Middle School Students Shine in Camp Nightmare

This week, Middle School students took the stage for Camp Nightmare, this year’s Swain Campus Coffeehouse performance. The yearlong Dramatics elective offers students the opportunity to explore theatrical elements in greater depth than in their regular drama classes, including dramatic writing, devised theater, design, film, song, children’s theater, variety shows, and stand-up comedy.

Camp Nightmare was designed as a variety show for this year’s performance. Some students developed original scenes, while others performed pre-existing texts. A summer camp theme was chosen early on to tie together all of the pieces, resulting in a collection of stories about counselors and campers navigating their first day at camp.

The Coffeehouse format provides a unique performance opportunity for Dramatics students each year, with every show shaped by student-driven creativity. Always student-driven, the show takes shape based on their interests, with past performances featuring comedy skits, scenes, monologues, song and dance, and musical performances.