The Cappies program is new this year, and members have been working on expanding their reach and organization.
According to Cappies adviser Mr. Matt Morris, the Cappies program is a regional theater program where schools send a team of student critics to review the theatrical performances of other Pennsylvania schools.
The program exists at schools in the greater Philadelphia area, but Strath Haven hadn’t offered it until this year.
“I’m on the board of directors for it, and I knew that we hadn’t had it at Haven before. I was really excited to start it up here because I’ve seen the benefits that other schools [and students] have gotten out of the program,” Morris said.
Students involved in Strath Haven’s theater program have enjoyed going to performances around them.
“I saw the memo that said, ‘If you’re interested in writing and theater, then this is the thing for you.’ I love both those things, and I am involved in a lot of theater… so I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll give it a shot. And I went [to a meeting], and not a lot of people were doing it,” Cappies Treasurer Madeline Garson said.
The program has many benefits for critics and actors whose shows have been critiqued.
“At the end of the year, they have an award ceremony [to] celebrate the best high school theater that they’ve seen in the region,” Morris said.
Cappies has been a good experience for Garson so far.
“It’s really fun being in the room, you feel like a real reviewer. That’s your job when you’re there,” Garson said. “It’s fun when you get to take on that role, which is an experience that I wouldn’t really get elsewhere– the chance to be in charge and vote and give critiques and also positive feedback on things you’d liked and didn’t like when you see a show.”
Members of the club look forward to expanding next year.
“There’s a lot of theaterheads here, and a lot of great writers that would be really good at the journalism aspect [of Cappies]– attending the show and then writing a review the next day. You can get published if it’s good enough too, which is exciting,” Garson said.
