MISSION STATEMENT
The Bobcat Theatre Company’s mission is dedicated to creating a collaborative learning environment with high quality education in the performing arts. Our aim is to inspire children to dream, explore, think, and connect through imaginative storytelling onstage and in the classroom. Our goal is to elicit creative self-expression, critical thinking, and artistry through our theatre course offerings and mainstage productions as students grow as performers, directors, designers, and stage technicians.
ABOUT MS. RUPPERT
Ms. Ruppert graduated Summa Cum Laude from Roanoke College in 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Education with a Minor in Spanish. Before coming to Radford in the fall of 2023, she taught 6th-grade English and High School Theatre at Cave Spring Middle and High Schools. During her time with Theatre Roanoke College, she performed in many productions and earned four nominations for excellence in acting at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Her greatest passion is teaching theatre, which she used when she completed an Honors thesis and workshop on instilling confidence and interpersonal skills in middle school students. She shared her work on this workshop at the Southeastern Theatre Conference in Memphis, TN. She is thrilled to be working with this amazing group of students at DIS and RHS!
COURSE OFFERING
Middle School Theatre 7:
Theatre provides an outlet for student creativity! This is a class for those interested in learning about acting and theatre. Students interested in performance, direction, design, technical support, backstage crafts, and publicity are encouraged to join. Whether you like to be in the limelight or you like to be creative behind the scenes, you will have an opportunity to show your talent in the theatre class. The class will enhance students’ speech and communication skills, as well as teaching listening skills. Students will be able to explore the basic components of theatre. The focus of this class will be to complete individual performances (Fall) and a class performance (Spring).
Middle School Theatre 8:
This is a class for those students who are interested in learning more advanced theatre concepts. Students interested in performance, direction, design, technical support, backstage crafts, and publicity are encouraged to join. This class will enhance students’ speech and communication skills, as well as teach listening skills. Students will be able to explore beyond the basic components of theatre through group projects and collaborative work. The focus of this class will be to complete individual design portfolios (Fall) and a class acting performance (Spring).
Drama Comprehensive:
This is an introductory theatre class for those interested in learning about acting and theatre. It can also be referred to as Theatre I. Students interested in performance, direction, design, technical support, backstage crafts, and publicity are encouraged to join. Students will be able to explore the many different basic components of theatre. The focus of this class will be to complete individual design portfolios and class-based performances.
Bobcat Players:
This is an audition-based course that aims to provide students who have a substantial interest or significant performance experience an opportunity to explore, in-depth, advanced acting techniques, while further developing interpretive and imaginative skills. The class will allow students to build creativity and the ability to inhabit a broad diversity of characters and performance styles. Students will also have the opportunity to explore advanced theatre topics such as directing, theatre history, and theatrical design. To take this class, students must have taken any theatre class a year prior and score 16 or higher on their audition.
Technical Theatre:
This is an introductory course, which explores the backstage world of theatre. Students will investigate several areas of production and design from both a practical and a theoretical base. Students will be given the opportunity to learn about the following areas of technical theatre production: theatre and shop safety, scenic design fundamentals and set construction, scenic painting, use of properties on stage and construction, and career opportunities in the realm of theatre. Demonstrations and discussion will be an essential part of the class day making appropriate student participation very important. All students will be given the opportunity to apply skills acquired in the class and during the productions that occur at Radford High School. Students are encouraged to take an active role in all theatrical productions.