New Albany Theatre

Theatre Department Philosophy

NAHS Theatre believes that the dramatic arts are an essential academic subject that help prepare students for college and career readiness. The theatre program functions as a core curricular area and produces well-rounded and civically-engaged theatrical artists. Every student has the opportunity to participate in a meaningful theatrical experience that cultivates the aesthetic, emotional, intellectual, and physical development of the child.

The arts, specifically theatre, teach students invaluable 21st-century skills like:

  • Agility and adaptability

  • Collaboration across networks

  • Critical thinking and problem solving

  • Curiosity and imagination

These skills will enable them to thrive not only in their chosen profession but, most importantly, in life.

NAHS Theatre cultivates four artistic processes that are the way the brain and body make art and define the link between art-making and the learner.

  1. Creating: Conceiving and developing new artistic ideas and work.

  2. Performing: Realizing artistic ideas and work through interpretation and presentation.

  3. Responding: Understanding and evaluating how the arts convey meaning.

  4. Connecting: Relating artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context.

These processes are rigorously honed through the NAHS Theatre's productions and its curriculum, beginning with Introduction to Drama and Stagecraft. The curriculum continues with Acting the Method and is followed by Honors Actor's Studio. It concludes with Introduction to the Theatre - KC, which is a collegiate level course taught through Kenyon College's KAP program. More information about each of these classes can be found on their individual pages.