The Journey of Hackley Theater: Are We There Yet?

A student plugs in an iPhone and music floods the room. For the next three minutes and forty-six seconds, the students just listen. At the end of the song, the students are prompted to give one word describing the song—“Pump, good, vibes.” One student utters, “I don’t know.”

Willie’s immediate response is “Never say I don’t know.”

Willie Teacher—known to his students as “Teach”—leads Hackley’s Upper School theater program with an irresistible mix of charisma, irreverence, deep thinking and fun. For him, good acting and good theater are all about willingness to explore, take risks and discover, even (or especially) when you “don’t know.” Not knowing just opens the door to the shared experience of finding out.
For instance, he says, “If kids come into class and say, ‘What are we going to do today?’ and I say ‘We’re going to act out a scene about going to California,’ all they will think about is California, the final destination. They won’t notice things along the way, like Iowa or the detour through Baton Rouge, what they saw and who they met there. They won’t experience the journey.” It’s the knowledge, the understanding and the empathy gathered along the way that allow them to inhabit a character.

Willie says, “So much of acting depends on having access into living and walking through the experience of others. Our students learn to see through another perspective, to ask ‘What are the possibilities here? My character may look like this, but what if he’s the first in his family to go to college? What if she lost everything in a tragic storm? What if his father died? How would empathy with these experiences change the way the actor relates to the character?” In exploring a character, students need to live the existence of others, truthfully, with all their jewels and all their flaws.

This all sounds exciting, brave…and terrifying. But the scaffolding upon which the Hackley theater program is built teaches students how to approach these challenges. Hackley students can participate in a full academic Drama program, parallel to the track offered for Visual Arts and Music. The music exercise described above, for example, accomplishes two goals: it welcomes students into what Willie describes as “a sacred space where creativity can thrive,” and it invites students to critique art in a healthy, constructive way. And this is just a point of entry.

Beginning in Acting I, students begin to learn improvisational work and to perform simple activity exercises (like brushing their teeth or making cookie dough) in order to gain comfort just being observed, without putting on a show. In Acting II, the curriculum reinforces these tools and adds text work and dramatic structure as students begin working with existing scenes and writing original pieces.

The members of the Acting III class become an in-house theater company—the “Hacktors”—and regularly present 10 minute “Lunch and Learn” performances for fellow students, injecting living theater into the middle of the academic day. Finally, the seniors in Acting IV pursue a number of special assignments, such as the annual English Speaking Union Shakespeare competition and partnerships with Hackley Lower and Middle School students in exercises that encourage literacy and an introduction to theater. In addition, the Acting IV students create their own senior “showcase” in which they identify a unifying theme and collaborate to create a production they then perform in an Off-Broadway theater space in New York City.

Hackley Upper School presents three drama productions on campus per year. All Upper School students, regardless of if they take an acting course, are invited to audition for the first two productions—a “mainstage” classical theater piece from the likes of Shakespeare, Moliere or Shaw in the fall, and in the winter, a more modern, intimate “black box”-style performance. The third production is a curriculum-based showcase for the students in Acting I, II, and III—many of whom will experience stage performance for the first time.

Through this progression, the students mature as actors as they gain an understanding of the workings, culture, power, and impact of theater and performing arts. Willie says, “Hackley students are like sponges. They soak up everything. This insatiable appetite for learning coupled with an incredible work ethic is at the core of the successful ‘Hacktor.’ It’s unique, and make them fun to work with.”

Students learn from a variety of acting styles, including Meisner, Method, Viewpoints and Suzuki—all of which help them build what Willie calls the “actor’s tool belt.” He explains, “It’s an imaginary tool belt that our scholars carry, and that we as directors, administrators, teacher and parents have the responsibility to fill.” Students are exposed to these tools when they walk through the door and enter the actor’s space, and they must be taught how and when to use them on and off the stage.

Willie’s work in Hackley’s theater department echoes and reinforces his work as Upper School Diversity Coordinator, through which he works to create a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment. The tools that support this include opening dialogue, developing mutual understanding and creating shared appreciation for all we learn from each other, on the Hilltop and beyond. Willie stresses, “Our students find and develop a voice that explores the human condition on a macro and a micro level, and in doing so, they encounter the ‘Other’ -- people whose identity, context and experience are different from what they know. They do this in a safe yet challenging environment, with the objective of replacing ‘otherness’ with a new sense of ‘normal’ that values all parties involved.”

The experience of acting, then, is an exploration into being human. Willie describes the mission as a mandate to “provide the tools, and lessons on how to use them with intent, to ensure that these younger generations know when and how to build a new and better world.” Tools like actions, blocking, and intensity help students achieve theatrical objectives and overcome dramatic obstacles, yet they also encourage students to be thoughtful about the ways in which they work, listen and learn together in order to move effectively through the world. He reflects, “Believing in the kids and giving them the right equipment helps them to grow, find a voice and be intentional in their expression.”

With increasing numbers of students making ongoing commitment to Hackley Theater, the program is vibrant and growing. When she was in ninth grade, Hanna Goodwin-Pierce ’18 announced, “Teach, I plan on being in every Hackley show during my high school career.” So far, as a junior, she’s right on track, having completed seven shows in as many trimesters. It takes time, and requires tremendous commitment of intellect and heart. But the return on investment for the community? Priceless.

Are we there yet? We’re on our way.