By Olivia D’Ambrosia and Emma Lewis

Do you remember taking your first Middle School drama class? Middle School drama teacher Jenny Hundley’s quirky, extroverted character, and the excitement and jitters to perform in front of your peers? While some things about Middle School drama are different, many things remain unchanged.  

The Middle School theater space. Photo credit: Emma Lewis.

We had the opportunity to sit in on Hundley’s 7th Grade drama class on a morning in March. Due to the way the arts rotate through the four quarters of the school year in the Middle School, it was their second-ever class, and the students played a short-form improvisation game, “Anything Store.” In the exercise, one student acts as a store owner, and the other acts as a shopper. The shopper goes in with a strong, set persona, and the store owner has to mirror the shopper’s behavior. When the transaction ends, the shopper becomes the store owner, and the store owner walks off.

Hundley said that although this group was new to the class, none of them were new to drama. 11 of the students have attended Collegiate since Kindergarten, and there were no new students. Because of this, the group was relatively comfortable with one another. Hundley said that “hesitancy was minimal,” which is somewhat unusual for a new class. Naturally, the students had voluntarily divided themselves by gender, with a few seats separating the tight clumps of girls and boys.

When asked to comment on the class so far, Blake (‘29) said that he enjoyed the exercise because “we get to choose what we get to do, and it’s very open ended, and I like using my creativity.” While heading to her next class, Chloe (‘29) said that although she was a bit nervous to perform in front of her classmates, it was fun to see how other kids acted: “Even if you’re not friends with them, you get to see their personality shine.”

Middle School theater has changed in the last few years. Arts are still separated into quarters in 6th and 7th Grades, but there is no longer an 8th Grade play. Instead, interested students from 5th through 8th Grade participate in a production together, much like in the Upper School. In fact, one student in the class, Hadley (‘29), had participated in the Middle School production of Finding Nemo in February. Additionally, there are now different semester courses for 8th Graders: “Art of Improvisation” and “Behind the Scenes.” Hundley explained that this better prepares the kids for the Upper School, when classes are separated into semesters. 

Featured image photo credit: Maddie (’28).