For its spring production, Pomfret School Theater staged the Pomfret Playwrights Festival, a performance featuring four new plays written by Pomfret students and alumni. 

Robin, written by Remy Jacquet ’26, follows Lucy Danson, a high school student navigating the devastating loss of her older brother, Robby. Isolated in her grief, Lucy slowly finds her way back to hope and connection, guided by memories of Robby and the symbolic songs of a robin that echo her emotional journey toward healing.

Waiting for Dodo is a darkly comic and thought-provoking piece by Madeleine Hutchins ’14, in which a talking dodo confronts a museum visitor. Through sharp banter and emotional depth, the dodo dismantles human assumptions about extinction, intelligence, and superiority, drawing attention to the human forces of colonialism and environmental destruction that led to its species’ demise.

No One Leaves, written by Izzy Makatura ’25 in Pomfret’s fall Playwriting class, centers on three New York City roommates living under pandemic lockdown. When one breaks quarantine and lies about it, the group’s fragile sense of trust begins to unravel, forcing them to confront fear, honesty, and the complicated boundaries of safety.

Palindrome is a formally daring play by Sydney Dubitsky ’20 that traces a relationship’s breakdown and reconstruction — first forward, then in reverse. The mirrored structure, down to each word and gesture, captures the cyclical nature of miscommunication and reconciliation in intimate partnerships.

For student actors like Lydia Warren ’26, the opportunity to work directly with the playwrights elevated the experience even further. “It’s been amazing not only getting to perform plays written by my peers but also hearing their thoughts on how they want their work interpreted,” Lydia said. “There are always challenges in understanding a script, but this time we could go straight to the source and ask questions. That brought so much clarity — and made for stronger performances.”

“Producing an original play is quite a different experience than performing a published one,” explained Theater Director Chip Lamb. “There’s no previous production to serve as a roadmap. Actors are playing characters who have never been seen before. It’s both thrilling and daunting — akin to walking a high wire without a net.”

The showcase was a fitting celebration of Lamb’s nearly two decades of leadership before his retirement at the end of the academic year. “It’s always been an aspiration to produce student-written work at Pomfret,” Lamb said. “The performing arts have the power to reach beyond current students — to invite alumni and the wider school community into the process. This festival brought that idea to life.”
 

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