Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Fall 2013 | Page 10

ARTS Breaking a leg Aaron Lockman ’13 pens a play that hits the famous Monmouth stage In this inaugural year of the Write On! contest at the Theater at Monmouth, Aaron Lockman submitted his play, The Ghost Boy, which went on to win the Grand Prize for the best student-written play. This summer, the Theater at Monmouth performed a workshop of Lockman’s play on their famous stage (on the National Register of Historic Places). The Ghost Boy is a lighthearted tragicomedy about a girl, her mother, an obnoxious television personality, and the clashes between childhood and culture. There’s also a ghost. “I’m obviously very excited and really grateful to Thornton Academy. This past June, I directed a performance of The Ghost Boy, along with several other student-written plays. I was able to do that as an independent study for my last semester as a high school student. And it’s really a Aaron Lockman ‘13 (left) and Hayleigh McKechnie ‘15 (right) are shown here in the final scene of Lockman’s award-winning play, “Ghost Boy.” “I was able to direct a performance in my last semester as a high school student. It’s really a testament to the kind of opportunities available at Thornton.” testament to the kind of opportunities that are available at Thornton. If I hadn’t put on Student-Written Play Night, I probably would never have finished writing The Ghost Boy, and if I hadn’t been trying to publicize for it, I wouldn’t have sent out the press statement to the Theater at Monmouth. That’s how I learned about the contest. Plays are meant to be performed, and I feel like I didn’t really understand The Ghost Boy fully until AFTER rehearsing, blocking, and discussing it with the actors. My friends and I were really able to delve deeply into the play and create new meaning out of it.” 10 POSTSCRIPTS Mark your calendar Monday, Dec. 16th & Tuesday, Dec. 17th 7:00 PM in Garland Auditorium. The concert will feature the Jazz Band, Concert Band, Orchestra, Treble Choir, Chamber Singers, and the Concert Choir. Box Office 602-4471