As a project for an advanced acting class, students at West Hartford’s Conard High School spent the entire day as characters from works of fiction, and interacted with their peers as well as a visiting group of fourth-graders from Charter Oak International Academy.

By Ronni Newton 

A very strange cast of characters – decidedly more unusual than typical West Hartford high school students – were hanging around the Conard High School lobby on Wednesday.

A boy in a tall hat and purple jacket sorted candy by color. A girl with crazy red braids sticking out of the side of her head and mismatched socks invited other students to paint a mural.

A girl dressed in black fitness attire stood by a punching bag. One boy had a tea party set up with some stuffed animals.

One girl sat surrounded by flowers while another wore the clothing of a Gypsy, held a tambourine, and read palms. A beautiful princess sat with a plate full of beignets in front of her.

A studious-looking girl sat at a typewriter where “clue” cards covered the desk. Still another dressed all in purple.

Around the corner in front of the Conard library was a tall and lanky boy with bright orangey-red hair. He stood in front of a ghost and had a canister of dog biscuits at the ready. Across from him a girl sat at a desk surrounded by reference materials, teaching other students about T-Rex and other dinosaurs.

The Conard students – all members of Corrine Kravetz’s Specialized Performance Study (SPS) advanced acting class – were tasked with staying completely immersed in their chosen fictional characters for the entire day. When they spoke, especially to the fourth-graders from Charter Oak International Academy who were visiting for the morning, their words and tone matched their characters.

“They have been researching, building the character, gathering materials,” said Kravetz. This is the third year that the SPS students have taken on fictional characters for the day, and she said the project has gotten more and more popular with her students as well as the rest of the school.

“They found characters they had connections with,” Kravetz said. The students had to consider whether they could physically and vocally become that character. Students had to determine: “Can I live in that character for the entire day?” The students also had to build their “sets” and collect their props.

It’s a major assignment for the class, Kravetz said, and the students are graded on how well they represent and stay true to their chosen characters. It’s important to “really dig deep into their world, what the character would be doing,” she said.

This year, for the first time, fourth grade students from Charter Oak were invited to interact with the older students.

The fourth-graders started their visit with a program in the auditorium where they enjoyed a brief overview of some of the behind-the-scenes aspects of theater – sound, lighting, and set building – before having the opportunity to interact with several of their favorite fictional characters in the lobby.

The Conard students were very excited about the chance to interact with and answer the questions posed by the younger students.

Fourth-grader Olivia said she is a big fan of Nancy Drew books, and was very interested when “Nancy” (aka Mary Looney) was demonstrating how to dust for fingerprints.

“Shaggy” (aka Jesse Townsend) told some fourth-graders about Scooby Doo and the gang’s creepiest mystery. “The Miner 49-er,” he said, referencing a monster that the gang accidentally brought to life. “Wow, you have to have a lot of nerve,” said one boy.

Students were genuinely fascinated with the science lesson on dinosaurs being taught by Miss Frizzle (aka Katherine Gregory) of the Magic School Bus series.

“They’re pretty good at staying in character,” said Charter Oak teacher Amy Davila. Her students were having a great time, she said.

The complete list of characters and the Conard SPS students portraying them were:

• Miss Frizzle from Magic School Bus (Katherine Gregory)
• Nancy Drew from Nancy Drew Mystery books (Mary Looney)
• Willy Wonka (Nick Blue)
• Pippi Longstocking (Maddie Schwartz)
• Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh (Chris Josiah)
• Shaggy from Scooby Doo (Jesse Townsend)
• Violet Baudelaire from A Series of Unfortunate Events (Lila Goldstien)
• Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog (Casey Wilson)
• Tris from Divergent Book series (Niki Mallach)
• Persephone from Greek mythology (Maggie Grabber)
• Esmeralda from the Hunchback Of Notre Dame (Neyde Velasquez)

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