Sussex Academy theatre students stage showcase

A trimester-long drama class project at Sussex Academy culminated in a showcase-in-the-round featuring students performing in acts of their own choosing to an audience of 50.

Drama teacher Erin Bobby said the showcase put the audience on the stage, seated on all sides of each performance. First, students worked with different types of performance spaces and what they require or limit in performance, she explained.

“We also did some work with physicality, performance style, sense memory and emotion memory,” Bobby said.

Students completed several surveys about their interests for the cabaret, Bobby said, and 16 of the 20 class members chose to perform; the remaining four students worked between stage management and tech duties.

The class then selected opening and closing group numbers, and every act in the showcase was assigned a scene captain, another student to help stage the piece in the round and provide comment on it, in addition to performing their own piece. A few students were assigned to sets, props, costumes and lighting.

“We spent the rest of the trimester putting together all of the elements into a full one-hour production,” Bobby said. “A couple weeks were spent in production meetings, another couple in workshopping and rehearsing the scenes, and getting feedback. One week was spent just on music rehearsal led by me for the opening and closing, and four days were spent staging the opening number and the closing number, choreographed by student Abby Lynne.”

Sussex Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Georgetown.