Fine Arts

Theater Arts

Our Theater Program produces two main stage productions each year in the Fall and in the Spring. Past shows have included Music Man, You Can't Take It With You, Anastasia, Little Women, Radium Girls, The Addams Family, and Godspell. All students, regardless of experience, are taught the basics of acting, character development, and communication on stage. BI Theater Clubs and Organizations are also open to all students who are interested in any aspect of theater, including acting, stage crew, set design, costuming, make-up and more.

About Theater Arts

The Bishop Ireton Theater Arts Program is a Cappies award-winning program that highlights both the educational and recreational benefits of Theater. Our faculty and staff of professional theater artist educators help students find their niche within theater and hone their craft. Creative, dynamic and all-inclusive, the Theater Arts program offers concentrations in state-of-the-art Garwood Whaley Auditorium, one of the most expansive and sophisticated high school theaters in the Metro DC area. In addition to theater classes, students may participate in multiple areas of theater, including publicity, props and scenic art.

Upcoming Productions

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2024-2025 Productions

Evening of the Arts
May 2, 2024 @ 7 pm

Stay tuned for our 2025-2026 productions!

Click here to learn more about the Bishop Ireton Theater Boosters

Theater Staff

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Kathryn Rice

Director of Theater Arts

703-212-5195
Laurie Candalor

Theater Costuming Teacher
Courtney Foster
Arianna Tilley

Assistant Director of Theater Arts, Classroom Proctor

Trip Down Broadway

Every year, the Drama Club spends a weekend in New York City learning about various plays and shows. A few highlights include visiting local attractions, such as St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Rockefeller Center, and getting a behind-the-scenes tour of current Broadway productions. Participants also have the chance to attend workshops and rehearsals with actors and actresses from Broadway shows.

Theater Clubs

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Drama Club

The Bishop Ireton Drama Club is an open and inclusive space designed for students interested in learning more about the aspects of theater including acting, stage crew, costuming, designing, or all of the above. The Drama Club regularly meets to do drama workshops, play improv games, attend local shows, and even create their own!
Cappies Program

Bishop Ireton is a proud member of the National Capital Area Cappies program. The Cappies are a writing and awards program (100% student driven) that trains high school theater and journalism students to be expert writers, critical thinkers, creators and leaders.

Bishop Ireton Theater Arts has been nominated many times in multiple categories, including last year, when it was nominated for Best Costumes, Best Choreography, Best Male Vocalist, Best Supporting Actor is a Female Role (Winner), Best Supporting Actor is a Male Role, and Best Musical.

Fun Fact: Did you know Bishop Ireton was a charter member of the very first Cappies program in the United States?
Cappies Ambassador Club

Our Cappies Ambassadors work with our Theater Department on our Cappies show, creating boards, shooting videos, and taking pictures, highlighting the performance and technical elements of the show. This club also dresses up to serve as ushers and ambassadors the night other Cappies critics from around the DMV come to review our show!
International Thespian Society

The International Thespian Society (ITS), founded in 1929, is an honorary organization for high school and middle school theater students located at more than 4,200 affiliated secondary schools across America, Canada, and abroad. ITS is a division of the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) whose mission is to honor student achievement in the theater arts.

Our Thespian troupe is a subset of our theater arts program. Members of ITS meet to create service projects, like performing at senior homes and giving mini- lessons on acting and theater to elementary and middle school theater students in the Northern Virginia area.

This student honor society, though a separate student organization, is open to any student of the Bishop Ireton Theater Arts program, however, only students who have been officially inducted and registered with the EdTA national office are members of the International Thespian Society.
Props and Dramaturgy

Props and Dramaturgy is a club that joins together researchers and set dressers to discover and design the historical details within the set and create the textile feel of the show.

The props team designs and makes numerous props for each show as well as treasure hunts for antiques specific to the time period and location of the show.

Dramaturgy is an exploration of the world of the play—both the text itself and how the text engages with the world in which we live.The dramaturgy team is a creative team whose primary task is to support the play's development creating written packets of notable information the cast needs to know for the show and their characters.
Scenic Art Club

The Bishop Ireton Scenic Art Club is Bishop Ireton Theater Art’s newest club. Brought to fruition for a want to create and explore the theater world through visual art, the Scenic Art Club works closely with Bishop Ireton Theater Technical. Through painting, sculpting, and texturizing, the Scenic Art Club brings the sets of Bishop Ireton Theater Art’s productions to life on stage.