Theater
Students at Solebury School have many different ways to participate in the theater. The most obvious is on stage as an actor, but we also have an extensive theater tech program in which students design, using CAD, and build the sets for each of our plays, design the lighting, and perform any other tasks that need to be done to prepare the theater for the show. Students also assist with costumes, make-up, and ticket sales. We offer classes in Acting, Directing, Theater History, Lighting Design, Stage Construction, Sound, and How Things Work.
The Solebury School Theater is a black box theater located in an 18th Century stone barn. We present three main stage plays each year. During the fall we do a straight play (comedy or drama), in the winter we do a musical, and the spring production is often student-directed by a Solebury senior. In 2006-07, we produced Kaufmann and Hart’s, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Man of La Mancha, and a student-directed evening of one-acts. In 2007-08, the fall play was Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, the winter musical was The Pajama Game, and the spring play, Amulets Against the Dragon Forces, by Paul Zindel was directed by 2008 senior Holly Mutascio. The Middle School also produces a play: during the winter trimester the eighth grade writes plays in their English class and then the seventh grade rehearses and performs them in the spring.
Recent Solebury productions include:
- Sweet Charity
- An Enemy of the People
- Lucky Stiff
- Dracula
- Anything Goes
- Summer and Smoke
- Cabaret
- Twelfth Night
Theater Director David France has been here at Solebury since 2002. While David directs the main stage plays and musical, his wife Susan France assists with costumes, props, programs, and serves as our House Manager during performances. Sue also teaches the middle school theater class and directs the middle school play.
Chris Langhart is our technical director. Chris has an extensive background in technical theater and he teaches courses in lighting, stagecraft, and How Things Work. He oversees the sound, lighting, and design and construction of sets for each of our plays.
