I arrived at Norwalk High School a little over two years ago during the COVID pandemic. At that time the theatre offereings included a theatre studies course, a small fall play, and a well-regarded spring musical. It would be wrong to stay I started from scratch, but it still felt very much like the beginnings of a theatre program.
The previous year's shows were presented online and the musical the year before didn't make it to production before schools were forced to close their doors. In truth, the theatre world at large was shut down or digitally adapted for much of two years. This created a student body with little stage experience, where traditions and leadership had faded in the layoff. Still, in my first weeks at NHS when I called a meeting for all students interested in building a theatre community, around 50 met me on the stage after school. Students were hungry for art, for opportunity, and, most of all, for connection. I knew then, together, our community would build something special.
To allow students to perform unmasked for our fall play, we presented Almost, Maine outdoors, in the brisk October air. The 40 or so students working on that production grew to more than 50 in the cast and crew of our Spring Musical, Cinderella. We formed the NHS Drama Club and elected officers. Many of the 100 students across fives sections of theatre studies signed up for newly developed acting courses and students voiced their support for next year's musical.
My second year saw exponential growth. During our Friday night performance of our fall play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, we founded Troupe 11087 of The International Thespian Society, inducting 17 members into out theatre honor society. Acting students competed in the English Speaking Union's Shakespeare Competition and Gaby Tapper won second place honors at the state level. Thespians hosted our first Just Dance Tournament and Fundraiser, Acting and Theatre Studies classes presented public performances and Drama Club grew to 100 members. After we presented the musical Newsies, our productions for the year were nominated for 23 Halo Awards. We left the awards ceremony at the Waterbury Palace having won 4. The Thespians had a second induction, adding 12 more honors students, researched then presented production options for the following year, and Drama Club voted on play selections and officers.
As much growth as my second year saw, we may have already surpassed it as we approach December in my third. This year officers met over the summer and rebranded our department NHS Theatre CO (get your merch!), we had our second Just Dance Tournament, are presenting our fall play at Music Theatre of Connecticut where we will induct 12 more members of Thespians, and students have already attended three field trips to see live theatre. We will have our first contemporary monologue competition in connection with the Thespy's, and the new Play Production class will allow advanced theatre students to present work at the Connecticut Dramatic Association's One-Act Play Competition and student-directed works in the spring. Also on the horizon, our first annual CaBEARet, our spring musical The Drowsey Chaperone, and the end-of-year Acting and Theatre Studies presentations.
That may sound like a lot of theatre (it is!) but NHS Theatre CO will continue to grow in the years ahead. We are already discussing adding summer programming, joining the Sondheim awards, creating professional internship opportunities, expanding available coursework, and deepening our relationships to educational and professional theatres in the Norwalk area.
I may be the theatre teacher at NHS, but this is by no means one person's theatre program. The only reason NHS Theatre has been able to grow as it has is because it has the support of NPS Schools, the NHS administration, the Performing Arts Department, the Norwalk theatre community, and NHS parents. Most of all, the NHS Theatre CO is the product of the NHS student body. Our students have agency over the design, leadership, and implementation of all theatre programming, I'm just lucky enough to be able to help them along the way.
Enjoy the show and the many more that will follow.
-Charley McAfee
