Photo credit: Vivianne Arnold

Seventh graders Anika Jain and Lily Bishton Kraus rehearse a “Hetty Feather” scene ahead of auditions Sept. 12. “I saw people rehearsing their monologues in the RBG courtyard, and they all sounded amazing,” Jain said. “I’m really excited to get to do the show with them. “

Whether they were coming from their eighth grade science class or sixth grade art rotation, 20 middle school students across campus were all headed to the same place Sept. 11-12: the Blackbox Theater to audition for this year’s middle school play “Hetty Feather.”

“Hetty Feather” is about a young girl in the late 1800s who joins a circus. Director Tracy Poverstein saw the original production of the show and selected it for middle school because she loved the emphasis placed on female characters.

“She’s looking for her mother, and in the process, she’s trying to find herself and become who she’s meant to be,” Poverstein said.

Poverstein posted the cast list Saturday, Sept. 14. Seventh grader Lilly Swigert will play Hetty Feather. Members of Hetty’s foster family are portrayed by Zadie Clunis (’31), Anika Jain (’30) and Tyler Reif (’29). Rehearsals began Monday, Sept. 16, and the show will be performed in the Blackbox Theater Dec. 12-14.

Students prepared monologues from the play for the first day of auditions. The second day, they were put in groups and performed two scenes each. Assistant director Belén Haro (’26) said she and stage manager Rachel Michiel (’25) arranged the scene groups together based on students’ monologues to see how they would interpret a variety of roles. Haro said she likes seeing students take creative risks during the audition process.

“They just do [theater] because it brings them joy, and it allows them to try something new and also get out of their comfort zone,” Haro said. “Especially if you’re not used to public speaking, it allows them to really embrace a character or just a little escape from reality.” 

Eighth grader Juliet Nichols had never done theater before and said she decided to audition because her friends were joining the production. She said she enjoyed rehearsing the scene auditions as they challenged her to work with new people and push herself to act in new roles.

“I’ve definitely been talking to some classmates that I wouldn’t normally,” Nichols said. “I was paired with two people that I’ve never met before, but I really like both of them.”

Poverstein said that the audition process was especially exciting because many of the students are new to Archer theater. She estimated that one-third of the cast are sixth graders and said she hopes the play will help them connect and make lasting friendships. Jain said she believes theater is a good opportunity to foster community and new connections.

“I did the play last year, and it was really fun,” Jain said. “I think it’s a great community, and it’s a great way to get to know people and make some new friends.” 

Poverstein also said since the play is unknown to many of the students, she hopes it will allow them to take more creative freedom in staging and interpretation.

“What I love about doing a show where the kids have never seen it before is they don’t have any preconceived notions,” Poverstein said. “They get to create something and make it their own.”