Students Explore Documentary-Style Theater
On Friday, honors theater students took to the stage in the Chelsea Morrison Theater to perform one-person shows they wrote this semester. The playwrights each interviewed four people to develop the documentary-style theater pieces—based on the form created by Anna Deavere Smith.
Millbrook Theater Director Elaine opened her classroom to the community, and the turnout included parents, faculty, and even local playwright and director Neil LaBute, known for films and plays like The Shape of Things and Reasons to Be Pretty. LaBute, who visited campus in the fall for a week of classes, opened the show with a few words of encouragement, and then the student artists shared their work.
Students acted out the responses they received during their interviews, creatively using props to signal character changes. Each series of interviews centered around a specific topic that interested the playwright:
- Addiction to Failure by Andrea Taitt ’27 — From a field hockey goalie trying to perfect her leg slide to the travails of breadmaking, Andrea deftly portrayed her interview subjects’ experience with failure in their lives.
- Inside the Bubble by Ellie Myers ’26 — Ellie’s performance offered a view of life inside the bubble that is a boarding school campus—sharing perspectives from faculty and students on the inside and observations from outside observers.
- Do You Believe in Fate by Olivia Biller ’27 — Delving into the complex topic of free will, Olivia skillfully delivered insights from deep conversations she had with her interview subjects.
- Happiness Is a Virtue by Ella Main ’26 — Ella asked four people for their definition of “happiness.” The answers she received ranged from sports and sleep to material things and hanging out with friends. Her final interview subject even drove her out of the room.
- A Hidden Truth by Silas Brockway ’26 — Is ignorance truly blissful? Silas’s interviewees shared anecdotes and insights about trust and truth.
- The Why of Art by Fifi Novaes Ferreira ’25 — Fifi seamlessly switched between multiple foreign languages and English to deliver a brief documentary piece on the reasons artists do their art.
- The Price of Joy by Tamer Sidani ’25 — Tamer asked his subjects if money can buy happiness, and they shared wisdom about focusing on finding joy in the difficulties of life.
- The Mask of Addiction: How Mental Health Issues Can Facilitate Substance Abuse by Blake Frost ’26 — Blake shared uplifting stories about how his interview subjects overcame struggles with mental health and the substance abuse they relied on to cope with their underlying issues.
The performers’ dedication and passion for their craft was evident in every riveting performance. As a reward for their hard work, LaBute gave students copies of his latest book.
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