Tag Archives: Theater

McQuadle: Hamlin’s Very First Zoom Play

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Students in our After School Academy Theater Production class (Grades 3 and 4) never wavered in their commitment to make a first historic Zoom play happen. Creating McQuadle took an enormous amount of hard work, persistence, and flexibility from everyone who was involved, including parents. Many hours of filming both inside and outside of Tuesday classes made this play possible during a very challenging time. It took about 30 minutes per page to film (24 pages total). Every scene was filmed at least 2 times after being rehearsed, and then the best video was used.

More about McQuadle:

You’ll find tons of silliness packed into this charming comedy that has a little something for everyone and even a nice moral.  McQuadle is a dragon who wants to know his purpose in life, and he will go to almost any length to find it out — even if it means visiting an Evil Queen who lives in a castle on top of the hill.  When he arrives, McQuadle learns that the Queen has lured him there for her own secret purposes, and she doesn’t intend on letting him get back home at all.  But McQuadle promised his mother he’d be home for dinner!  Two storytellers with crazy personalities of their own lead the audience through this fun adventure.

-Special thanks to Meher (’20), Alayna (’21), Kate (’16), Mr. Louie, and of course Ms. Abbott, who all helped make this production possible.

Hamlin Performs “Life is Like a Double Cheeseburger”

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Students (Grades 4 and 5) in Hamlin’s After School Academy (ASA) recently performed the humor-filled play, Life is Like a Double Cheeseburger.

“Life is like a double cheeseburger,” a father explains to his son at the start of this compilation of 6 individual scenes. All loosely centered around this delicious metaphor meant to represent the many layers of human existence, this play is both comedic and contemplative.  Played before an assortment of restaurant backdrops, we meet families, couples, friends, and waitstaff facing major life changes, following — or failing to follow — their dreams, and gulping down helpings of humor and humility along with their life lessons. And for every “order up,” there’s more proof that life, it turns out, really is like a double cheeseburger: full of endless possibilities, often messy and complicated, but always worth savoring.  

Our students had a wonderful experience putting on the play, with thoughtful guidance by our in-house theater guru, Heidi Abbott.

To learn more about our excellent after school program, please visit: https://www.hamlin.org/program/extended-day

Hamlin Excels at Theater Festival Competition

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On February 16, our seventeen Hamlin thespians excelled at an incredibly challenging theater festival. We competing with 257 students (Grades 6-8) from 22 different middle schools from all over California at the Middle School Stage Fest in Pleasant Hill, earning 5 gold medals, 4 silver medals, 5 bronze medals, and 18 Bravissimo Awards for Excellence in Theatre Artistry. The adjudicators assessed our monologues, scenes, musical solos, and musical duets.

The CETA Middle Stage Fest, now in its eighteenth year, is an exciting event for middle school drama students. At the festival, students perform monologues, scenes, and musical theatre numbers for panels of adjudicators and compete to earn bronze, silver and gold medals. In addition, while judges are tabulating the scores, students get to participate in high-energy theatre games. Unlike involvement in sports, it is rare for theatre students to have the opportunity to meet peers from other schools, share their passion, showcase their talent, and learn from one another. This festival brings together hundreds of students to do just that. All participating students qualify to attend CA YOUTH IN THEATRE DAY, where they meet and perform with other award-winning students from throughout the state.

To learn more, please visit: http://cetoweb.org/ceta/ceta-middle-stage-fest/

Middle School Performs Arabian Nights

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Our Grade 7 & 8 Theater Elective class has worked hard on their production of Arabian Nights, a stage re-enactment of Scheherazade’s 1,001 nightly tales. Students watched the show on Thursday and parents can see it tonight, January 25 at 7 p.m..

Arabian Nights is the legend of the greatest storyteller in the ancient Arabic world, Scheherazade, who uses her tale-spinning talents to save her people from their angry Persian king. Betrayed by his wife, the broken-hearted King Shahryar decides to punish all the women in his kingdom. Armed with only her wit and her imagination, Scheherazade heroically steps in to enchant the king with stories for 1001 nights and to turn his hatred back into love.

Scheherazade’s stories are based on a collection of folk tales written during the Islamic Golden Age (between 700’s and 1300’s). These stories trace back to ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Indian, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian literature.

Ali Meneghetti ’11 Gives Back to Hamlin Theater

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Ali Meneghetti graduated from Hamlin in 2011, but has continued to be involved in several Hamlin theater productions throughout her high school and college years. Now a senior at Smith College, we had the opportunity to catch up with Ms. Meneghetti as she was working on props for the upcoming production of Arabian Nights.

What did you love about your time at Hamlin?

I loved theater, field day, the Halloween assembly, playing basketball, soccer, and running cross country. I also loved my friendships; I still have three Hamlin friends who I talk to and text with very consistently.

Tell us about your theater experience?

I loved acting in the plays, being various characters, telling stories on stage. I remember being in “A Christmas Carol” in 1st grade, I had one line, but I was very excited. I went on to perform in so many wonderful roles every year that I was at Hamlin. In 8th grade I hurt my ankle and couldn’t play sports. I started volunteering with Ms. Abbott, helping 3rd and 4th graders block scenes, do character voices and character walks. I enjoyed being on stage performing, but found that I really loved helping out with the off stage work. I loved watching younger students discover their voice; they found out more about themselves as they rehearsed their character.

How does your time at Hamlin connect to your life at Smith College now?

I’m the Chair of Student Programs at Smith. We put on weekly films, host speakers, live music concerts, and general events. My theater work at Hamlin in 8th grade made me a problem solver. I use that same ability now when managing the many moving parts of various events.

How did you become such a dedicated Hamlin theater volunteer?

I tried doing theater in high school, but the program didn’t have the same feel as Hamlin. Ms. Abbott was such an integral part of my life, I really believed in her program. In the space she creates, each student has the opportunity to shine and feels valued. Everyone in a production is important and has a distinct role. Ms. Abbott knows each kid and how they work. She brings a wonderful individual approach to a communal environment. I wanted to give back to a program that gave me so much. I will continue to come back and volunteer as long as Ms. Abbott is here. Working at the Hamlin theater is my happy place. I like being around the energy of the girls and watching them grow up.

 

Hamlin Performs: “Little Women”

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The Middle School ASA theater class performed a holiday scene from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. The scene is set a few days before Christmas in 1861. It starts with the four March sisters (Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy) missing their father, who is away fighting in the American Civil War and will not be home for Christmas. The family is tight on money without their father’s income, so the sisters are worried that their Christmas will not be a good one. Later some beggar children show up and help them remember the true meaning of the holidays.

Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), which was originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. Alcott wrote the books over several months at the request of her publisher. Following the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy—the novel details their passage from childhood to womanhood and is loosely based on the author and her three sisters.

Hamlin Presents: “The Girl Who Cried Wolf”

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On December 17, students in Grades 3 and 4 performed the play, The Girl Who Cried Wolf.

In this one-act stage adaptation of Aesop’s fable, a girl chooses ill-gotten thrills over responsibility to her family. 

The play dealt with many important social-emotional learning themes like peer pressure, lying, and integrity in a fun and humorous way with talking sheep and wolves. The entertaining production also provided an opportunity for students to explore aspects of our creed, with a focus on Honesty, Responsibility, and Respect.

For more information about the play, please visit: https://www.pioneerdrama.com/SearchDetail.asp?pc=BOYWHOCRIE

 

Hamlin Thespians Thrive in State Competition

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In February our 15 Team Hamlin thespians did us proud. Competing with almost 300 students (Grades 6-8) from 18 different Middle Schools from all over California at the Middle School Theater Festival in Pleasant Hill, California, our students earned 14 gold medals, 10 silver medals, and 4 bronze medals from the adjudicators for their monologues, scenes, musical solos, and musical duets.

The CETA Middle Stage Fest, now in its seventeenth year, is an exciting event for middle school drama students. At the festival, students perform monologues and scenes for panels of adjudicators and compete to earn bronze, silver and gold medals. In addition, while judges are tabulating the scores, students get to participate in high-energy theatre games. Unlike involvement in sports, it is rare for theatre students to have the opportunity to meet peers from other schools, share their passion, showcase their talent, and learn from one another. This festival brings together hundreds of students to do just that. All participating students qualify to attend CA YOUTH IN THEATRE DAY, where they meet and perform with other award-winning students from throughout the state.

Watch an award-winning monologue by Kennedy here:

To learn more, please visit: http://cetoweb.org/ceta/ceta-middle-stage-fest/