Stagecraft
Students learn the fundamentals of scenic construction, scenic painting, and prop work. In the first quarter, students earn a shop safety license and learn drafting, measuring, and power-tool construction, culminating in a scale-model set and a Hollywood flat, along with scenic painting techniques, knot tying, and prop documentation. In the second quarter, students apply these skills to a full production cycle: designing, building, painting, loading in, and propping the set for one of the December theatre showcases.
Costume Project
Unit projectDuration · 3 Weeks
Flat muslin to finished garment in three weeks. The costume unit takes 8th grade Stagecraft students from a flat pattern to a garment that fits a body and survives wear. Each student developed a character against a shared theme, Mythical Nature, worked it through research, sketch and color rendering, then moved to the shop floor: reading pattern markings, laying out and cutting on grain, threading machine and bobbin, and sewing straight seams with backstitching. Every piece is muslin, the unbleached cotton a costume shop mocks up in. In one color, the design has to be carried by silhouette and construction. The finished work includes dresses, tops, a gown with gloves and a cloak, cut from patterns and fitted to each student's own measurements, with elastic and hand-sewn details.
