Creative Voice
Potomac students are exposed to the performing arts in many ways throughout their K-12 journey. Students often transition from general arts involvement to exploring more of their strengths and personal interests. With a curriculum that goes beyond acting and performing, students can pursue music, stagecraft, scriptwriting, set design, and directing.
When the curtain rises - we are seen and heard.
PERFORMING ARTS FACULTY
- Mia Fisher-Phillips
- Head of Upper School Theatre
- Mark McLaughlin
- Theater Manager and Technical Director
Slide
Lower School
Students are offered a variety of opportunities to perform for their peers. In small classroom plays, students learn to step beyond their own experiences as they develop their roles and bring literature to life. In weekly assemblies, they combine original characterizations with storytelling, movement, and music to delight and inform their peers. Not surprisingly, they develop tremendous poise and focus over a period of years at Potomac.
In all of these formative experiences, performance is not the end product, but a step forward in developing presence and self-possession. Performance is embodied in the active, confident child who is self-expressive and attentive to others.
Slide
Lower School
Students are offered a variety of opportunities to perform for their peers. In small classroom plays, students learn to step beyond their own experiences as they develop their roles and bring literature to life. In weekly assemblies, they combine original characterizations with storytelling, movement, and music to delight and inform their peers. Not surprisingly, they develop tremendous poise and focus over a period of years at Potomac.
In all of these formative experiences, performance is not the end product, but a step forward in developing presence and self-possession. Performance is embodied in the active, confident child who is self-expressive and attentive to others.
Slide
Lower School
Students are offered a variety of opportunities to perform for their peers. In small classroom plays, students learn to step beyond their own experiences as they develop their roles and bring literature to life. In weekly assemblies, they combine original characterizations with storytelling, movement, and music to delight and inform their peers. Not surprisingly, they develop tremendous poise and focus over a period of years at Potomac.
In all of these formative experiences, performance is not the end product, but a step forward in developing presence and self-possession. Performance is embodied in the active, confident child who is self-expressive and attentive to others.
Slide
Lower School
Students are offered a variety of opportunities to perform for their peers. In small classroom plays, students learn to step beyond their own experiences as they develop their roles and bring literature to life. In weekly assemblies, they combine original characterizations with storytelling, movement, and music to delight and inform their peers. Not surprisingly, they develop tremendous poise and focus over a period of years at Potomac.
In all of these formative experiences, performance is not the end product, but a step forward in developing presence and self-possession. Performance is embodied in the active, confident child who is self-expressive and attentive to others.
Slide
Lower School
Students are offered a variety of opportunities to perform for their peers. In small classroom plays, students learn to step beyond their own experiences as they develop their roles and bring literature to life. In weekly assemblies, they combine original characterizations with storytelling, movement, and music to delight and inform their peers. Not surprisingly, they develop tremendous poise and focus over a period of years at Potomac.
In all of these formative experiences, performance is not the end product, but a step forward in developing presence and self-possession. Performance is embodied in the active, confident child who is self-expressive and attentive to others.
Slide
Lower School
Students are offered a variety of opportunities to perform for their peers. In small classroom plays, students learn to step beyond their own experiences as they develop their roles and bring literature to life. In weekly assemblies, they combine original characterizations with storytelling, movement, and music to delight and inform their peers. Not surprisingly, they develop tremendous poise and focus over a period of years at Potomac.
In all of these formative experiences, performance is not the end product, but a step forward in developing presence and self-possession. Performance is embodied in the active, confident child who is self-expressive and attentive to others.
Slide
Lower School
Students are offered a variety of opportunities to perform for their peers. In small classroom plays, students learn to step beyond their own experiences as they develop their roles and bring literature to life. In weekly assemblies, they combine original characterizations with storytelling, movement, and music to delight and inform their peers. Not surprisingly, they develop tremendous poise and focus over a period of years at Potomac.
In all of these formative experiences, performance is not the end product, but a step forward in developing presence and self-possession. Performance is embodied in the active, confident child who is self-expressive and attentive to others.
Slide
MIDDLE School
Here, exploration continues through dramatic experiences. Each homeroom class performs a play – sometimes drawn from a published script, but quite often developed in the classroom and inspired by literature, folklore, and direct experience. Music, movement, costumes, and simple stage settings amplify the transformation of students into their created characterizations.
In seasonal assemblies and in some class plays, Middle School students use the Langstaff Theater. This is a larger setting for a wider audience, which nevertheless feels intimate with its low stage and highly adaptable proscenium.
Slide
MIDDLE School
Here, exploration continues through dramatic experiences. Each homeroom class performs a play – sometimes drawn from a published script, but quite often developed in the classroom and inspired by literature, folklore, and direct experience. Music, movement, costumes, and simple stage settings amplify the transformation of students into their created characterizations.
In seasonal assemblies and in some class plays, Middle School students use the Langstaff Theater. This is a larger setting for a wider audience, which nevertheless feels intimate with its low stage and highly adaptable proscenium.
Slide
MIDDLE School
Here, exploration continues through dramatic experiences. Each homeroom class performs a play – sometimes drawn from a published script, but quite often developed in the classroom and inspired by literature, folklore, and direct experience. Music, movement, costumes, and simple stage settings amplify the transformation of students into their created characterizations.
In seasonal assemblies and in some class plays, Middle School students use the Langstaff Theater. This is a larger setting for a wider audience, which nevertheless feels intimate with its low stage and highly adaptable proscenium.
Slide
MIDDLE School
Here, exploration continues through dramatic experiences. Each homeroom class performs a play – sometimes drawn from a published script, but quite often developed in the classroom and inspired by literature, folklore, and direct experience. Music, movement, costumes, and simple stage settings amplify the transformation of students into their created characterizations.
In seasonal assemblies and in some class plays, Middle School students use the Langstaff Theater. This is a larger setting for a wider audience, which nevertheless feels intimate with its low stage and highly adaptable proscenium.
Slide
MIDDLE School
Here, exploration continues through dramatic experiences. Each homeroom class performs a play – sometimes drawn from a published script, but quite often developed in the classroom and inspired by literature, folklore, and direct experience. Music, movement, costumes, and simple stage settings amplify the transformation of students into their created characterizations.
In seasonal assemblies and in some class plays, Middle School students use the Langstaff Theater. This is a larger setting for a wider audience, which nevertheless feels intimate with its low stage and highly adaptable proscenium.
Slide
MIDDLE School
Here, exploration continues through dramatic experiences. Each homeroom class performs a play – sometimes drawn from a published script, but quite often developed in the classroom and inspired by literature, folklore, and direct experience. Music, movement, costumes, and simple stage settings amplify the transformation of students into their created characterizations.
In seasonal assemblies and in some class plays, Middle School students use the Langstaff Theater. This is a larger setting for a wider audience, which nevertheless feels intimate with its low stage and highly adaptable proscenium.
Slide
MIDDLE School
Here, exploration continues through dramatic experiences. Each homeroom class performs a play – sometimes drawn from a published script, but quite often developed in the classroom and inspired by literature, folklore, and direct experience. Music, movement, costumes, and simple stage settings amplify the transformation of students into their created characterizations.
In seasonal assemblies and in some class plays, Middle School students use the Langstaff Theater. This is a larger setting for a wider audience, which nevertheless feels intimate with its low stage and highly adaptable proscenium.
Slide
INTERMEDIATE School
Intermediate School students may perform in the winter musical, an exciting annual event in which a large ensemble cast presents an abridged version of popular shows. The cast then participates in a culminating activity, such as entering the Folger Secondary School Shakespeare Festival, writing an original sketch comedy show, or performing plays based on favorite children's books.
As with all divisions, classes and performances take place in our state-of-the-art black box theater or in the fully equipped Langstaff Proscenium Theater and Shop, but have also been staged in outdoor locations around campus.
Slide
INTERMEDIATE School
Intermediate School students may perform in the winter musical, an exciting annual event in which a large ensemble cast presents an abridged version of popular shows. The cast then participates in a culminating activity, such as entering the Folger Secondary School Shakespeare Festival, writing an original sketch comedy show, or performing plays based on favorite children's books.
As with all divisions, classes and performances take place in our state-of-the-art black box theater or in the fully equipped Langstaff Proscenium Theater and Shop, but have also been staged in outdoor locations around campus.
Slide
INTERMEDIATE School
Intermediate School students may perform in the winter musical, an exciting annual event in which a large ensemble cast presents an abridged version of popular shows. The cast then participates in a culminating activity, such as entering the Folger Secondary School Shakespeare Festival, writing an original sketch comedy show, or performing plays based on favorite children's books.
As with all divisions, classes and performances take place in our state-of-the-art black box theater or in the fully equipped Langstaff Proscenium Theater and Shop, but have also been staged in outdoor locations around campus.
Slide
INTERMEDIATE School
Intermediate School students may perform in the winter musical, an exciting annual event in which a large ensemble cast presents an abridged version of popular shows. The cast then participates in a culminating activity, such as entering the Folger Secondary School Shakespeare Festival, writing an original sketch comedy show, or performing plays based on favorite children's books.
As with all divisions, classes and performances take place in our state-of-the-art black box theater or in the fully equipped Langstaff Proscenium Theater and Shop, but have also been staged in outdoor locations around campus.
Slide
INTERMEDIATE School
Intermediate School students may perform in the winter musical, an exciting annual event in which a large ensemble cast presents an abridged version of popular shows. The cast then participates in a culminating activity, such as entering the Folger Secondary School Shakespeare Festival, writing an original sketch comedy show, or performing plays based on favorite children's books.
As with all divisions, classes and performances take place in our state-of-the-art black box theater or in the fully equipped Langstaff Proscenium Theater and Shop, but have also been staged in outdoor locations around campus.
Slide
INTERMEDIATE School
Intermediate School students may perform in the winter musical, an exciting annual event in which a large ensemble cast presents an abridged version of popular shows. The cast then participates in a culminating activity, such as entering the Folger Secondary School Shakespeare Festival, writing an original sketch comedy show, or performing plays based on favorite children's books.
As with all divisions, classes and performances take place in our state-of-the-art black box theater or in the fully equipped Langstaff Proscenium Theater and Shop, but have also been staged in outdoor locations around campus.
Slide
INTERMEDIATE School
Intermediate School students may perform in the winter musical, an exciting annual event in which a large ensemble cast presents an abridged version of popular shows. The cast then participates in a culminating activity, such as entering the Folger Secondary School Shakespeare Festival, writing an original sketch comedy show, or performing plays based on favorite children's books.
As with all divisions, classes and performances take place in our state-of-the-art black box theater or in the fully equipped Langstaff Proscenium Theater and Shop, but have also been staged in outdoor locations around campus.
Slide
UPPER School
Upper School students focus more deeply and selectively on their dramatic interests in a fully curricular theater program. In the classroom, students take an introductory course that looks at theater from various perspectives, including history, literature, sociology, and performance. Advanced, skill-based courses give students opportunities to focus on different elements of theater, including acting, directing, and stagecraft. Students may also create and register for independent study classes, such as African-American theater, musical theater, and Shakespeare in performance.
Extracurricular performances include three full-scale productions each year, including a musical. Our shows are chosen to create opportunities for our students and audiences to experience a wide range of theatrical forms and styles.
Slide
UPPER School
Upper School students focus more deeply and selectively on their dramatic interests in a fully curricular theater program. In the classroom, students take an introductory course that looks at theater from various perspectives, including history, literature, sociology, and performance. Advanced, skill-based courses give students opportunities to focus on different elements of theater, including acting, directing, and stagecraft. Students may also create and register for independent study classes, such as African-American theater, musical theater, and Shakespeare in performance.
Extracurricular performances include three full-scale productions each year, including a musical. Our shows are chosen to create opportunities for our students and audiences to experience a wide range of theatrical forms and styles.
Slide
UPPER School
Upper School students focus more deeply and selectively on their dramatic interests in a fully curricular theater program. In the classroom, students take an introductory course that looks at theater from various perspectives, including history, literature, sociology, and performance. Advanced, skill-based courses give students opportunities to focus on different elements of theater, including acting, directing, and stagecraft. Students may also create and register for independent study classes, such as African-American theater, musical theater, and Shakespeare in performance.
Extracurricular performances include three full-scale productions each year, including a musical. Our shows are chosen to create opportunities for our students and audiences to experience a wide range of theatrical forms and styles.
Slide
UPPER School
Upper School students focus more deeply and selectively on their dramatic interests in a fully curricular theater program. In the classroom, students take an introductory course that looks at theater from various perspectives, including history, literature, sociology, and performance. Advanced, skill-based courses give students opportunities to focus on different elements of theater, including acting, directing, and stagecraft. Students may also create and register for independent study classes, such as African-American theater, musical theater, and Shakespeare in performance.
Extracurricular performances include three full-scale productions each year, including a musical. Our shows are chosen to create opportunities for our students and audiences to experience a wide range of theatrical forms and styles.
Slide
UPPER School
Upper School students focus more deeply and selectively on their dramatic interests in a fully curricular theater program. In the classroom, students take an introductory course that looks at theater from various perspectives, including history, literature, sociology, and performance. Advanced, skill-based courses give students opportunities to focus on different elements of theater, including acting, directing, and stagecraft. Students may also create and register for independent study classes, such as African-American theater, musical theater, and Shakespeare in performance.
Extracurricular performances include three full-scale productions each year, including a musical. Our shows are chosen to create opportunities for our students and audiences to experience a wide range of theatrical forms and styles.
Slide
UPPER School
Upper School students focus more deeply and selectively on their dramatic interests in a fully curricular theater program. In the classroom, students take an introductory course that looks at theater from various perspectives, including history, literature, sociology, and performance. Advanced, skill-based courses give students opportunities to focus on different elements of theater, including acting, directing, and stagecraft. Students may also create and register for independent study classes, such as African-American theater, musical theater, and Shakespeare in performance.
Extracurricular performances include three full-scale productions each year, including a musical. Our shows are chosen to create opportunities for our students and audiences to experience a wide range of theatrical forms and styles.
Slide
UPPER School
Upper School students focus more deeply and selectively on their dramatic interests in a fully curricular theater program. In the classroom, students take an introductory course that looks at theater from various perspectives, including history, literature, sociology, and performance. Advanced, skill-based courses give students opportunities to focus on different elements of theater, including acting, directing, and stagecraft. Students may also create and register for independent study classes, such as African-American theater, musical theater, and Shakespeare in performance.
Extracurricular performances include three full-scale productions each year, including a musical. Our shows are chosen to create opportunities for our students and audiences to experience a wide range of theatrical forms and styles.