Jessica Li

As Advanced Drama students prepare for their showcase, a year of the drama program closes. After putting on multiple successful productions and performances, the year comes to an end. “I think the showcase served as a great model of the range of styles, genres, and characters our students can play,” said Elizabeth Berg, the Carlmont drama director.

As parents and audience members filed into the studio theater on Thursday, May 23, thespians backstage prepared for their last performance of the year. As a showcase of what the Advanced Drama class was working on every day, the show was able to give audience members a glimpse into the classroom. 

“The Advanced Drama Showcase is exciting precisely because it is smaller-scale. Unlike our full-scale productions, this showcase features no costumes and limited scenery props, and lighting,” said Elizabeth Berg, the drama teacher at Carlmont.

Compared to other productions done by the drama program, such as “The Little Mermaid” and “A Midsummer’s Night Dream,” this showcase was a much smaller production, with a limited audience and amount of seats in the studio theater. 

Rather than revealing months and months of work on the big stage, this performance allowed the audience to look into the drama classroom and the ongoing work that the students were working on. 

“It’s a workshop-style event that gives our families a window into the type of work we do in our drama classroom,” Berg said. 

Through performances of scenes from Jane Austen films, as well as scenes such as “Rabbit Hole” by David Lindsay-Abaire, the audience was able to experience the many facets of the drama program.

Multiple props were moved onto the stage by the crew, such as chairs and tables, while family and friends in the audience waited in suspense for the next scene to begin.

“It was really well thought out and performed,” said Iris Velcamp, a sibling of one of the performers who watched the show.

This showcase allowed audience members to see the expression of emotions and feelings through the art of the performers, as well as being able to see the value of the drama program on the students.

“I think any of the arts is very expressive and an opportunity for kids to build confidence and express themselves in a unique way,” said Jennifer della Gatta, a parent watching the showcase. 

The drama program looks on toward another year of productions and plays as students enroll and new thespians are inducted.

“The attendance at lunchtime thespian meetings is up, as is enrollment in Advanced Drama for next year,” Berg said. “The energy and atmosphere of the drama program has been really good.”