It’s Stage Front and Center at Wakefield

It’s Stage Front and Center at Wakefield

The old gym at Wakefield is being transformed into a new theater, scheduled to open this fall.

Photo by Wakefield student Katherine Wyer

By Natalie Zickel, Wakefield School

The lower gym at Wakefield School in The Plains, once home to a basketball court and bleachers, now includes a new cinderblock wall and the framework for a stage. Piles of gravel are still scattered throughout the building and endless tape markings outline the future placement for new walls, doors, and stairs. But the current desolate look won’t last for long.

The transformation of the old gym into the George L. Ohrstrom Jr. Theater & Auditorium has reinvigorated a sense of exhilaration in the school community. Named after its key donor, a gleaming new facility is scheduled to open this fall, and has been on the school’s wish-list since the creation of Wakefield’s master plan in 2006.

“We have always had this nice, robust theater program.” said Ann-Charlotte Robinson, Wakefield’s Director of Development and Community Relations who has been involved in the project since the beginning. “I was a theater kid myself in high school. I learned how to build things, I learned how to hang lights. So it’s not only for theater purposes, but just learning how to be practical.”

With three productions a year and an expanding number of students willing to participate, theater remains one of Wakefield’s most prized programs. There’s also an ever increasing number of students who want to work backstage, doing lighting, sound and building sets. The new theater will not only open opportunities for future actors, but also will provide

life skills to students working on the technical aspects of productions.

David Grimes, head of the Arts Department, views the new building as a “vital educational space for teaching our students about all of the creative technical talents that are required for making any production come to life. It will provide not only a theater but a multi-use space for so many of the events at Wakefield School.”

Retractable seating will give the feel of an authentic theater while keeping the space versatile for hosting guest speakers, community events, and beloved Wakefield traditions like the Medieval Fair, the Egyptian Banquet, and the Junior Thesis Forum.

Ashley Harper, Wakefield’s head of school, said she envisions the facility as the “hub of the school,” not only for holding events but also as “a creative space for our students to showcase themselves as curators and creators of content, whether that be as playwrights, stage managers, technical theater gurus, student speakers, or actors. The creative possibilities in the

arts and academics are endless. It’s an important space for our students and our community, and I am truly excited to see what the future may hold.”

None of this would have been possible without the initial donation made by the G. L. Ohrstrom Jr. Foundation in honor of the late George Ohrstrom Jr. Molly Ohrstrom, a Wakefield alum, wanted that first donation to inspire the community and it led to a series of generous gifts from other donors.

“You get as many people involved as you can on any level...It makes everyone feel like they are a part of it.” said Robinson, an active force in raising the funds.

Piers Carey, a parent at Wakefield and chair of the Development Committee, was determined to see a theater come to the school.

“He started pulling all these people together,” Robinson said, “and what he came up with was this wonderful amalgam of all these experts, people who know us, and love us, and are a part of us, to create this design.”

They included Michael Jones, with years of experience in technical theater, alumni parent Kevin Cole, with expertise in electrical work, and Wakefield parents Tom Kennedy and Mark Wyatt, with lighting and outfitting skills.

Clearly, the George L. Ohrstrom Jr. Theater is a community effort that is sure to elicit inspiration, joy and countless bows from one and all when it opens this fall.

Natalie Zickel is a rising senior at Wakefield School in the Plains.