborious one. I had to coordinate the schedules of eight busy teenagers, while navigating cast drops due to the “risque” material. All of this while being unsure when I was able to use the theater. But it was rewarding all the same and I would not exchange this experience for anything else. No one forced me to write, produce, direct, and star in this play. I am so passionate about theater that I wanted to.

More so, I hope that many students can produce a play in the future. In some ways, I brought this upon myself by not really asking for help and not bringing lunch. This was a transformative experience that my muscling through makes it easier for anyone to do in the future.

I also do not want to genuflect under the expectation that I should do anything. Should implies an expectation that I somehow need to uphold for others. I have no inclination to go further with this play at this time. That does not mean I will never pick it back up. Nor does that mean that I have no impulse to write an entirely new play.

My spark for writing is what started this whole mess anyway. If I were to develop an entirely new play from scratch, it would not be because I should, it would be because I want to.

Now I have to work on distilling my entire Swimming Upstream experience into a college essay format by dissecting the lessons I learned. The primary lesson I learned is that you should only do things because you want to, not because you should. I know that bottling that message in a ‘should’ statement is ironic considering the message, but it is the only one that would be grammatically correct.

Life is too short to have other people dictate it. If you want to write a play, write a play. It was a thrilling experience and that I wholeheartedly recommend. If you want to act in the play you wrote, do that. And if you do plan on dedicating months of your life, I warn you, you will feel like you are swimming upstream and that is okay.