The all-around success of the child is a big part of the goal for Moffat County School District. For many students, that includes opportunities in the performing arts space.

Moffat County High School Theater is preparing for their first shows of the year, a performance of three one-act plays called “Connections,” which will premiere Nov. 13 and will have encore performances Nov. 14 and Nov. 15, all at 7 p.m. A matinee on Nov. 15 will also take place at 2 p.m.

“Connections” will include three distinct stories: “The Visitors,” by Del Martin, “I, Chorus,” by Ian McWethy, and “Our Place,” by Terry Wayne Gabbard. Directed by Juliann Matheson, these plays will feature MCHS students portraying characters and telling stories on stage together.

Live theater is a unique part of the arts. Becoming a character, working as a unit to perform a story, memorizing lines, inhabiting another person’s ideas, experiences, and perspective through acting…the whole process is hard to compare to much else in our lives. Acting builds empathy, teaches hard work and resilience, forges bonds, and emphasizes teamwork and community. Performing strengthens confidence, requires learning public presentation skills, and teaches young people about success, failure, and the joy of creating together.

It’s always wonderful to see MCHS theater students perform. We invite you to join us this November as they show off their months of hard work.

The idea of a “theater kid” can sometimes be a punchline. But the abilities learned in the theater are so useful, as described above, and extremely unique. A penchant for the dramatic, a flare for narrative or storytelling, a willingness to step into uncomfortable, uncertain, unknown situations, these are the hallmarks of theater performers. All of that is useful beyond the stage.

Great public speakers, great coaches, great teammates, many of them studied theater. So did great teachers, great writers, and great feelers of all kinds. We commend our theater students for entering into this world, and are grateful for Mrs. Matheson for her hard work in providing opportunities for them to develop these critical and useful skills while also putting on great shows for the community to enjoy.

That’s another benefit to producing theater. It brings people together. Stories unite and bind us, and witnessing the telling of a story all at once does so even more powerfully. We all need stories, to understand ourselves, understand one another, and to understand the world. The great teachers throughout time taught through stories. Theater is in many ways the inheritor of that legacy.

Go see a show this fall! We can’t wait to welcome you to the MCHS auditorium Nov. 13-15 for “Connections.”