School’s Enduring Commitment to Theater Is a Tough Act to Follow

By David A. F. Sweet

“Act well your part,” wrote essayist Alexander Pope in the 18^th century. “There all the honor lies.”

Acting well has never been a problem at Lake Forest Community High School, whose commitment to theater harkens to the school’s founding during the Great Depression. Today, students continue to carry out their roles with aplomb across an amazingly diverse selection of plays.

Lake Forest High School depends on students to build sets for plays.

Greek tragedies created thousands of years ago have been performed; the famous works of William Shakespeare have graced the stage. More modern fare has featured chilling true stories, such as The Diary of Anne Frank, alongside Broadway musicals. Rarely has the same play been performed twice across the decades at the Raymond Moore Auditorium and Studio Theater.

“Our directors are very thoughtful in how they select shows,” said Ashleigh Malec, Director of Student Activities and Instructional Director of Fine & Performing Arts. “They look at the four-year scope that students will be here. They’ll get a classical show, a Broadway show, and more.”

Freshmen can get involved in plays even before classes start their first year. Seniors audition all interested students, who procure a role on stage or off, for the one-act plays they direct. There is only a week of rehearsals each August before the plays are performed, all in one night.

“The students do it all. There’s no one telling the seniors to direct a certain way,” Malec said. “It’s a cool way to start the year.”

Malec noted that what sets LFHS’s program apart is the commitment from students to push themselves artistically.

"Our students often say, 'I have an idea, let’s try this.' Recently, I was at a rehearsal of The Importance of Being Earnest, where students from all grades were incorporating accents into their roles. It isn’t easy, but they 'turned it up' exactly when they needed to."

Those behind the scenes also play an important role. Though LFHS could hire outsiders to build sets, the school depends on students. Malec watched them recently design an archway that crossed the stage.

“They needed to figure out how many screws they needed, how to make sure the wood doesn’t warp,” she said. “I always laugh and say these kids will be amazing homeowners one day.

“They are constantly having to figure out what to build to make the scene change faster. They must sit and play with dimensions, stay within a budget, try to match the aesthetic, and then finally say, ‘Here is the product I’m making.’”

That’s not to say LFHS does not bring in professionals from outside who students can learn from. A dialect coach guided actors during Newsies so they could discover how word pronunciation can build their character. Projectionists have helped with animation, such as the crucial movement of the clock before it strikes midnight during Cinderella. Students can build relationships with various technical directors and stage directors in Chicago while seeing how they work.

Interactions with professionals reached unprecedented levels during the late 1970s, when famed actor and director Robert Redford came to the school to film Ordinary People. Many students were cast as extras in the Oscar-winning movie, and a few even enjoyed speaking parts.

Of course, not every Scout theater alumnus or alumna will end up in a film that won four Academy Awards or become a Hollywood star like Vince Vaughn (’88). But they will be armed with essential skills for life beyond the stage.

“In my career, the ability to speak clearly, stay calm in high-stakes settings, and engage an audience has frequently provided me with impactful opportunities,” noted venture capitalist Jenny Poth (’12). “Those skills, which often determine whether a meeting or pitch succeeds, were developed on stage at LFHS. Theater gave me the tools to perform well not just in front of an audience but also in front of senior executives, clients, and investors.”

Added Nadia Rawlinson (’97), co-owner of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky, during a talk at LFHS in 2025, “My time here in theater allowed me to learn how to present myself in a variety of ways. This is something I have to do every day.”T This story was first published here.