Into the limelight: Why theater inspires growth

Drama and theater experiences offer students myriad opportunities to grow and learn. Drama activities draw students into unscripted play, engaging their minds and bodies in spontaneous and joyful expressions of their creativity.

In performing a scripted work, students must ask more than, “Who is my character,” and, “What does my character want?”  They must also consider how to convey that information to their audience with sincerity and clarity.  In doing so, young actors begin to become students of humanity, examining the lives, relationships and motivations of their characters in comparison with their own, and discovering that in order to bring truth to their performances, they must bring something of themselves into their performances.

Drama and theater requires many skills, but that possibility of free play leading to creative inspiration, and the exploration of identity and relationships, are at the core of what I want students to take away from their time in my classes and productions.

–Greenhills theater teacher Emily Wilson-Tobin ’96