The Upper School drama department is designed to give Mount Vernon students experience with a wide array of theatrical responsibilities: acting, design, set construction, stage management, backstage production, lighting, sound, costuming, makeup, and more.
Theatre Arts are offered as both an elective and an extracurricular activity. In the fall semester, drama students participate in the Georgia Theatre Conference, GISA region and state 1-AAA One-Act Play Competitions as well as other one–act-play festivals throughout the Southeast. Each spring, the drama department offers additional acting opportunities such as improv theatre sports, senior projects, musicals and plays. Eligible students are invited to membership in the drama honors club and the International Thespian Society.
Mount Vernon’s drama program is led by Clark Taylor, a highly regarded theatre artist and educator, whose original one-man stage adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has become a holiday favorite for countless Atlantans.
Under Mr. Taylor’s leadership, the Upper School theatre troupe, The MVPS ALLSTARS, capped their 2010-2011 theatre season with a gala night at The Schuler Hensley Awards, Georgia’s premiere awards ceremony for excellence in musical theatre arts (see photo). Mount Vernon’s first musical, You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, earned two honorable mentions: Best Supporting Actress (Dana Cohen, who played Lucy) and Best Costuming.
Since its inception, the Upper School drama department has received special recognition at the state and regional levels with such awards as Best Actor and Director. At GISA AAA One-Act Play Competitions, Mount Vernon drama students placed second in 2005-2006 and first in 2006-2007. The department is a member of the Georgia Theatre Coalition, Theatre Communications Group, and the Educational Theatre Association, which recognizes excellence in high school theatre.
The 2010 Shuler Hensley Awards were held in April in the exquisite Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center and was filled with student thespians, directors, teachers, and family. A total of 41 schools competed and 24 were selected from an extensive panel of judges representing a wide range of professional and educational disciplines.
