Sophomores and freshmen in Brendan Harris’ Intro to Acting class recently marked the end of their semester-long course by performing a one-act play for an open audience of faculty, staff, and students.
The play, In a Strange Land—written by Alan Haehnel, a high school Drama and English teacher in Vermont—is an absurd battlefield comedy that keeps the characters and audience alike wondering what, indeed, is reality.
“I chose the play because it met the curricular requirements and was also just something fun and interesting for the students,” explained Mr. Harris. “The final unit for the semester requires students to apply skills they’ve learned such as how to break down a scene, character studies, use of basic elements of drama, and use of voice/body to communicate an objective.”
The play also allowed the class to practice and explore new skills from the final unit: how to problem solve as a team, how to physically inhabit the whole stage as an ensemble, listening and memorization skills, how to structure visually interesting tableaux, and how to build trust (as a team) in order to perform before an audience.
“They were nervous,” said Mr. Harris. “We had missed almost a week of rehearsals because of the snow, but they decided they wanted to go for it. Over-all they thought it went well and they had a lot of fun performing!”
Intro to Acting is a one semester class. Next semester, the offering is Theatre Arts—a more ambitious drama class, after which, students go on to study IB Theatre Arts.
View more photos of the performance. (Not available for mobile devices)
