There’s no shame in Yes Shame. Although Yes Shame Theatre, inspired by the University of Iowa’s No Shame Theatre, does have some guidelines. However, if they do anything to restrain the creativity of some of City High’s finest students, it doesn’t show.

“People should go to Yes Shame to laugh, to cry, and to learn something about themselves that they never knew before.” Phil Buatti ‘11 said.
Buatti, a former king of Yes Shame and Yes Shame member since his sophomore year, said he heard about Yes Shame from his friend Josh Titler ‘11.
“He told me how all these hilarious people were going into the Little Theater, putting on hilarious shows, and it was a great place to have fun.” Buatti said.

Zach Greiman, also part of the class of 2011, agreed.

“Yes Shame is good because it gives a place for students to perform their own works or just something for fun with their friends.”

Unfortunately for Yes Shame, many of its leaders, audience members and performers left with the class of 2011. In this fine year of 2011, Yes Shame bid farewell to kings Andy Fenneman, Harrison Burke, and Phil Buatti. At the final Yes Shame last year, the title of king of Yes Shame was passed on to Alexandra Perez and Elena Fenneman, both of the class of 2013. For those concerned about the torch being passed to two new kings, not to worry, says Buatti, there is hope, Yes Shame has survived the rocky transition between kings several times before.

“As far as I know, Yes Shame has changed leaders  several times in the past, and each time it has come back and been better than ever.” Buatti said.

Since its founding in 2002 by Anne Sullivan, and Emily Yoshida, Yes Shame theater has continued to grow. Last year the peak attendance was over 40 people and this year the increasing attendance is a major goal for current Yes Shamers.

“This year we’re going to try and incorporate more nights like bring an underclassmen night.” said Perez ‘13, “Also, we’re gonna trick people into
coming by giving them incentives, like cookies!”
“I was amazed by how many people came to bring a freshman night last year,” Buatti said. “If we can get all the people who come to Yes Shame to perform skits then we’ll have a ton of awesome skits.”

The guidelines of Yes Shame are basic: all pieces must be original, all pieces must be under five minutes in length, pieces must not harm the space or its occupants, and all pieces must be school appropriate. You don’t have to be involved in City High drama to attend or perform at Yes Shame.

“The guidelines are fairly open, and allow for almost anything to be possible when it come to skits.” Buatti said. “It’s a great place to try out new ideas in front of a really cool supportive audience.”
“You don’t have to perform a skit, it’s totally cool if you just come and sit in the audience.” Perez said. “I didn’t start doing skits until halfway through last year, but it’s so much fun to get up on stage and perform.”
No Shame Theater at the University of Iowa, what Yes Shame is based off of, is quite similar to Yes Shame, with a few notable differences. First off, there are some content guidelines that are just necessary for a high school club.
“We’re a high school and we have rules. At No Shame they’re just like ‘we want to perform this nude!’ so they do.” said Perez. “Here at City we have to keep it PG-13.”
No Shame Theatre at the University of Iowa meets every Friday night at 11:00 in the U of I Theatre Building on campus. Tickets are available for purchase at the door, and are “inexpensive.”
Perez is one of this years Kings of Yes Shame, the other being Elena Fenneman ‘13. They are the newest additions to the star-studded list of Yes Shame leaders.
“The Kings of Yes Shame are the presidents, in charge of writing skits, organizing everything, and encouraging people to join and do skits. It reminds me of camp counselors, who sometimes bring cookies.” said Perez. “People should join because it’s a creative outlet for people, and welcoming to all types of people who like performing in any genre of performance. It’s really cool and the only club that’s not teacher sponsored.”
“It’s a good place to go and chill out and take a break from your homework in the middle of the week!” said Greiman.
The first Yes Shame of this year is scheduled to be this Wednesday, September 21st at 7:30pm. For more info go to Yes Shame Theatre’s page on Facebook and click ‘like.’
“Go to Yes Shame.” Perez said. “The more people that go to Yes Shame the more fun it will be.”

By Eli Shepherd and Elena Fenneman for The Little Hawk