Telling the Good Guys from the Bad Guys By Patrick Dorn By definition, drama needs to have conflict to be dramatic. As youngsters we often look at a story and work out “who’s the good guy and who’s the bad guy.” Melodramas are so much fun because we love to see the good rewarded and the wicked punished. Many of Pioneer’s children’s plays and melodramas have clearly established heroes and villains. Later in our development we discover that sometimes the good guys, like Zorro, wear a black hat. We cheer the exploits of anti-heroes, where rebellion against the established order is considered a good thing. Robin Hood resists the corruption of Prince John. Luke Skywalker joins the rag tag Rebel Alliance to turn the tide against the evil Galactic Empire. We admire Ferris Bueller for prevailing against embarrassingly uncool adult authority figures. Teens especially enjoy stories about “sticking it to The Man.” The older we get, the more we realize that there are other kinds of conflicts than the obvious war between good and evil. Sometimes a character needs to overcome a weakness in his or her own character, or grow beyond a limitation and see things in a new way. The biblical Joseph needs to forgive his brothers for abandoning him. Heidi’s spoiled cousin needs to quit whining and start walking. In Pioneer’s play “The Beggar and the Wolf,” an entire besieged community needs to face its fears and think of others first, and in Pioneer’s “The Three Bully Goats Griff” the little guy gets a chance to become a bully and pays for his choices. Sometimes a character must learn the value of hard work, or self-sacrifice, or humility. “Evolve or perish” becomes the motto of these stories. All three kinds of conflict are immensely entertaining and exciting, and there are an infinite number of variations on these themes. We learn and grow as human beings when we watch conflicts resolved. We absorb virtues and values, and as we take them in, those stories become OUR story as well. | 
