Theater

For curriculum details, click here.

“The pooled resources of SPS and SPSG offer theater students some of the best opportunities they will find on the secondary school level. Working side-by-side with our girls and boys we're committed to bringing each participant an enriching, professional and life long appreciation of theater arts.”

Christopher Briante
SPS Arts Chair,
SPSG Theater Chair

Lower School Theater

Each school year all 4th grade students are introduced to theater with their participation in the 4th Grade Play. In recent years the theme of the production has focused on "immigration" including a full day field trip to Ellis Island in New York City. Through this interdisciplinary approach students gain several experiences: they are introduced to performance skills, they learn of the different "passages" that have brought people to America, and they come to appreciate cultures outside of their own. This study culminates with school and public performances of the play in May.

Middle School Theater

Theatre courses are offered to all 7th grade boys for one quarter. The course culminates in a short theatrical presentation for the entire MS. Students in 8th grade may select theater as one of their two arts electives for the year. The semester long course culminates in an evening showcase for friends and family in the Acting Lab. Every year the Middle School presents a major theater production in the Ward Center for the Arts in conjunction with St. Paul's School for Girls. Recent productions include Godspell, The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe and Twisted Tales.

Upper School Theater

St. Paul's offers a joint theater program with the St. Paul's School for Girls with a fully coordinated curriculum featuring a four year sequence of acting classes, two technical theater courses, as well as a musical theater and a directing class. From classic dramas to contemporary musicals, extracurricular theater at St. Paul's provides ambitious boys and girls with an exciting outlet for creative expression. Working on either side of the curtain, students learn about the immediate but indelible nature of this most collaborative discipline of the arts. Any Upper School boy may replace up to two seasons of athletics with participation in a theater production either as actor, stage manager or stage crew. Three formal theater productions are staged each year often involving student directors, playwrights and designers. Participation is open to the entire student body by audition or interview. Recent shows include Into the Woods, Anne Frank and Me, Pride and Prejudice, The People vs. Maxine Lowe, Footloose, Pride and Prejudice, and The Crucible.

The state-of-the-art Ward Center theater is staffed by a fulltime sound and lighting director and technical director.

Beauty and the Beast (click image for more)