Theatre

Theatre at The Cambridge School of Weston seeks to create whole theatre arts students by offering a challenging but supportive and inclusive set of performance opportunities as well as acting and technical theatre classes. We seek to foster a love for this collaborative art form through innovative, purposeful, socially aware programming that can raise awareness of self and others, strengthen cultural understanding, build community, and foster creativity.

We are an equal opportunity community that believes that everyone is responsible for the group by also being responsible for themselves. We value deepening our theatre skills and challenging ourselves to grow through rigor, dedication, self-care, joy, laughter, and building awareness of self and others.

Sample Courses

List of 8 items.

  • Auditioner’s Tool Box

    Put together a personal repertory of strong skills, perhaps a monologue or a song. Based on exercise, practice, and research, find how you can showcase the best you.
  • Costume Design for Production

    This class is a hands-on introduction to the world of theatrical design. Students work on the concept and costume design for Short Dramatic Pieces and the upcoming main stage performance. Script and character analysis, costume chart, research and sketching, choosing fabrics and color schemes, pulling stock pieces, and some work on the sewing machines are included. Explore the impact of age, class, race, status, and stereotyping on design.
  • Dramatic Production

    Disciplined and daring, thought-provoking plays often reflect social and political issues or explore a particular dramatic literary style. Actors, assistant directors, stage managers, and designers are required to be part of the production process during Saturday work calls (15 hours total) building sets, lights, costumes, sound, and props, often student designed. Rehearsals, meant to be an exciting learning lab, are scheduled during D Block, at least one night a week and some Sundays. Past productions include Charandas Chor by Habib Tanvir, Confucius’ Disciples with the Shanghai Theatre Academy, Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights by Gertrude Stein, Street Scene by Elmer Rice, The Bathtub by Paul Schmidt, The Martyrdom of Peter Ohey by Slawamir Mrozek, Picnic on the Battlefield by Fernando Arrabal, Brecht’s Galileo, Emily Mann’s Execution of Justice, and Hellman’s The Children’s Hour.
  • Lighting Design

    Get out the wrenches, lighting templates, gel color books, and scripts! Learn the basics of theatrical lighting design. Help design, hang, focus, and cue the lights for Fall Production or Short Dramatic Pieces. Become a lighting designer for the Student Directors’ Workshop, Student Designers’ Musical, Dance Concert, or PADD. Find out how they do it in the real world, in theatrical unions and in small, found theatres. Some time outside of class may be required to see or run shows.
  • Musical Theatre Production

    Students who love to sing, dance, and perform (but may not have done so before) will be helped by a musical director who will guide them through the important process of stage and musical rehearsals and performances. All students enrolled in this class will have an opportunity to shine. There is usually collaboration with the Dance Department or student choreographers. The ensemble commitments and credits are the same as all main stage productions: 15 hours for Saturday production work (often student-designed) and rehearsals during D Blocks at least one night a week and some Sundays. Past productions include Three‐Penny Opera, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Into The Woods, Anything Goes, The Pirates of Penzance, The Pajama Game, Urinetown, Chess, and Dido and Aeneas.
  • Scene Study and Directing

    Students will learn skills in the areas of acting, directing, and (if time permits), devising, by watching and reading a variety of materials and reflecting thoughtfully on an array of theories. Students will work independently and in collaboration to present/direct short scenes. Students will be exposed to a variety of styles of theatre/ performance to deepen their interpretive and creative skills. 
  • Short Dramatic Pieces

    Short Dramatic Pieces is a perfect place to try out theatre. Students work on a variety of short pieces that are performed at the end of the module. This class is for the seasoned student who wants to work in depth on performance and develop as a performer or for the student who doesn’t have time for the bigger productions. It is also for students that never imagined themselves on stage and are curious about it. Some rehearsals may occur outside of class time.
  • Stagecraft

    Be the force behind the scenes for the Spring Theatre Production and possibly a show in the Moir Theatre. This physical, hands-on class, allows students to build, paint, and put in scenery, as well as hang and focus lights. Students will learn how to use shop tools and lighting instruments safely and to use scenic paint and brushes correctly. When necessary, we tackle the basics of sewing and costuming, too.

Graduation Requirements

Students must complete coursework in three of four disciplines.

Grade 9:   2 Blocks
Grade 10:   2 Blocks
Grade 11:   2 Blocks
Grade 12:   2 Blocks

Theatre Faculty

List of 4 members.

  • Photo of Emily Ranii

    Emily Ranii 

    Theatre Program Director
    Education & Degrees
  • Photo of Calin Duke

    Calin Duke 

    Theatre Faculty
    Education & Degrees
  • Photo of David Irons

    David Irons 

    Theatre Faculty
    Education & Degrees
  • Photo of Lea Peterson

    Lea Peterson 

    Music Director for Musical Productions
    Education & Degrees

Elaborate Lives Highlights

Past Productions Include:

  • Love's Labour's Lost, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, Macbeth, and The Tempest by William Shakespeare
  • Dido and Aneas by Henry Purcell
  • Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights by Gertrude Stein
  • Chess by Tim Rice
  • Street Scene by Elmer Rice
  • The Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht
  • Execution of Justice by Fernando Arrabal
  • Once on this Island by Lynn Ahrens
  • Children of Herakles by Euripides
  • Radium Girls by D.W. Gregory
  • Beowulf: 1000 Years of Baggage by Jason Craig, music by Dave Malloy
  • Metamorphoses: A Play by Mary Zimmerman
  • HONK, by Anthony Drew; music by George Stiles
  • The Insect Play by Josef Karel Capek
  • Thoroughly Modern Millie by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlon; music by Jeanine Tesori
  • Big Love by Charles L. Mee
  • It Can't Happen Here by Lewis & John C. Moffitt
  • Elaborate Lives- An Original Production
  • Midsummer/Jersey by Ken Ludwig
  • Urinetown, The Musical! by Greg Kotis

The Cambridge School of Weston is a progressive high school for day and boarding students in grades 9–12 and PG. CSW's mission is to provide a progressive education that emphasizes deep learning, meaningful relationships, and a dynamic program that inspires students to discover who they are and what their contribution is to their school, their community and the world.