High Drama with Upcoming Theatrical Performance

By the end of the first day of the 2025 Montana State Thespian Festival in Missoula, the 12 bright, young actors from Whitehall High School were wholly exhausted. A few fell asleep during a capstone performance of "Into the Woods" by the University of Montana theater department, as did several dozen of their fellow student actors.

It had been a good, full day. That morning, the Whitehall kids had staged a one-act play, "I Don't Want to Talk About It," before several hundred drama students from across the state. And they had nailed it. Their performance would earn them a standing ovation from their peers and, then, an Outstanding Impact Award for the "pertinent and critically important social value" of their work.

But the production came with a big asterisk: Officially, it was not affiliated with Whitehall High School. In early January, after initially approving the play, the school barred a performance of "I Don't Want to Talk About It" before students on its campus, citing concerns about an ambiguously depicted suicide and other themes connected to youth mental health. Though officials said they support student theater, they distanced themselves from the play's production at the Missoula festival and at Whitehall's community theater.

Controversy over the production has snowballed since. The school's theater director expects to resign - under pressure, she says, from school officials who are investigating her actions at the festival. Another faculty member has quit in protest and withdrawn his children from Whitehall schools. Some of the actors and their parents say they're upset by the school's actions, and by the consequence that their play won't be performed for other students.

"Personally, this whole situation just makes me angry," said sophomore Rolan Leonti. "This play is important. Yes, it goes over uncomfortable topics, but it's something I feel needs to be shown."

"I think this play would be really good for people to see in a school environment," added junior Jordan Mercer. "Sometimes, it's best to just listen, rather than trying to relate what you're hearing to any specific thing you're going through, or have been through. Just listen. And try to understand."

In some ways, the increasingly complex dispute reflects a historical tension between freedom of expression and school governance: Whitehall is not the first high school to confront students' creative work with the argument that it poses risks, of some sort, to other students, or threatens school culture. But it also appears to reflect concerns about whether and how schools, and society more broadly, navigate issues related to youth mental health amid shifting norms and laws.

School officials, including District Superintendent Hannah Nieskins and Principal Jason Slater, declined to talk to The Monitor. But their decisions, and the thinking behind them, have emerged from recordings of public meetings, communications with parents, and emails shared with The Monitor by the theater director, Elizabeth Pullman - who also is publisher of the Whitehall Ledger newspaper.

"I Don't Want to Talk About It," written by Bradley Hayward, is a series of vignettes centered on the declining mental health of a central character, culminating in their suicide. The play addresses a breadth of issues, including cycles of abuse and generational trauma, the petty and daily cruelties of teenage life, and the difficulties, as a young person, of engaging with mental-health professionals and spiritual advisors. Since debuting in 2012, the play has been performed by high school theater troupes more than 500 times, according to Playscripts, Inc., its publisher.

According to emails provided to The Monitor by Pullman, both Nieskens and Slater, on Dec. 30, initially approved Pullman's request to perform "I Don't Want to Talk About It" for students in the Whitehall High gym during the school day on Jan. 22.

That same day, Slater requested general information about the play. Pullman provided a student cast list, travel and housing information for festival attendance, and clarification that the play touched on issues related to "family, dating, social stigma, bullying, and death." Only then did Nieskens say that the script material necessitated an administrative review, partly in light of a student death two weeks earlier.

Upon review, Slater reversed the earlier decision to allow the play to be performed on school property. "After reviewing the script... and consulting with Mrs. Nieskens and Ms. Pullman, we have decided to move the performance to the [Star] Theater and not present it to our student body," said Slater in a Jan. 1 email to Whitehall School District staff members.

"The decision is based on recent Montana laws and current district policies. Having read the script, I want to emphasize that I would not have approved this performance for our middle/high school. Beyond compliance with law and policy, it is critical that we consider our school's climate, culture, and the broader community."

Although district policy states that school plays must be reviewed and approved by administrative leadership before entering production, Pullman says that no play performed by students during her three-year tenure as theater director has been so vetted. In an email to Pullman, Nieskens admitted that "the process for play approval has not been clear or well-established."

But "both Board Policy 2060 and 2150 explicitly mention the building principal reviewing content and granting permission. These policies are in place because administrators are expected to have the depth of knowledge to know and correctly interpret Montana law," Nieskens continued. "The fact that Mr. Slater has either deliberately or carelessly absented himself from this process is both disappointing and problematic, and is also the main reason we are now in the difficult position we are in."

Upon Slater's decision to bar the play, Pullman appealed to Nieskens to review the script herself. Nieskens complied, and decided to uphold the ban of the performance on school property, citing concerns over suicide education and prevention issues.

"After two careful reviews of the script, watching the YouTube link provided, cross-referencing with relevant school board policies and Montana law, and considering established best practices for youth suicide prevention and post-vention, I must reaffirm the decision that the play is not suitable for performance to our school audience or within the school setting," said Nieskens in an email to Pullman.

Nieskens also concluded that the play was unsuitable due to the fact that, as mandated by the Montana Youth Suicide Awareness and Prevention Training Act, suicide education materials must be approved by the Office of Public Instruction (OPI) and meet approved programming standards, a process which "I Don't Want to Talk About It" had not undergone.

Pullman contacted OPI staff attorney Brenton Craggs requesting clarification as to what review process must occur for playscripts to be approved. "OPI does not review musicals or plays for content, nor does OPI approve or disapprove of school plays or musicals," Craggs replied to Pullman in an email. "The referenced statute refers to materials used for training teachers and staff in suicide prevention. A play or musical is not something OPI considers to be training materials."

Nieskens and Pullman then contacted the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) Suicide Prevention Coordinator Karl Rosston for additional guidance. Though Pullman had intended to include a trigger warning and arranged for on-site suicide prevention resources for any attending students, Rosston agreed with Nieskens' assessment that the play, done for a captive student audience, would not be appropriate.

"I don't recommend any type of suicide specific performance being done for a student body (plays, motivational speakers, etc). The bottom line is that you have no idea who you triggered in the audience," said Rosston in a Jan. 7 email to Nieskens. Rosston added that the play "can be done in the community" if proper precautions - such as the ones Pullman says she had planned - were taken.

Nieskens did allow students to participate - though not as representatives of the school - in the Thespian Festival, an annual gathering of school theater groups from across the state. "I will support the performance of the play at the Thespian Festival provided it meets festival guidelines and parents of all participants have had the opportunity to review the script and approve their child's participation in the performance," she wrote. "I do believe the play has artistic merit and can be evaluated highly when evaluated solely as an artistic theater production."

In fact, "I Don't Want to Talk About It" earned high praise in Missoula. Festival performances were scored on several criteria, including character portrayal, emotiveness, body movement and voice projection. Whitehall's production received one of the festival's only perfect scores.

"You all were fabulous, and this absolutely needs to be seen by your classmates," said festival adjudicator Kelsey Nealy, one of the event staff responsible for evaluating student performances. "Thank you all for taking on this subject matter. It was executed perfectly."

"It felt amazing, actually getting recognized like that," said Whitehall sophomore Jeanette Blazevich, who was awarded Best Supporting Actress for her several roles in the play. "But I think we all did really well. I think it might've been the best performance we've put on, and I'm really proud of us."

Most festival staff and attendees questioned by The Monitor were aware of the situation in Whitehall, and expressed sympathy to the troupe and criticism of the district leadership. "I Don't Want to Talk About It" was, according to Montana Thespian Chapter Director Sarah DeGrandpre, a typical festival performance that was not uniquely controversial. Of 12 plays staged by Montana schools, three, including the Whitehall performance, received trigger warnings. Some years, as many as half the plays staged have had warnings.

"Did they ban Shakespeare, too?" asked DeGrandpre in an interview with The Monitor. "Are 'Hamlet' and 'Romeo and Juliet' just done now? Whitehall's play contains a suicide, but that's really not what the play is about. We have had lots of plays here like that over the years. I've had to warn schools, in past years, where I've known they've had a recent suicide, that they should consider doing something else instead of seeing a particular play. And we make sure to have abundant resources available, should anyone need them."

Soon after the festival, the dispute between Whitehall High and Pullman took a different turn. School officials accused Pullman of violating school policy by allowing student performers to be interviewed and photographed in Missoula by The Monitor and Montana Free Press, a statewide news organization that had previously reported on the controversy.

"Mrs. Pullman also failed to inform the Whitehall School District of the [journalists'] access so that we could have informed and received written permission from the parents of involved students, which would have allowed parents and students to choose whether or not to be involved. Both are legally required procedures to obtain and document parental consent," Nieskens wrote on Jan. 30 in an email to school parents.

There are no federal or state laws that require parental consent for their children to be interviewed by journalists. The Montana Thespian Festival approved the presence of both The Monitor and Montana Free Press on the Festival grounds, and allowed interviews and photography by both publications.

Pullman says she also was accused by school officials of "negligent behavior" in supervising students on the Missoula trip, and that the school was investigating the episode.

"Instead of celebrating the incredible accomplishments of these students at Festival, the school turned a beautiful weekend into something ugly," Pullman told The Monitor. "Instead of being asked what they learned at the festival, they were asked how often they were allowed to use the restroom or eat.

"The school is grasping at straws and trying to ruin my reputation with the kids, their parents, and this community."

Pullman notified school officials of her intention to resign during a Jan 29 meeting, but has yet to do so. Following her notice, Timothy Schober, who had served as a volunteer chaperone at the Festival, resigned from his role as Whitehall High's fencing coach, and disenrolled his two daughters from the Whitehall School District.

"I am extremely disappointed in how the whole situation turned out. I am no longer confident in the school administration, and question their integrity," he said. "This has all the hallmarks of retribution against a staff member who questioned the administration's judgement."

And students and their parents said they were left confused and frustrated. "It's unfortunate that there wasn't a real conversation on how we might be able to accommodate the play, in a fair way, this deep into the process," said theater parent Chris Leonti. "I'd hoped that some of the positive responses from the festival would engender a fairer conversation. The situation became confrontational so quickly, and at this point there is no middle ground to be found to express anything close to compromise."

Though the situation in Whitehall continues to evolve, Pullman has formally registered a junior division of Whitehall Theatrics with the International Thespian Society. Her former students plan to reprise their roles at the Star Theater for community showings of "I Don't Want to Talk About It" on Feb. 15-16 at 1 PM.