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Body Image, on the Stage
A "Perfect" Season
FIVE YEARS AGO, University Players Director
Josh Hornbeck ’99 wrote a one-act play about
self-esteem. “It was justly rejected,” he says. “It
wasn’t very good.” But last year he heard a statistic
that gave him pause. Between 1998 and
2005, the number of high-school- and college-
age females suffering from eating disorders
more than tripled — to three out of four.
“Seeing that sharp rise led me to revisit the
play,” says Hornbeck. The result was “Perfect,”
a play for and about high school students
grappling with issues of self-esteem.
Between October 2005 and June 2006,
the Players performed “Perfect” 27 times for
high schools and youth groups across the
state — to positive reviews from teens, teachers,
and youth pastors. “Wonderful message!”
wrote Jean Bulette, chapel coordinator at
King’s West School in Bremerton, Washington.
“You could have heard a pin drop. The
students were so absorbed.”
Hornbeck and the Players say they were
pleased to see the impact of the play. After performances,
students often came forward to
talk with Kendra Thompson, who played a
high school girl with an eating disorder. When
appropriate, she prayed with them. After one
performance, a boy approached Ryan Putnam,
who played a stressed-out overachiever, telling
him, “I’m exactly like you in the show.”
All six Players — seniors Thompson, Kyle
Feldmann, Alicia Van Holt, and Sarah Ware;
and sophomores Putnam and David Roby —
performed in “Perfect,” while soundboard
operator Dustin Morache provided technical
expertise. The play’s theme is captured in these
lines from Ware’s character, Julie: “God made
you the way you are for a reason. He doesn’t
make mistakes.”
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