Insight: Developing Care Through Community

By Ginger Ellingson, Director of Fine & Performing Arts

Congratulations on closing out the second full week of classes! I hope the rhythm of the school year is beginning to feel more steady and familiar. As EPS moves from the welcome of August picnics and September orientations into the deeper work of classes and weekly programming, our day-to-day interactions are no less powerful in building the community that will carry us through to June.

In the Fine & Performing Arts, that community is already taking shape. This week marked the start of rehearsals for the Middle School play, and it has been a joy to watch students begin to form an ensemble. The experienced students model so well what it means to be in a rehearsal, and the newer students learn vocabulary and etiquette about how rehearsals function. This is the beginning of building a team that will experience true synergy through this art form.

The school-wide theme this year is Act Responsibly: Care through Clarity. In the Fine & Performing Arts, we are exploring how responsibility and care emerge through community; how our individual wellbeing is intertwined with the wellbeing of those around us. What does it mean to belong to a community—or to be left out of one? What happens when different communities intersect? And what helps us break down the barriers that separate us?

These are questions that will come to life in our theatre season. We open with The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood by Mary Lynn Dobson, a comedic retelling of the classic story. This winter, our Upper School cast takes on Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, sharing the joys and sorrows of everyday life in Grover’s Corners. And in the spring, we close out the year with Urinetown, a satirical musical that uses humor (and bathroom jokes) to probe serious questions of access and power. Across all three productions, you’ll notice a common thread: each play disrupts the traditional “fourth wall,” inviting audiences to step directly into the story and become part of the community on stage.

Mark your calendars now for The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood, running November 6, 7, and 8. We can’t wait to share the laughs, surprises, and wooden-spoon sword fights with you as we embark on another year of storytelling!