Beating the bullies

A performance by American actor Lee Kaplan got Middle School students thinking about the topic of bullying. It was made possible by a gift to the SIS Spirit Fund* from an SIS family. Lee’s one-man show shared his own childhood experience of bullying and suggested strategies for dealing with the situation when it arises.

The show is decidedly biographical. Lee began developing it when he rediscovered his sixth form journal, and he draws upon genuine entries to recall events and, most importantly, the feelings that he struggled with at the time. 

In a performance of immense physicality, he relates episodes from the past and introduces us to the bullies who made his life so miserable at the time. On stage, he switches rapidly to the personas of his most bullying peers and unresponsive adults: the worm, the snake, the coach, the boot, and the ringleader. Acting out the things he would have liked to have said to them at the time – but didn’t – he provides us with an insight into the sense of betrayal as former friends found it easier to join with the bullies than stand with him. He describes the sense of dread, the physical ticks and gestures that developed, and the emotional burden he endured during those years.

In the Q&A that followed, he revealed that since writing the play, some contemporaries had approached him to say that they, too, had experienced the aggression of the same bullies, but at the time had never felt able to discuss it with others. He also highlighted how one of the bullies – now a parent with their own children – had since reached out to him, recognising their behaviour. What, he wondered, can he do as a parent if the situation arises with his own children?

Lee coped by developing resilience in his personal battle with the bullies. Throughout the show, he used a boxing metaphor to describe his desire to fight back. Perhaps that was best captured as he slipped into the voice of Rocky Balboa: ‘It ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.’

*The SIS Spirit Fund is the School’s Annual Fund. It exists to open up possibilities beyond the everyday running of SIS, promoting student experience, excellence and innovation, and campus development. You can read more about its activities and make a donation at https://sisconnect.se/supportus