Performing Together

Before every rehearsal, the Middle School Theater Ensemble, composed of 5th-8th Grade students, forms a circle on the stage of Oates Theater to participate in a performative warmup. They’ll play a game called gesture pass, where each student in the circle performs a movement that the following student has to mimic and add to. The warmup, which is run by students and supervised by Middle School drama teacher Jenny Hundley, is a way to energize the ensemble, getting the crew ready for an afternoon of fun, rigorous work preparing for their first production, a performance of The Secret Garden. The simple warmup also encapsulates the way the ensemble approaches their project: student-centered, playful theatrical work that connects the entire Middle School. 

From crew-wide set builds to having a dialect coach working with the cast, the Middle School play, which is new this year, offers a wonderful opportunity for students with an interest and affinity for theatrical productions to work together to learn the ins and outs of putting on a show. “Our ensemble gives students exposure to the arts at an early age,” says Hundley, who, alongside 8th Grader Noelle Christensen ’27, directs the play. “If 5th Graders want to participate in a big production, they will now have the chance to do that. They’ll have the chance to explore that interest.”

The Secret Garden, a play adapted from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel, is about the young orphan Mary Lennox, who finds herself in the charge of a mysterious uncle, in a mysterious house, on a desolate moor in England. Bored and lonely, she starts exploring the gardens and uncovers a secret that has been kept for 10 years. As part of the intention of giving students the freedom and agency to explore their own creative impulses, the ensemble had the opportunity to choose what play they wanted to perform. 

The students, all 32 of them that make up the ensemble, are present on stage for the entire performance. Even if the role a student plays is atmospheric — possibly taking on the role of wind in a scene, for example — the performer will be seen on stage. This challenges the ensemble to think creatively about how to act as a cohesive group. “The students play the sound effects. They play the wind. They play the rain. They play the moors of England,” Hundley explains. “Students have to think, ‘Well, what does rain and what does wind sound and look like, and how can I convey that to an audience.’ It’s a great exercise in getting students to think theatrically and outside the box.” 

Driving the work of the ensemble is the hope of telling a great story. To master their skills as storytellers, the Middle Schoolers need to mesh as a group. The Middle School play creates a unique chance for the students from 5th to 8th Grade to come together and collaborate on a project. “There aren’t many opportunities for 8th Graders to work with 5th Graders,” Hundley says. “Everyone has their own set of unique skills that they offer in a performance, and I think, in that way, there’s a really special mentoring aspect about the play. Students are able to work and learn from other students that they might not interact with often.”