From the dark corners of a cold-war relic, New Stages emerged and has impressed audiences for 44 years.
Every spring, Shaker Theatre Arts presents New Stages: a production of six student-written, student-directed, 10-minute plays in Stage 3, a small, black-box performance space in the basement of the high school.
Stage 3 was originally a bomb shelter; it held water cans, cots and emergency supplies that remained in the basement until about eight years ago, according to theater teacher Scott Sumerak. The space was converted into a theater in 1981 by Amy Margolious Silberman, who transformed it into a performance venue for her senior project. Photos documenting the process are still displayed there, preserving the transformation from shelter to stage.
New Stages has run every year since its founding and has evolved. While it now consistently features six or seven plays a year, earlier productions ranged from four to nine before settling into the current structure eight years ago.
Recognition of its quality has also extended beyond the school. According to Sumerak, for the last 15 years, SHHS students have been recognized at the Marilyn Bianchi Kids’ Playwriting Festival. The festival, hosted by Dobama Theater, selects scripts by student playwrights grades 1-12 for production in June annually. This year, three plays by Shaker playwrights will be produced at Dobama Theater: “A Play on Words” by Isabel Siegel, “Fun For the Whole Family” by Daniel Carroll, and “EVE” by Harlan Sadowsky. The play “Just Five Minutes” by Makenzie McCleod earned an honorable mention.
Today, New Stages operates as a school-wide submission process, opening opportunities to students beyond the theater program. “It’s not just theater kids,” said Marina Wasserman, an English, playwriting, and film arts teacher who also serves as the program’s coordinator.
The perception of who belongs in theater is something students say still lingers.
“There definitely is a stigma,” freshman Finn Nolan said. “People think theater kids are quiet, or weird, or don’t have a lot of friends. That’s completely false.”
Wasserman, who has been involved with New Stages for seven years, helped shape much of the program’s current structure. She said that she focuses on the logistical side of the production, allowing students to lead everything else. “I am the person who puts the puzzle pieces together,” she said. “The kids really do all the things — I’m just kind of the grown-up responsible for them.”
Months before opening night, students in playwriting class begin drafting monologues and short scenes, eventually developing full scripts either in class or independently. In March, submissions open up to the whole school. This year, nearly 30 plays were submitted, with only six selected through a combination of student discussion, voting and final approval.
In recent years, creative writing classes, Shaker Writing Center interns, and theater classes have reviewed scripts as a part of the selection process. In these workshops, students read and respond to submitted scripts before final selections are made, creating a feedback loop that helps shape which plays move forward. “It’s been fun to get different perspectives,” Wasserman said.
During the final selection, Wasserman considers the tone of each play, how each will make the audience feel, its genre and its level of engagement. “It’s not only which individual shows are ready for production,” said Wasserman, “but also what’s the journey the audience is going to be on?”
Wasserman said that the selection process is both creative and logistical. “We’re looking at voice, clarity and what will actually work in performance,” she said. For example, scripts that require larger set design, or contain more complicated features, can’t be produced in the Stage 3 space due to its size.
For student writers, the process begins long before rehearsal.
Senior Reggie Fitzgordon, whose play “(Dum)Bo Seeks Revenge” follows a character attempting to avenge his sister’s death at the hands of a “strawberry assassin,” said the idea originated from a simple classroom prompt.
“We had to start with the line ‘I prefer grape jelly,’” he said. “And I just ran with it.”
From there, the process became about structure and intention. “You have to figure out what every character wants,” he said. “And make it feel real — like the audience has just been dropped into another world.” That realism, he said, is central to writing for the stage.
“If the dialogue doesn’t feel natural, it won’t work,” he said. “You want it to feel like these people haven’t been reading a script — that they’re actually living it.”
He said that hearing his work performed can feel intimidating. “It feels really good—it’s really fulfilling,” Fitzgordon said. “But it’s also a little scary. You’re letting people into your mind.”
Fitzgordon said that risk is at the core of both writing and performance. “All of it — writing, acting — it’s just being vulnerable,” he said. “You’re showing people yourself.”
Once scripts are selected, the process shifts almost entirely into student control.
Wasserman selects students who chose to apply for directorial positions, pairing together co-directors based on a preference form. Each directing pair is assigned to a show. Then, auditions are held, the plays are cast and the three-week rehearsal process begins.
She said that she emphasizes stepping back. “I think the release of control to the kids is huge,” she said. “I want them to trust themselves.”
Senior director Taylor Torres said that the casting process can be contentious. “We sat at a table in a big circle with all the directors, and then we fought over who we wanted in our cast,” she said. “We were there until 7:30 arguing for who we wanted.”
For Torres, who gained directing experience before coming to Shaker, New Stages presented a more intense opportunity. She said the directing dynamic at her previous school “didn’t really feel as professional as New Stages felt.”
The responsibility of shaping a production introduced difficult decisions. “It’s an empathy thing,” she said. “You feel really, really bad during casting — but I’d rather work with people who fit the role better, even if some people’s feelings get hurt.”
That leadership role is complicated by relationships. “It’s hard to have a leadership position with your peers,” Wasserman said. “Figuring out how to say, ‘We’ve been best friends forever, and now I’m your director’ — that’s a big part of it.”
For actors, the student-led structure changes the entire experience of the production.
“Everything is made by students and directed by students, which really changes the dynamic,” said junior Daria Mirodon, who played Michael in “(Dum)Bo Seeks Revenge.” “It’s a lot more chill than regular theater.”
Mirodon, acting in New Stages for her third year, said that she’s grown more used to the dynamic over time. “Every year, I’ve kind of gotten more comfortable with being part of a smaller, more intimate cast,” she said.
That intimacy often attracts students who might not otherwise consider theater.
“New Stages attracts a very diverse crowd,” Mirodon said. “People who don’t usually do theater come to New Stages because it sounds lower pressure.”
Freshman actor Finn Nolan, who played Wren in “More Than Acquaintances,” said that the environment built through New Stages also creates space for experimentation and connection. “It’s so much more of a community,” Nolan said. “You build inside jokes, you laugh, you figure things out together.”
Nolan said that New Stages differs from a typical Shaker theater production. “It’s honestly easier,” he said. “You’re getting directed by someone who was just in your place. They know exactly how to help.”
Nolan said that one example of this experimentation occurred when his director, senior Myles Hills, pushed him to deliver a line while sobbing. “It worked completely,” he said. “Student directors don’t hold back — they’ll try things.”
Fitzgordon, who played Father in “Fun for the Whole Family,” said that taking on the roles of both writer and actor this year has reshaped his perspective on theater .
“Writing helps you understand what each line is supposed to do,” he said. “And acting helps you think about how it should actually feel on stage.”
Fitzgordon said that as a writer, he has no control over his script once production starts. “Once you hand your script over, it’s not really yours anymore,” he said. “You have to trust other people to bring it to life.”
Torres said she realizes that she does not have to always maintain control. “I’m not always going to be the one that makes the best decision — even if I’m in charge,” she said.
For Nolan, the appeal is simple. “I enjoy portraying the character. For this role I approached him by adding my own personal spin on it,” he said.
Junior actor Sophia Federici, who played Heidi in “EVE,” said the plays are easier to grasp because they are written by fellow students. “I think about what if I was in her place and then apply those feelings,” she said. “Because the characters are written by people our age, it’s very easy to connect with them.”
Compared to larger productions, the environment feels less rigid. “New Stages is much more laid back,” Federici said. “It’s all your friends, so you definitely feel less judged.”
That accessibility challenges common misconceptions about theater, she said. “I think a lot of people think, ‘I can’t sing and I can’t dance, so I can’t do it,’ ” she said. “But theater is so much more than that. It’s just about having fun and being able to present yourself.”
At the same time, Federici said the three-week rehearsal period introduces pressure for her. She said that balancing rehearsals with academics requires discipline. “I try to stay on top of my schoolwork so it doesn’t all pile up,” she said.
Behind the scenes, Wasserman supports that fast-paced environment through organization. “I am a color-coded spreadsheet type of person,” she said. During after-school rehearsals, students check a color-coded schedule to see where they will gather throughout the school to work on their assigned plays.
However, Wasserman said that she leaves room for experimentation. For example, in New Stages 40, students from the play “His Favorite Meal” added a live pianist to a scene. “They just wanted to try it out and see what happened,” she said. “And it was really, really cool.”
The creative freedom and accessibility of the program continues to define it. Said Torres, “I’ve never been at a school that does something like this. It gives a lot of students a chance to try something new.”
