As the semester drew to a close, all the hours spent rehearsing lines, blocking, and getting costumes fitted paid off when the curtains rolled up for the grand productions.

Students at Century Park Campus delivered Joseph Kesselring’s black comedy Arsenic and Old Lace to great laughter from the audience, as spinster sisters Abby and Martha Brewster befriend lonely older gentlemen and then poison them with arsenic-laced elderberry wine, setting off a chain of hysterical events. The production ran three shows, each night to a full house at the campus’ newly renovated auditorium.

The Gubei Campus’ production of Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros had the audience exploring questions about conformity and humanity.  13-year-old student Eve was applauded for taking the lead role of Berenger, which required reciting over one hundred pages of lines.  The set design was produced by students under the guidance of the Design and Technology Department and the Art Department. Year 12 student Siri found the experience invaluable, “…You have to do research into the time period and place to get an idea of what the set should look like… I personally found it fun to do by myself, with the help of experienced people.” 

Under YCIS Shanghai’s sponsorship of the Shanghai Repertory Theatre (SRT), students were encouraged to continue to align with culture and arts and finish the semester with tickets to see SRT’s performance of directors’ original piece, The Enchanted Circus of Grimm.