Every year, the Visual and Performing Arts Academy’s theatre strand puts on a plethora of unique productions, both on our mainstage and at theaters around Virginia Beach. Performances range from knee-slapping comedies to tear-jerking dramas.
VPAA Academy Theatre teacher Mrs. Christa Vogt directs the Fall Play every year, and this year the theatre strand performed This Random World by Steven Dietz.
“This Random World was a super unique show to be a part of because of the combination of realistic and interpretive aspects,” said junior costume manager Savannah Coulter. “The cast worked so hard and it really paid off in the end. My favorite part was the read through at the very beginning of the process. It was awesome to read the play for the first time and dive deeper into the characters and [the] plot.”
This Random World had the smallest cast of any Fall Play since 2017 with a cast of only seven. The two most recent Fall plays, Antigone and Leaving Iowa, both had more than double the cast size of This Random World.
This Random World opened on October 25th and closed on October 26th.
Additionally, every year Vogt also directs the Virginia High School League (VHSL) One-Act Play team. Just two years ago, her One Act Play team won the state competition in Charlottesville, Virginia, only the second Virginia Beach team to do so since First Colonial High School in 1989.
The VHSL One-Act Play Festival is a competition between different schools’ theatre departments. Each school performs an approximately 30-minute play and the performances are judged and scored by professionals and veterans of the art form. This year, Vogt plans to direct A Wrinkle in Time adapted from the story written by Madeleine L’Engle.
“A Wrinkle In Time follows one of literature’s most enduring young heroines, Meg Murry — braces, stubbornness and all,” according to author Morgan Gould’s synopsis of the one-act play adaptation. “Once again, she’s joining forces with Mrs. Whatsit, Charles Wallace, Calvin O’Keefe and more to battle the forces of evil so she can rescue her father, save humanity and find herself.”
Auditions for the One Act Play are expected to take place in mid-November and the first performance will take place in late January.
Concurrently with the One Act Play, new VPAA Theatre teacher Mr. Steven Harders is directing this year’s Spring Play: a musical revue.
While there isn’t much information on the Spring Play just yet, more information should be announced in the coming weeks. Many Visual and Performing Arts theatre students are very excited about the upcoming musical as the VPAA theatre strand doesn’t produce many musicals, the last mainstage musical being 2018’s Oliver.
Auditions for the Spring Show are planned to take place sometime in December and auditions will be open to both Academy theatre and vocal music strand students.
The last of the theatre season’s four major performances is Fringe Festival.
VPAA sophomores and juniors are cast as characters in plays directed, written, and produced by theatre strand seniors. Although it is a theatre production, VPAA sophomores, juniors, and seniors in the instrumental, vocal, dance, and visual arts strands are invited to audition.
“Fringe Festival is a VPAA Senior Production for their last project for the academy. Each senior writes a play around 10-15 pages long,” said VPAA Theatre senior and two-time Fringe Festival cast member Melaina Robinson. “After editing and revising, each senior chooses another senior’s play and directs it. They decide the cast, costumes, scenic design, etc. The seniors get to see what it is like to be a playwright and director.”
Fringe Festival 2025 will be held at Virginia Wesleyan University’s Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center, where the festival was held last year. Before Fringe Festival 2024, the festival was held at Zeiders American Dream Theater in Town Center but due to a scheduling conflict, the Fringe Festival was moved to Virginia Wesleyan University’s Performing Arts Center.
The theatre season offers a multitude of unique experiences and opportunities for theatre enthusiasts regardless of grade level. For more information on the 2024-2025 Academy Theatre Strand season, contact Academy theatre teachers, Mrs. Vogt and Mr. Harders, or Academy Coordinator Mrs. Byrd.
