2022-23 Penn Theater Overview!

Here at Penn High School, we are EXTREMELY proud of the talent and hard work of our Theater department as well as our Center for the Performing Arts.

In this video, students and staff discuss why they love theatre. They will also touch on how their involvement develops skills that they will carry on after they graduate high school.

From the teachers and students, to the actors to the technical staff, thousands of hours of work are put in over the course of a year to make sure each and every performance has the utmost display of professionalism.

During the 2022-23 school year, we put on a regional competition play in November and then the full length version of that play in February (“God’s Diary,” by Emily Claire Schmitt).

Every March we put on an annual Spring Musical. This year we had the pleasure to perform “Cinderella”. Not only was Cinderella performed to the public on 3 occasions, shorter performances were also held for elementary students from throughout our district.

In April of 2023, we will host a 10-Minute Student-Written Play Festival. For the student-produced play festival, 11 students are directing plays that 15 students wrote. There will be 34 students performing in these short plays with student technicians helping to run the show.

In addition to our paid staff, we have a leadership team in the form of a Drama Board. Our Drama Board consists of 9 student leaders who help to run the monthly Drama Club.

There have been over 80 actors performing on the Penn stage this year, with around 25 students actively working in tech and crew positions. 

While what you see and hear on the stage is important, a production wouldn’t be complete without a top-notch orchestral accompaniment.  Our CPA is equipped with a pit that allows musicians from our award-winning orchestra to accompany the stage productions.  

Further, we currently have 112 students enrolled in all of the Theatre classes offered at Penn High School: Theatre Arts, Advanced Theatre Arts, Advanced Acting, Technical Theatre, and Advanced Technical Theatre.

We are thrilled to share our student actors with such area groups as South Bend Civic Theatre, Premier Theatre, Art 4, SBCSC Summerfly, United Youth Theatre, Saint Mary’s College, and Acting Ensemble.

The department was also invited to go to see “West Side Story” at the Morris Performing Arts Center last October.

To keep track of our upcoming shows as well as to buy tickets, check out our page at Ticket Tracker.com!