By: Holden Sutter –

At the end of January, Southeast students partook in one of the school’s longest running traditions- Nite of Knights. The show is considered a variety show and showcases many of the talents that are present throughout the school. Like most years, the show was well received and the students involved enjoyed being a part of it. However, there has also been concern about whether or not the show actually has enough variety to earn that title.

Aaron Sorilla is a junior at Southeast and was one of the MCs (Masters of Ceremonies) that hosted Nite of Knights. He reflected positivity towards all of the acts involved.

“It’s really hard to choose what my favorite act was because they were all really good. Improv is always fun to watch because they’re great,” Sorilla said. “I enjoyed most of the acts because they were fun, impressive and even sometimes they were even really funny,”

A common thought that has been floating around Southeast in the weeks since Nite of Knights is whether or not the show actually had enough variety to be called a variety show.

“It’s supposed to be a variety show but there are so many acts related to singing or just music in general. The non-song acts were a magic show, some dances, and improvisational acting. That’s 4 out of about 18. There could definitely be a lot more variety,” said Sorilla.

Junior Henry Zander participated in multiple acts during Nite of Knights, and felt the same about the lack of variation.

“I don’t mean to be a stick in the mud but seriously, besides improv and the magic act, it was all music,” said Zander. “What we ended up with this year, I would hardly even describe it as a variety show. It got to the point where a lot of the acts, while all very good, were marginally the same thing and it was hard to tell the difference.”

Zander has several ideas that he is wanting both to try himself and for others to try in order to increase act diversity.

“I really wanted to do a mime act and I regret immensely that I didn’t do that,” Zander said. Zander also wanted to do something that John Gallagher, a comedian well known for his physical and oddball jokes, would do. “I’ve always thought that a Gallagher-esque thing would be difficult but really funny. If someone came onstage and did Gallagher’s thing, something like smashing a big ol’ watermelon with a hammer, that’d be hilarious. It’d fit the audience really, appealing to both children and adults. Or if someone did a standup comedy act. That’d be so good because that’d be a step outside of everything else in the show. If someone came on stage and did something like a TED talk, where they stood onstage and just talked about something that they cared about, that would’ve been cool.”

One act that perhaps could have led to more variation was a poem written by senior Austin Rousseau. His poem was titled “To the Kid at my Lunch Table Who Likes to Say Faggot” and dealt with how the use of that word was destructive and offensive not only to him, but to many others.

“[This poem] was the only way I could express myself and be safe about it,” said Rousseau. “When Nite of Knights rolled around I knew I wanted to do a poem, but which one? I started thinking about all the people at Southeast who have no idea that what they’re saying is hurtful, and the many people who don’t feel like they have a voice or feel like they can step out and  speak up. I decided I would audition with this piece, because my peers needed to hear it.”

The poem became a subject of controversy due to his use of the word “faggot” and administration ended up having to decide whether or not this should be allowed in a “family-friendly” show.

“They asked me if I could maybe edit out the word, and then asked me my opinion if it should be put in the show. I answered no to the first and yes to the second,” said Rousseau.

Principal Brent Toalson said the decision was based on the audition guidelines, which state that acts must be suitable for a family audience.

“We met with him several times to help him understand that we support his message and support him for giving voice to an issue that is important and needs to be heard,” said Toalson. “We explained the concern was with performing this poem at this event, which is for a family audience, not with his message.”

Despite the opinions toward the apparent lack of variety, the show this year was still received well and both audience and participants alike enjoyed how the show went.

“Nite of Knights was still awesome. I had so much fun and everyone did a great job,” said Zander. “There’s so much talent at Southeast, holy cow. But I wish there was more variety.”