Live Theater is Thriving and Well at The Ethel Walker School

With the news of Broadway’s re-opening, hope and progress is on the horizon when it comes to welcoming the live performing arts back into our community. At The Ethel Walker School, theater students were determined to continue to make theater happen this school year despite the unforeseen challenges and uncertainties they knew they might face because of the pandemic. While each unique set of obstacles required problem-solving, it was the students’ resilience and commitment to the art form that enabled them to have successful productions throughout this school year.

“We wanted it to be upbeat and to bring some levity,” says student co-head of Drama Club Olivia Dargis of Simsbury when recalling the outdoor fall student-directed production of 60-Minute Shakespeare: Twelfth Night on the twelfth of November amidst bone-chilling cold and spitting rain. Carrying their lawn chairs and blankets, faculty, staff and students enjoyed an escape into an 80s prom-themed version of Twelfth Night, complete with all the fashion and colorful effects that mark that decade.

The production was more complex than anything the students had ever directed, and the pandemic posed its own unique set of challenges. To start, all the actors would have to wear masks and stay six-feet apart on stage, so the directors needed to think about how to compensate for facial expressions, now hidden behind masks. Additionally, the co-directors also began taking on the challenge of how to convert one of the campus’ new outdoor tents into a performance area. They spent off-time in the costume shop, sifting through bins for all the color and shimmer they could find, and bought string lights to dangle from the perimeter of the tent to add to the festive atmosphere. Bringing a bit of twinkle and glitter was all part of the girls’ idea to bring the audience into this world of revelry.

After the success of Twelfth Night, a group of dedicated, loyal thespians turned their attention to the school’s winter play, Twelve Angry Women with much of the cast’s rehearsal done via Zoom while the students were on an extended winter break. When the cast finally reconvened in-person, they only had three weeks before show time to pull together a huge ensemble piece, starting with basic blocking and building characterization from there. The challenge of Twelve Angry Women lies in the fact that it is practically one big, long scene — no characters ever leave the stage, and the action and dynamic between each eccentric, unique juror lies in the chemistry and ping-pong of dialogue between the actors on stage. Doing a show in the school’s main theater albeit with a substantially smaller audience brought its own sense of satisfaction and gratification for the cast. Actor Maya Dolphin ’24 of Hartford says, “It felt amazing. Performing has always been therapeutic for me. After almost a full year being unable to do theatre under normal circumstances, being able to perform in front of any audience was one of the best feelings in the world.”

Walker’s Theater Program ended its school year with their Spring Play, The Glass Menagerie, which has been a special journey in its own right. Carly Wilkes ’26 of Avon, who plays Laura in the show, recalls, “For the spring play, almost all of the cast was quarantined at some point. This meant we had to change the plan accordingly.” The cast triumphed over a hybrid rehearsal process that occurred both in-person and on Zoom, coming together in the final weeks of rehearsal to produce something they could be proud of for the school community.

“Getting through this year and still producing amazing creative projects taught us all that we could get through anything,” says Shannen Hofheimer, director of theater at Walker's. “The pandemic has taught me that our arts students are incredibly resilient. It helped me to let go of the idea of perfection and realize that the students being able to persevere by utilizing artistic expression is what matters the most during these trying times.”

In August, Hofheimer is offering two acting programs for girls ages 8-18. Hofheimer has performed internationally in The Sound of Music starring Marie Osmond, and studied under the tutelage of Tony-winning composer Steven Lutvak of the Broadway musical, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. Additionally, Hofheimer toured nationally as an actress with Chamber Theater Productions, performing classic works of literature adapted for the stage for school groups across the country. Please visit www.ethelwalker.org/summer for details.