Practicing the Art of Theatre Arts—with Professionals
While theatre may create make-believe worlds for audiences, the Upper School theatre arts classes are increasingly about introducing students to the real-world, practical facets of theatre—performing, playwriting, directing, and auditioning.
In November, students in the Advanced Theatre Arts class presented Thanksgiving Day, an anthology of nine five-minute vignettes, to a highly appreciative audience in the Drama Workshop. Not only did the nine seniors each write a five-minute scene, but each of them directed another student’s work and acted in two other scenes written by their peers. During the writing and rehearsal process, teacher Liesl Ehmke (C’89) brought in two professionals—Kevin Ferguson, a professor of playwriting and the resident dramaturg at the St. Louis Tesseract Theatre Company, and Taylor Gruenloh, artistic director at Tesseract—to work with the students.
“I believe this is the first time in Principia theatre history that students have written, directed, and acted in their own pieces, as well as the first time in my eight years of teaching that I did not direct the show,” remarks a delighted Ehmke. On the lookout for authentic learning experiences, Ehmke says she was inspired by the anthologized Halloween-themed play she had recently been commissioned to write, as one of nine playwrights, for Tesseract. “I decided to give my Advanced Theatre Arts students a similar assignment that would give them an opportunity to be playwrights, actors, and directors,” says Ehmke, who is completing an MFA through the Hollins University Playwright’s Lab by attending intensive summer courses and taking online classes during the academic year.
Students fill multiple roles
Through the Thanksgiving Day experience, the students not only identified and developed their strengths in specific areas but also took away a great deal of learning about communication and the nuts and bolts of putting together a production. While some enjoyed writing, and others preferred acting or directing, all of them agree that having their work reviewed and receiving insightful critiques—from their teacher, theatre professionals, and each other—were the most impactful. The students rewrote their scripts based on Ferguson’s written feedback on their first drafts. After that, Gruenloh spent many hours reviewing the rewrites, sharing acting and directing tips, and providing written feedback to each student after the performance. (He also worked with Ehmke's students last year, giving them detailed written feedback for several of their performances.)
Seniors Michael Coburn and Hannah Hathaway collaborated in writing their two vignettes. Michael’s "What Was Missing," about the Thanksgiving disconnect between a father and his teenage daughter in the years after the death of her mother, flowed into Hannah’s "A Grateful Friendship," in which the father and daughter are reconciled. “We worked together on both of our scripts, making sure that details matched,” Michael explains. “It was cool to see what Hannah put together and how it related to mine, and vice versa.”
Learning the value of feedback
But more than that, Michael says he learned important lessons: “Through the whole process of being critiqued and such, I learned that what I think is perfect isn't actually perfect. I turned in what I thought to be the final script, and then Taylor gave me so much feedback that helped me improve my script tremendously.” In fact, based on Gruenloh’s input, Michael expanded his five-minute scene into a 10-minute play and has submitted it to a national playwriting contest.
Classmate Lindsay Clarke says, “I liked acting the best! My characters were super fun to act out.” Writing was a close second, she adds, although it was “the most challenging.” Lindsay found inspiration for the humor in her piece, This is War, from her dad’s tendency of “doing things last minute and losing track of time.” (Although, in dad’s defense, she says, he was definitely “not as bad as Ollie,” the character in her play!)
All the students found the experience of working with a dramaturg invaluable—in broadening their perspective and developing new skills, especially in writing and directing. “The most challenging part was directing,” says Anthony Yemitan, “because you really have to focus on every single movement an actor makes, on the way they say their lines—and you really have to understand timing.” Anthony appreciated how the dramaturg “got me to see the unconnected pieces to my story, basically acting as a mirror between the script and the audience.”
Understanding the rigors of auditioning
And the exposure to professional experience is not just limited to students in the advanced class. Just this week, members of Ehmke’s introductory Theatre Arts class participated in the final stages of a casting audition. Each one had to submit an acting resume, along with a headshot, and deliver a prepared monologue in front of Gruenloh. They also performed “cold” readings of additional scripts that he provided. They will receive individualized feedback about their performances, as well as general notes about auditioning. And at the very end, Gruenloh will select or “cast” six student actors out of the class of more than a dozen. The reviewing activities in both classes are calling on students’ reserves of confidence as well as humility! As Michael observed about his class’s critiquing process, “There was an astounding absence of ego and acceptance of critique, and it was generally a beneficial experience for everyone.”
School Principal Travis Brantingham is delighted with Ehmke’s creation of experiential learning opportunities that challenge and engage the students. Referring to the Thanksgiving Day performance, he said, “You could feel the energy from the students because it was their authentic, original work, and they were genuinely excited to share it with us. It was phenomenal!”