Part of the challenge of working together on stage is learning to work together and trust the other actors. For these first weeks of school, the theatre students are spending their class time setting goals and learning to work together as a group.

“We are working to find what our relationships are,” director Jill Henson said. “This includes our relationship with our stage and also our relationships with each other.”

To that end, students are spending time working on different activities that give them some insight on how to move on stage and to see how others move, as well. After spending a year working with comedia, the group is continuing to learn to let their movements onstage be a big part of their acting and hope it helps them make it to the 3A OAP state contest this year.

“We want our shows this year to have great stage pictures, rich with symbolism and style,” Henson said. “The body in motion is one of the most beautiful forms of art, and our goal this year is to explore and incorporate this.”

Even while working on their own movement and acting skills, the group is preparing to help younger students work on theirs later this fall with a theatre camp that will yield younger-student participation in a version of Willy Wonka. The camp and production will take place in November.