Open Forum

One of the main goals for our Theatre Education Community is to help theatre students and professionals from all over connect and identify with each other in order to build resources and support the theatre education field. We shine a spotlight on a different member every other week by conducting a simple interview.

Our next spotlight is Bernadette MacLeod, the theatre teacher and troupe director at East Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, home to Thespian Troupe 1190. As soon as Bernadette took over the troupe director position at EMHS in 2015, she began participating in Community. She’s been lending a hand to her fellow educators and guiding discussions ever since!

Why do you believe theatre is important?

I believe that theatre is important because it teaches empathy, something that is sorely missing in our world right now.

The Wiz, East Mecklenburg High School

What is your greatest challenge?

My greatest challenge is balancing work and home life during the school year. Making sure to take time for my family and myself in order to stay healthy, both physically and emotionally.

What does a typical day look like for you?

A British friend exclaimed, “Do you go to a school for vampires?” when she heard that I arrive at school every morning at 6:40am in order to greet students by 6:55am. Classes begin at 7:25am and go until 2:15am. Rehearsals are generally until 4:00pm. Then it’s home for family time, homework time, and dinner. During the school year, I usually do about another hour of work after my 10-yearold goes to bed at 9:00pm.

Shrek, East Mecklenburg High School

What is the best advice anyone has ever given to you?

Be humble. She didn’t say it very nicely, actually, it was a criticism because she felt I wasn’t, but sometimes the best advice comes from strange places.

What inspired you to become a teacher?

There were so many things, but I would say growing up in a family where both my brothers had learning disabilities. Watching my mom, who wasn’t a teacher, fight to make sure they had everything they needed, and tutor them to get them to the right grade level got into my heart.

The Women of Lockerbie, East Mecklenburg High School

Everyone has at least one good theatre story. Tell us yours!

Last year we decided (correction: I decided) to use scenic projections. They went off great at every rehearsal and even the performances. Until the final performance, when the computers, which are networked, went into automatic shut off mode and the warning projected onto the screen. The audience thought it was part of the gag, we were doing Shrek the Musical... it wasn’t. Why, oh why, did I use a networked computer? One of those director fail moments that I’ll have to live with. 

If you enjoyed Bernadette’s interview as much as we did, add her as a contact in the Community.

Do you know someone who deserves a moment in the Spotlight? Tell me their name and why at gbutsch@schooltheatre.org. Want to read more Community Spotlights? You can find them here.