The Theatre Ensemble has a new room in the Abrookin Career and Technical Center, where an additional stage is being built. The idea arose at the end of last school year and Theatre Director and teacher Ward Dales says the space will be completely ready by March 3rd, just in time for the annual school musical.

Dales said “That old space was virtually impossible to teach any hands-on technical theatre in.” The main theatre is a public space, often used for other programs, and has minimal space for actually teaching students lighting and sound. On top of the limited space, an architectural change that extended the stage into the audience made the lighting and acoustics very difficult to manage. Though the theatre will still be used for large productions like the school musical, additional performances and teaching will happen in the new space.

The Abrookin addition means various things for the Theatre program. Dales explained that due to the smaller size “Students will always play to a full house, [and] students will have a more intimate theatre experience.” Most importantly, Dales said “It helps connect curriculum in this building… we can connect to all the programs in this building because theatre encompasses so much.”