The Spartan Players and Other Annual Performances

Annual Musical or Play

Each spring our middle and upper school theater students, collectively known as The Spartan Players, present their annual play or musical. Past performances include Changing Colors, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, Little Shop of Horrors, All in the Timing, and The World Goes ‘Round.

Lower School Play

In May of each year, the Lower School’s Spartan Junior Players performs a production, which is rehearsed three days a week for five weeks. The most recent performances were "Hamlet for Kids" and “The Day the Crayons Quit.” Students interested in the performing arts, both on and off the stage, have numerous opportunities to participate in dramatic and musical performances throughout the year.

Fall and Winter: Doane's Dungeon, and The Christmas Mystery

Fall and wintertime opportunities include the annual production and performance of Doane’s Dungeon and The Christmas Mystery. Practice and rehearsal schedules accommodate our athletes and other clubs, so all students who wish to participate may do so.

Doane’s Dungeon gives a literary twist to the traditional Halloween haunted house. Scary, spooky and Shakespearean, the basement and corridors of our old school are turned into a haunted dungeon for an entire weekend. Drama students, as well as those interested in set design and lighting, work together to create scenes from classic scary novels such as Frankenstein, The Crucible and Macbeth.

Created in the 19th century by St. Mary’s Hall boarding students who were unable to travel home for the holidays, the Christmas Mystery is a play depicting the story of the Nativity. Performed word for word as it was written so long ago, the Christmas Mystery is one of our most beloved traditions. Decorated in garlands and lights, the chapel is transformed into a beautiful theater in the round, as the actors and actress perform the play using all parts of the chapel. Each year Upper School students vie for a part in the performance, with the parts of Mary and Joseph often reserved for the senior boy and girl who have been at the school the longest.