By Sofia DiFrancesco ’14, Contributor

Have you ever wanted to learn about the theatre but not actually get on stage? Next year, there will be a chance to take a class that is not purely about acting. In an attempt to draw on a wider range of students to

the electives, the series of acting courses will be slightly modified for the upcoming 2012-2013 school year. Improvisation and Speech classes will be offered for beginners as before but because of the lack of enrollment for Acting 1, Acting 2, and Acting Workshop, these three classes will be condensed into simply two classes for the

coming year.

The first class will be renamed Drama 1. This class is meant to be an introduction to theatre in general. It will be more of a lecture based class but will include video examples, introductions to different genres and styles of theatre, and the history of theatre. Mr. Mark Femia, Upper School Drama Directior, explained that he hoped the new class would “be able to present theatre as an art form.” The class was altered to be more inviting to students who don’t want to necessarily appear on stage. Mr. Femia hopes that the class will be open to all types of students and said that, “The main purpose for the change is that we are offering an acting experience not only for the young aspiring actors but also for the students who enjoy costume design, tech theatre, or scenic design.” He continued, adding “They are also going to learn about theatre and not feel that they are in an acting class 100 percent of the time. This way they will learn more about the theatre world.”

The second class will named Acting Workshop, and will maintain the same curriculum as the previously named Acting 1 class. These two classes will be the only acting classes being offered next year, as of now. Students who have already taken some acting classes will have the opportunity to skip the new Drama 1 class and continue into Acting Workshop. These new acting classes will introduce the stage, or simply the acting world, to students who never would have known their talent or interest.