Annie and Mae Take Lead of Athenian's Theater Department
Although they met for the first time only three hours into the first day of school, Annie Potter and Mae Mironer have taken on the challenge of running the new theater department together.
“I've been doing theater since I was about five years old. I did my first show when I was five, and I worked semi-professionally in the Bay Area as a child. Then, I got a bachelor's degree at UC Irvine. I've been mostly working with a small theater company in Concord and Martinez for a number of years, both as an adapter and a director. And then, I went to Columbia for seven years and got a PhD in theater and performance,” Theater Director Annie Potter said.
In addition to Annie’s plethora of experience in the theater industry, Mae has their share of experience as well.
“Growing up in Minnesota, I started doing theater when I was six. After college, I studied theater abroad in London, and after that, I moved to Maryland to work at my first school as a technical director, which is what I'm currently doing here. And then, I proceeded to work in DC at a theater company as a technical director, and after that job finished up, I came here. But since then, I've worked professionally at a number of different theaters in Minnesota, Kansas, London and DC,” Technical Theater Director Mae Mironer said.
Every teacher has their reasons for being drawn to the school. For Mae, this was the environment at Athenian. “I started learning more about the school, especially AWE, as a category of things. I remember thinking, ‘What do you mean the juniors go on a camping trip for a month! That's wild, but so cool.’ And then when I came to the interview, I saw how beautiful it is here, and I like how outdoors it is, and I also like how student-driven things are here,” Mae said.
Annie, who graduated from Athenian in 2007, was driven to return because of how familiar she already was with Athenian. “I was here when they tore down the Main Hall. I was also the first class to perform at the theater. I remember during my freshman year here, the theater used to be the library, and so, for me, it’s so exciting to be back in this space,” Annie said.
When teaching, Annie and Mae each follow their own philosophies that help push themselves and the class forward.
“My teaching philosophy is learn it, teach it, know it. So it's the concept where we learn things together, and theater lends itself really well to the capability of being able to learn things and share your knowledge with other people. And I truly believe that when you get to teach somebody else something, you become a master of that topic, and theater gives that opportunity to teach one another.,” said Mae.
Meanwhile, Annie’s teaching philosophy is more about creating an open environment. “I'm really big on making sure that everyone feels welcome at the theater. I feel like sometimes there are situations in which people from varying backgrounds feel less comfortable being in the theater, so a huge part of my philosophy is making sure everyone feels invited to be here,” Annie said.
Students who took part in the play in previous years in addition to this year have already begun to notice changes implemented by the new teachers.
“One change that has been put in place that I particularly like is that we no longer have an in school field trip. In past years, the Monday before our performances we would miss all of our classes and spend the entire day in the theater. While the energy was really fun, missing all of our classes just added to the pile of work we normally build up during tech week. I really appreciate that Annie and Mae have decided to change that Monday to a regular tech rehearsal of staying after school instead,” junior Emi Greenfield said.
Annie and May did not have much time to coordinate, yet everything went according to their plan. “Annie only got the job officially on the Friday before school started, and I didn't move here until the Sunday before we started work the next day, so we were both very last minute in trying to figure out things here,” Mae said. Despite the hectic situation, Mae saw the light at the end of the tunnel. “I think this is an example of one of the beautiful things about theater people. We know and understand each other, and we have a lot of shared experiences. We have the power to work with somebody instantly and get something done. That's kind of the superpower that a theater person needs, and it's one that we both have,” Mae said.
The two make up the entirety of the theater department, which means they each have their own share of responsibilities. Annie leads the Fall Play class, and Mae teaches Theatre Tech. This means Annie oversees the directing and leading of the play, while Mae works in the background with the set crew to facilitate costumes, props, lights, and sound at the CFTA.
The two each have their own plans for the future of the department. “I'd love to expand the theater department so we've got more folks who are involved. For example, using student-written work for plays and things like that,” Annie said.
Mae plans for future improvements on the technical side. “The biggest thing for me is starting to rebuild the theater and to do a lot of internal improvements. For example, getting new tools, new safety, new equipment, kind of remodeling the inside and updating the theater, so that we’re on a higher caliber of tech,” Mae said.
“I just think it’s important to recognize that even though it all feels new and weird, that certainly doesn’t mean any of these changes are bad. I absolutely believe that Annie and Mae are building a wonderful theater department, and I trust both of them to make the best decisions for this program,” Emi said.
