The Citywide Theatre Festival brings BPS students together for a day of arts and performance

BPS Arts hosted its Annual Citywide Theatre Festival at Hibernian Hall, bringing together theater students from around the school district for a day of performing and critiquing.

The festival was open to all theater programs and teachers in the district ranging from kindergartner to high school levels. This year, there was representation from nearly all grades and a wide array of selected programming that students performed on stage.

“We tell people that, you know, don't worry about bringing something that's necessarily a polished piece that has already been performed,” said Paul Sedgwick, a curriculum and content specialist in theater for Boston Public Schools and theater teacher at The Mission Hill School. “It could be something that's a work in progress. We were trying to encourage people just to come and share their work.”

Sedgwick served as the primary organizer of the Citywide Theatre Festival this year. He said the festival was very successful overall and that students performed everything from improv-based pieces to full productions of established musicals like Grease.

Sedgwick said there were about two hours of performances followed by a brief lunch break and then feedback on the student’s work from a panel of theater professionals.

“We gave some highlights from our various perspectives on what we thought was really cool and clues to what we thought could be improved,” Sedgwick said. “And that’s really the nicest thing about this kind of thing. They get to share their art with people all around the district.”

Sedgwick said he’s hoping to raise the stakes a little more for the Citywide Theatre Festival in future years. He would like to expand the festival to a multi-day showcase so even more schools and students are able to participate.