Theatre Workshop students. Front row, from left: Anna Signoretta ’15, Kayla Cummings ’15, Katie Strosser ’16, Imeirah Page ’15, Kathryn Deasy ’16, Kristina Neal ’15. Back row: Sarah Hansell ’16, Ms. Jean Korey, Bridget Sykes ’15.
Theatre Workshop Provides Lessons About by: Kristen DiPrinzio
the Arts – and Life
This spring, eight junior and senior students took a new course, Theatre Workshop, where they analyzed Broadway shows, wrote their own original play, and performed a play written by another school. The class was organized by Theatrelink, a New York-based education program by the Manhattan Theatre Club.
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n Fine Arts teacher Jean Korey’s classroom, a small group of students huddle on a leather sofa, poring over an iPad and discussing dialogue. In a corner, two students rearrange names on a large board, mapping out a family lineage of fictional characters. They’re delving into the characters’ lives in hopes to determine their behavior and thought patterns. All of this unfolds against a backdrop of movie posters and photos of legendary film stars taped to the walls. Clearly, this is not your average class; this is Theatre Workshop, a new honors course. The class came to be thanks to Theatrelink, part of Manhattan Theatre Club’s education program. Theatrelink is a curriculum-based web project that connects select high schools around the world for a five-month period to create and study theatre together. Through a connection from a Mount alumna now working in arts administration, a representative from Theatrelink called Ms. Korey in summer 2013 to ask her class to be a part of the program in spring 2014. Korey’s curriculum for the 2013-14 school year was already finalized by the time the call came, so she reluctantly declined, but requested that the Mount be kept in mind for future sessions. Ms. Korey followed up with Theatrelink in spring 2014. She proposed creating a 16-week theatre course that could be carried out in conjunction with Theatrelink’s program. In June 2014, she received word that the Mount had been approved into the program. The class would begin in spring 2015. “I wanted to expand the theatre curriculum to include a playwriting course,” Ms. Korey explained. “More students were expressing an interest in playwriting, and the Theatrelink program
presented the perfect opportunity for that and much more. The students would be able to take part in every aspect of the theatre process: writing, directing, acting and designing.” In preparation to merge her lesson plans with Theatrelink’s content, Ms. Korey attended a workshop with teachers from other participating schools in December 2014. During that session, Korey examined Theatrelink’s curriculum and become familiar with the program methodology. Eight students enrolled in the class: Kayla Cummings ’15, Kathryn Deasy ’16, Sarah Hansell ’16, Kristina Neal ’15, Imeirah Page ’15, Anna Signoretta ’15, Katie Strosser ’16, and Bridget Sykes ’15. Four students had previous theatre experience through Acadram, the Mount’s drama club. At the start of the course, each class is assigned a Teaching Artist, an actor or theatre professional who holds webchats and consults with students throughout the course. Their Teaching Artist was Julie Leedes Bienstock, an actress with a long history in stage and screen acting. The course began with an in-depth analysis of how plays are structured. To familiarize students with the arrangement of plays, Theatrelink provides students a play to read and assess. Students this year were given Outside Mullingar, a play by John Patrick Shanley that ran on Broadway in 2014. The girls began the course by reading the play, discussing its structure and thematic elements, and analyzing it using storytelling assignments, improvisation activities and character profiles provided by Theatrelink. The play, set in Ireland, focuses on two farmers, Anthony and mount saint joseph academy
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