After long days of school, kids across all middle schools gather at Driscoll to receive a unique theater experience.
Spotlight Theatre is a program offered to middle school students and run by high school students. For months, the Spotlight Theatre cast and directors work to put on a performance including creating props, costumes and choreography. Beyond those base elements the directors place attention on the emotional aspect of theater. The student directors’ focus on stage confidence and strong relationships throughout the community creates a stage that can help children find their confidence under the spotlight.
Junior Louisa Hansel has done four shows with Spotlight Theatre and works as Chief Technical Officer (CTO), managing technology. Hansel said that Spotlight Theatre gives equal attention to each role to ensure that every child feels valued as an actor. Every role includes a name, personality, costume, prop, significant lines and attention on stage. Hansel said the staff strive to ensure that each child feels confident through only assigning legitimate roles.
“We work really hard to make sure that each kid has a substantial role and has a moment, where they can be a person, [as] we say, in the spotlight,” Hansel said.
Hansel said that Spotlight Theatre also helps in middle schoolers’ transition to high school.
“If a kid has done a lot of Spotlight shows, they will already know some upperclassmen when they come, which I think is really great for getting integrated into the community,” Hansel said.
Senior Ian Hansen is a Chief Operations Officer (COO), working on the administration board and helping run the budget and manage other organizational matters.
Junior Yuli Grigoryeva, a senior director and choreographer, said that to create unity and comfort, Spotlight Theatre weaves in moments to play games with each other and has built unique traditions such as having popsicles on warm days.
Hansen said building community is essential to running theater programs.
“With traditional high school actors, you can kind of tell them how it is, but there is a bit of an art of working with kids; trying to keep them together, playing games with them to fill in time,” Hansen said. “We try to create a good cast environment so that way they know us, we know them, and that way they can come to us if there’s any issues.”
Grigoryeva said she had a student who was struggling to pick up choreography but didn’t feel confident enough to ask questions in front of others. In response, she cut the rehearsal short to spend time helping him.
“It led to him asking me more acting questions,” Grigoryeva said. “I helped him in that sort of way and I just could see him later in rehearsals, how he was blooming. He was more active on stage and he was making bigger choices.”
Hansel said constructing confidence and cultivating community with each child is central to Spotlight Theatre and yields a lasting positive impact on each middle schooler.
“We want it to feel more like a camp, right? Where you can make these nice bonds with this variety of high schoolers,” Hansel said. “So I think just the experience for the kids is more personal and more impactful.”
