Prologue: The Past of the Theater
Lights dim, the curtain rises, and a new era in our school’s theater program begins! This year, our theater program has transformed from a small after-school club into a powerhouse of creativity and collaboration. Remember the memorable “Aladdin” in 2015? Remember the thrilling 2019 horror performance? These were just the beginning of successful productions.
The theater program in its very first years was a small club with inconsistent attendance. It was an after-school program that never managed to attract or maintain many students.
Now that we have a dedicated theater teacher, Ms. Wyngaard, on board this year, this program is in safe hands for many years to come. She is extremely determined to grow this program as a whole and take it to the next level.
Backstage Pass: Teacher and Students behind the Scenes
With the addition of any new program, it brings together teachers and students in a special and bonding way. They work together, share ideas, and learn from each other. Teachers help students improve their acting skills and understand the art of storytelling. Together, they explore different aspects of theater such as character development and stage design.
This partnership demonstrates how teachers and students can support each other, while creating a unique and exciting learning experience. Ms. Wyngaard incorporates different techniques to engage students of all skill levels. Warm-ups are a key part of the lesson as they foster specific skills like speaking, confidence, focus, and memorization. Other activities mostly depend on the unit that is incorporated into the curriculum.
“A very good strategy for building confidence is actually teaching a unit on improvisation because improvisation forces them to think on their feet and to be thrown into scary situations.”
Mrs Wyngaard, theater teacher
Stage fright and lack of confidence are common challenges that beginners face. Strategies like the ones suggested by Mrs Wyngaard help those newcomers overcome those barriers by practicing risk-taking scenarios that naturally improve their confidence.
Act One: A Night At The Oscars
“A Night at the Oscars,” was a performance designed strictly for entertainment. The play took memorable moments from several Oscar-winning movie and was performed with a unique twist. As one of the spectators in the crowd, I was able to experience this play and give my honest review.
Although this play was meant to be purely for enjoyment, I honestly found it very educational and interesting as well. There was a lot of information regarding the different movies. Some of the movies that were performed were Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, and many more.
Before each scene, they gave the audience background information on the movie. Many of these films debuted before my time, so it allowed me to learn about the past.
I thought the individual performances were surprisingly good. Each actor showed an impressive amount of dedication and work to their craft. The performers were able to memorize their script while also acting out every scene with passion. They all seemed extremely confident, showing no signs of nervousness.
They did not disappoint when it came to giving us laughs and entertainment. I thought it was funny with all the witty jokes and the humorous scenes. I think the crowd could agree with me on this one, as many other spectators were laughing along with me. Personally, I found the Star Wars play the most entertaining as it resonated with me and because I thought it was well performed and acted, reminding me of watching it when I was younger.
Act Two: Areas of Improvement
Despite the fact that the play went well and was a big success, there were also areas of improvement to mention.
First of all, the microphone quality was a bit disappointing as it really threw off some of the scenes in the play. There were times when I could barely hear anything and other times, it was way too loud. There was a lot of inconsistency in each of the actors’ audio.
The microphones would sometimes catch the sound of them breathing, making it a bit awkward to hear. This also made it harder to hear the other actors.
During the transition between scenes, I feel like that could have been improved or practiced because it slowed down the play, and there were times when we had to wait a bit too long. I believe that the transitions should have also been rehearsed more in order to reduce as much time as possible between each scene.
Sometimes the people setting up each scene didn’t know where to place the props, and sometimes the actors took a while to get ready, therefore causing extra delays. I do believe that this will improve with time and additional training because the backstage crew is just as important as the ones on stage.
Finale: The Future
Overall, I see a very promising future for this program. The theater CCAs, both lower school and upper school, have grown and blossomed so much within such a short amount of time. These last few years, there was no theater program and Mrs Wyngaard’s theatrical vision for this school did not work out because there weren’t any places to practice or rehearse.
“I see this program just getting bigger and better”
Mrs Wyngaard, theater teacher
On the other hand, this year, they took a huge step forward in improving the theater program by making it an actual class. With the setup of the Black Box, a room solely dedicated for theater full of props and costumes, you can step into a whole new world of immersive acting and magical performances. Immense progress has been made, and there seem to be no signs of it slowing down. The momentum should continue for years to come and I cannot wait to see the success.