Ava Hendrickson ’22
William Cellucci ’24
An active participant in the EA theatre program, Katie Locke ‘22 is November’s Artist of the Month. In accordance with the school’s motto, “Esse Quam Videri,” Locke does not only accel at being but also seeming. Daniel Clay, Head of the Theater Department, explains that one of the reasons Katie is so talented is because “she has a really great emotional access. She’s able to access her own feelings and express them on stage in a way that is really authentic, and that can be rare in students.”
Rachel Letts ‘22, who has worked alongside Locke in multiple productions, says, “Katie always brings her all to every production she’s a part of. She’s diligent and hardworking and always jumps at the opportunity to help others. You can always tell when Katie is performing that it’s her passion.”
Locke notes, “I was motivated to begin my theatre journey when I was three, and I saw Wicked, the Broadway musical, and fell in love.” Locke has been a part of many productions since she was little, many of which have been at EA.
Courtesy of Katie Locke ’22
One of her earliest experiences on stage was her role as Greta in the high school play The Sound of Music. Clay remembers this production well, noting “this is the first time I worked with Katie. She was in 5th grade and we needed two kids in the show.” Since then, Katie has been in numerous productions, including The Little Prince, Les Miserables, and Walk Two Moons. Clay applauds Locke’s performance in Walk Two Moons, saying that, “She did a wonderful job with that role and being really vulnerable in the black box theatre and revealing her real emotions under the circumstances of the play… I was really proud of that.”
Locke is also involved in EA’s theater-related extracurriculars, explaining, “I got on domino board going into my junior year. This year I am also one of the co-presidents of the improv club.”
This year, Locke is a Lilley Fellow, conducting an independent study that speaks to her passion for acting. Locke describes that she was excited to “delve more into different methods and techniques of acting this year and to try and improve and learn more about how using certain techniques might help me moving forward.” Clay, Locke’s advisor in this study, adds that for the first part of the project she will “deep dive into the different acting techniques and she’s going to research and try every technique. Then in the second half, she’s going to try to apply those techniques to a model in scenes.” Locke is eager to continue working on this study and “to see how I can incorporate [acting techniques] into monologues and other things.”
In addition to being successful on stage, Katie is also a large contributor to the welcoming atmosphere backstage. Gina Tomkowich, the Middle School Drama Teacher who worked closely with Katie on middle school productions, elaborates, “Katie was really supportive of her peers. No matter what was going on, she would always enter the room with a positive attitude and enthusiasm while rehearsing.”
Tomkowich continues, “I remember specifically her being double-cast in a role in her 6th-grade year in The Little Prince, where she was the little prince with Arni Shiva ‘20, who was an 8th grader at the time. They were a little bit apart in age, so they were sharing this role and were able to work together, and they gave me hope for kids everywhere.”
Courtesy of Katie Locke ’22
Locke also noted that one of the reasons she loves theatre is because of the community. She explains, “everyone in every show I’ve ever been in has been so nice and I’ve made so many new friends through theatre, and it’s cool to see people during the afternoon that I might not see during the day.”
Rachel Letts says, “I’ve loved working with Katie because not only is she talented but she puts her all into the whole experience and makes it enjoyable for everyone.”
As Locke will be graduating soon, she says, “I definitely want to keep doing [theatre] in college, take some more classes, do some more shows. That’s not the only thing I’m going to do, but I’m going to see where things go.”