As one of the top preparatory boarding schools in the U.S., Millbrook provides unparalleled opportunities for high school students to pursue their passions. A perfect example of this is a recent visit from award-winning director and playwright Neil LaBute.
Mr. LaBute is known for plays like “Reasons to Be Pretty” and “The Shape of Things” (also adapted for film). He’s also written and directed films and television series, with credits including “Death at a Funeral,” “Billions,” and “In the Company of Men,” just to name a few. So, when Millbrook Theater Director Elaine Lifter met him at a reading, she knew he would be an invaluable source of inspiration for her students. Fortunately, Mr. LaBute was as receptive to the idea of visiting Millbrook Theater classes as his IMDb page is long.
After a summer of planning, Mr. LaBute joined Ms. Lifter in her playwriting and acting classes for a week in mid-October. In acting class, students performed monologues adapted from Mr. LaBute’s plays. Mr. LaBute observed intently, smoothly intertwining praise and notes at the end of each performance.
“Bringing in someone who has cast tons of well-known and gifted actors in various roles to watch our students act is exciting,” Ms. Lifter said. “He can really inform them on making bold choices and bringing truth to the imaginary circumstances, and he definitely is modeling that for them.”
In playwriting class, Millbrook’s aspiring playwrights were treated to a unique writing exercise. Mr. LaBute laid out a selection of postcards, giving students time to look through and pick their favorite one. They were to then write a monologue from the perspective of one of the characters on the postcard—or from a character not pictured. However, after the students carefully chose their favorite cards, Mr. LaBute directed them to trade, evoking an understandably emotional response but guiding them to write outside of their comfort zone. After learning that valuable lesson, the young writers were able to write a second monologue based on their original choice.
Ms. Lifter noted that her playwrights were bolstered by the exercise, writing monologues that exhibited advancement in terms of style and voice. She was also appreciative of Mr. LaBute’s overall impact on all her classes.
“He really encouraged creativity in our students and brought out the best in them, and they really felt like they could be themselves. And that is the first step in them understanding and nurturing their creativity.”
Students expressed their gratitude to Mr. LaBute in front of the entire community at Friday Assembly, presenting him with a gift from the Millbrook School Store. As the students explained how they had learned from him and shared inside jokes the groups had cultivated, it was evident that Mr. LaBute personified the insight he shared with the playwriting class to close out their final session together:
“What we’ve been hearing the last couple of years is, ‘This is a safe space,’ and I say this space is a safe space to be bold. You can say anything here; just say it well.”
