Last month, the Nightingale Theatre company welcomed students from all grades, including incoming freshmen, back to Townsend Harris for a brief taste of the school’s theatrical opportunities. This year’s summer retreat was organized by new English teacher William Lacker,  STEM teacher and S!NG advisor Michael Quach, and English/Instructional Support Services teacher Kevin Schwab.

The retreat offered students a chance to explore interests in the areas of theatrical production, playwriting, and performing.

Though the group only met for a handful of days at the start of August, they were able to plan, rehearse, and perform an entire mini-production featuring student actors and original student-written short plays (authored by former students from this program).

Before rehearsals could begin, the students needed to both get to know one another and get to know one of the newest additions to the THHS theater faculty: Mr. Lacker

Junior Madilyn Mercado said, “My favorite part of the retreat was getting to meet other students with interests similar to mine. We talked about topics outside of theater, like hobbies and expectations for school.”

This year, various theater games were introduced to the students to enhance their acting skills.

Mr. Lacker said, “This year, we expanded on [previous retreats] by adding more theatre games that help build performance skills and ensemble trust. We also introduced some character development work using Uta Hagen’s Nine Questions, which is a classic acting tool that helps students make decisions about their characters that then shape their acting choices.”

Sophomore Ben Wilkinson, who has attended the retreat two years in a row said, called Mr. Lacker’s approach “structured.”

“The first day was spent playing theatre games, and we held auditions for each of the three plays on the second day. The third and fourth days were spent rehearsing, and the last day was the performance,” Ben said.

At the end of the week, participants showcased three student-written plays in front of their parents and peers.

Junior Adora Uddin, who was a member of the audience, said, “I am amazed at the work that the Nightingale members put into the performance, especially the incoming freshmen. I know that it would take me twice the amount of time it took them to memorize the amount of lines they had to within five days.”

Students from other parts of the Writers Academy retreat, along with students attending other summer programs at THHS, were invited to join the audience. To create a more intimate feeling, the audience was brought directly on stage to view the performance as close to the actors as possible.