Drama

Courses and Opportunities:

If students are interested in the EHS Drama program, they must take Beginning Drama, offered each year in the Fall semester.  This class focuses on awareness, physical/vocal acting, emotional acting, and improvisation.  After that, students may take Set Design or Competitive Theatre Forensics.  These classes allow them to explore technical aspects and a deeper and broader understanding of performance, respectively.  After that, if students have demonstrated hard work and dedication, they may take Advanced Drama. This is the production class offered in both Fall and Spring semesters of each school year.  Rehearsals are in-class with a few afterschool/weekend rehearsals in order to maximize class time and honor the time of busy, dedicated students. Typically, a musical is performed in the Fall and a non-musical is performed in the Spring. Productions are chosen with student input and with a foundational caveat that enough roles are available to all students in the Advanced who have the desire to be onstage.  Additionally, throughout the school year, students have the opportunity to compete in regional competitions and earn individual awards and distinctions through THSSDL and NSDA.

Success of a program can be measured in a number of ways. EHS Drama measures success by our current students who are gaining confidence, using knowledge gained, transferring skills to other areas, being recognized in a variety of arenas, winning competitions, and earning scholarships.  Success is also measured by our alumni who are scholarship students, earning degrees, and gaining careers in performance and non-performance fields.

Vision:

Elizabethton High School Drama’s vision is to create actor-techs who are successful on and off the stage through excellence, teamwork, and empathy.  Students fulfill this vision in a variety of ways, whether being onstage or by actively participating in productions through playwriting, speechwriting through competitive theatre, competing in tournaments at the district/state/national level, stage managing/directing, musical directing, costume design, set

History:

For several years prior to the official establishment of EHS Drama as a full-time, in-school program, EHS put on several productions, variety shows, madrigals, and Shakespeare shows thanks to the countless hours put in after school by dedicated teachers such as Lisa-Dawn Smith, Tina Parlier, Faye Rutledge, Carol Ann McElwee, and Elizabeth Helton.  Since becoming a full-time, in-school program, students have had opportunities to participate in one-act plays, full-length plays, musicals, and competitive Theatre through the Tennessee High School Speech and Drama League (THSSDL). EHS Drama currently has a superior distinction through the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA).