Performance Art has a vibrant debut at Newman through the Cardinal Theatre Company
The Fall quarter of the 2021-22 school year saw a plethora of co-curricular activities line into a familiar rhythm with the new schedule, many benefitting from the full time, exclusively in-person setting which had been absent from the previous year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the liveliest of activities to have been welcomed as a new addition into the Newman club catalog is the Cardinal Theatre Company. After school on Mondays through Thursdays, the front room of 247 Marlborough becomes a space of creativity and diligent rehearsal directed by IB Theatre instructor Ms. Rachel Ollagnon, who joined Newman in 2021.
“I really love teaching theatre because I love theatre, and I like being able to bring that passion that I feel for it to other people,” Ms. Ollagnon explained. “Last spring, Newman had been thinking about expanding the theatre program. I have been working in IB schools for many years and teaching IB theatre, so it was a good fit for me to be able to bring [those skills] to another IB school.”
The Newman theatre program includes a Middle Years Program elective, an IB Theatre class which fulfills the arts subject group of the Diploma Program, and the aforementioned “category 1” after school theatre club, or the Cardinal Theatre Company. The theatre club is currently rehearsing Little Women by Kate Hamill, a stage adaptation of the classic novel written by Louisa May Alcott.
Ms. Ollagnon described the theatre club as an optimistic work in progress, and praised the students’ openness to trying new things. “There's a lot of very positive and enthusiastic energy towards [the production],” she said, “The challenge for me and the students is that we’re all new to each other, so we don’t have some of the habits that you develop when you’ve worked with someone over [several] years. It’s a building time, so we’re all building this together.”
Sophomore Kailen Mendes, who will play the role of Laurie in the upcoming production, views the theatre club as an opportune space for creative development. “Theatre allows me to express what I’ve always wanted to do: act and perform. [I love] getting to do the actions, trying to express myself, and [changing] the tone of my voice to match the specific scene,” Mendes said.
Mendes additionally cited theatre as an opportunity to overcome nervousness and grow in confidence. “I feel a lot more confident as I progress in the things I do. In theatre, performing in front of people [has] just come to grow on me. As long as I know exactly what I’m supposed to say, [I have] confidence. I pretend that just me and the group [are] putting on the play. Forgetting that the audience is actually there helps break me out of my shell,” he said.
From October 20th to 24th, theatre students took a class trip to New York City to participate in performance workshops and to see various theatrical productions, including those of Girl from the North Country, To Kill A Mockingbird, Caroline or Change, and Come From Away.
“That experience was really wonderful,” Mendes said. “The theatre workshops we attended helped me find my voice in what I perform, [and taught me] how to use theatre for social change and gain the appreciation to speak and to act. The theatre trip helped me improve my theatre skills, and opened me up to a lot of different Broadway shows that I’d never seen before.”
In addition to the current accomplishments achieved by the theatre club, Ms. Ollagnon plans to integrate new experiences into the program over the course of the year.
“Ideally, I would like us to be able to do two full-scale productions per year, one in the fall and one in the spring. I’m hoping that in the spring we’ll be able to compete in the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild, which is a state-wide theatre program,” she explained.
“We have a core of people who are really working together and building some really great theatre. There’s so much artistic talent and creativity at this school, that theatre is a perfect thing for people to have an option to do,” Ms. Ollagnon said.
The Cardinal Theatre Company will perform Little Women on Wednesday, November 17th at 4:30 PM and on Thursday, November 18th at 6:30 PM.
Photos courtesy of Ms. Ollagnon.
