Drama
Drama at Brearley offers our students the chance to learn the art of theater in ways both practical and intellectual. Our program stresses attention to detail, the strengthening of the power of observation, the development of empathy and the use of language to explain, persuade and describe. Many types of theater are explored, including ancient Greek drama, Shakespeare’s plays, modern drama, musical comedy and farce.
Inspiring a Lifelong Love of Theater
At Brearley, theater plays a major role in our curriculum and our after-school activities. Beginning in Lower School, students start their exploration of the stage through class productions. In Middle School, students have multiple opportunities to perform starting in Class V with an adaptation of a Shakespeare play, in Class VI with reimagined interpretations of classic Greek and medieval plays and then again in Class VII with an original jukebox musical based on the Brearley core values. Classes IX and X can also take advantage of drama electives, while Class XI and XII have course offerings in playwriting, acting and dramatic literature. In Upper School, the extracurricular focus turns to our main stage productions—two dramas and one musical each year—with opportunities for actors and for those who wish to work behind the scenes in theater tech and production.
A Collaborative Endeavor
Theater succeeds only when every participant supports the larger effort. Students design lights and sound and work with a costumer on wardrobe, hair and makeup. Girls also generate their own opportunities to make theater happen. Class VIII works with drama teachers to script an original play for performance in early spring. In Class XII, students may write, direct, produce or appear in a production as part of their senior project.
Extracurricular Options
Brearley’s after-school productions give a broader taste of what playmaking is. Student crews design, build and paint scenery and work with faculty and visiting artists. In the Upper School Tech Club, run by students working with a faculty advisor, girls who want to learn technical theater are mentored by more experienced students and may later become mentors themselves. Boys from other schools are invited to audition for the winter musical.
