Theater instruction and the performing arts are woven through our early childhood and lower school programs, aligning to curriculum and student interests, and students may also elect to participate in musical theater club beginning in Kindergarten.
Middle School students receive theater instruction and begin to explore the foundations of theater performances and the history of performance and oration. Through studying technical theater, students learn to understand the scope of producing a live show. Students learn and cultivate acting, dramaturgy, voice, and movement skills in class and participate in productions throughout the school year.
In Upper School, students can pursue electives in our theater program through our audition-based performance ensemble and contemporary ensemble, student improv, the ten-minute student showcase of original plays and productions, and a musical review. Beyond class and electives, students from 7th through 12th Grade are invited to audition for theater productions on the Davidson Day Main Stage in Gordon Theater. These productions, at least one of which is a musical, occur two or three times each year.
When students participate in theater, they connect and collaborate with others, cultivate empathy and awareness of culture and character and individuality, and expand their worldview, all while expanding the actor’s tools: voice, body and movement, imagination and expression, and the interplay of self and character as they relate to the human experience.