At St. George’s, the theater program hasn’t always been steady. For several years, it’s shifted between directors, styles and expectations.

“It’s been kind of a rollercoaster,” eighth grader Marlowe Leibovich said.

This year, that pattern is starting to change with Theatre Arts and Play Director Ms. Ashley Bugg Brown, who joined St. George’s after 24 years building and shaping a theater program at Lausanne Collegiate School. She brings not just experience, but something students say has been missing: consistency.

After director Ms. Karen Dean retired in 2023, the program entered a period of limited, part-time leadership under Ms. Hailey Wilson.

In the 2024-25 school year, former Memphis Campus Artist-in-Residence Mr. Adam Woodruff directed the “Rumors” which took place on Oct. 24 and 26, 2024.

“We had more placeholders than anything, and it’s just different shows and different ways of teaching and directing,” Leibovich, who has been involved with theater at St. George’s since first grade, said.

To her new students, Mrs. Bugg’s arrival marked a noticeable shift.

“I met with Ms. Bugg before she was officially working here and she gave the air of knowing what she was doing, similar to Ms. Dean,” senior Jade Masters said. “I appreciated the enthusiasm she had for growing the theater department.”

​That enthusiasm now shows up daily in two new courses she teaches: The Art of Communication and Storytelling and Upper School Introduction to Theater.

The Art of Communication and Storytelling is a year-long course designed to develop eighth and ninth-grade students into more confident speakers.

In Upper School Introduction to Theater, she teaches topics such as theater history and terminology, along with approaches to set design, directing, writing and acting.

Under the previous part-time leadership, upper school students no longer had access to theater class beyond middle school. Last year, senior Laila Vidal highlighted that gap in her Junior Retreat project, advocating for the return of upper school theater opportunities.

Now, that opportunity has returned for the first time in years, with seven students enrolled.

​“It’s actually kind of perfect because no one’s afraid to get up in front of each other because it’s a small group and they’re all very close. We’ve had a really good time this year,” Ms. Bugg said.

Ms. Bugg structures her classes around student interest.

​“I do have a plan… But if I see the kids really enjoying and discovering something, I will veer that direction to keep their interest,” Ms. Bugg said.

When she directs school productions, that same balance of structure and exploration carries over into rehearsals.

These moments are made by students who are all connected by different interests but share the same stage.

“It’s not just high schoolers or it’s not just middle schoolers. [Theater is] one of those [activities] where it can be really mixed with who does it. There are people [who] do sports who are in theater. There are people [who] sing who are in theater. Everyone kind of does it,” freshman Indie Landers, who has been involved in St. George’s theater since sixth grade, said.

Landers recently performed as James in “James and the Giant Peach” on March 27-29, 2026. Her performance earned her a nomination for Best Lead Actress from the Orpheum High School Musical Theatre Awards.

“James and the Giant Peach” also received nominations for Outstanding Small Ensemble and Outstanding Poster. Results will be announced on May 21, 2026.

But recognition isn’t what keeps students coming back.

“After the shows, we would go and we would get ice cream, and it was just a very close-knit group just with each other for so long. It’s a pretty small group, so it is kind of like family,” Landers said.

Students can also participate in theater beyond acting, including technical work, set design and backstage roles, expanding opportunities for involvement.

Vidal has served as stage manager for most productions since she was in eighth grade.

“I really love just how everything comes together, how the actors have to work with the props and the lights. Everything just comes together and makes this whole big show,“ Vidal said. “It’s different in school theater because it’s… teaching kids how to do things, and so you have to work more with the students.”

Her favorite part of the role is seeing students grow into their roles.

“As the show goes on, [I love how] people get more and more comfortable and confident [as] everybody learns their roles,” Vidal said.

As the program stabilizes, traditions are also evolving too.

“The traditions are everything. I didn’t want to ignore what St. George’s students already value, but I also wanted to build traditions of my own with them,” Ms. Bugg said. “It’s a balance—respecting what’s already here while still bringing in my own ideas.”

St. George’s students were accustomed to having both a play and a musical, a tradition that continued with this year’s productions, “Fools” and “James and the Giant Peach.”

Mrs. Bugg has also introduced and adapted traditions of her own.

At Lausanne, Ms. Bugg would give a green ribbon to a cast member and a black ribbon to a crew member who had gone above and beyond what was required of them and helped everyone. The students wear their ribbons hidden on their clothes during the play.
Each night, Students pass the ribbons on to recognize others.

She continued this tradition with the fall play this year, letting her new students create their own ribbons.
“The kids have really embraced that tradition. I think that’s one we’re going to keep going,” Ms. Bugg said.

At the end of “James and the Giant Peach,” she presented gifts to her seniors, which hadn’t been done in previous years.
“I like to do warmups before big class, and they hadn’t really done that before… But I don’t want to throw too many things at people at once until people trust me,” Ms. Bugg said.

Looking ahead, Ms. Bugg’s vision extends beyond individual productions and the classroom with a performing arts center on the Middle and Upper School Campus.

She had a voice in the architectural planning of the Elder Performing Arts Center at Lausanne, where she helped answer key questions about what a theater program needs, concerning backstage space, a scene shop, costume storage and dressing rooms.
“[St. George’s has] all the sports stuff. We’ve got so much good stuff going on with academics and our chapel. The missing piece is a performing arts center where we can celebrate all the students,” Ms. Bugg said.

That idea has been part of the conversation before.

In the Feb. 2015 issue of the Gryphon Gazette, the previous iteration of The Lodge, Annie Vento ‘17 reported on a proposed plan for a performing arts addition to campus on the field adjacent to Agape Chapel. Previous Artist-in-Residence and Fine Arts Department Chair Ms. Rose Doherty was supportive of building a space for the band, choir, theatre and fine arts.

“We all know that perception is everything, and when you have a building that’s dedicated to the arts, it’s how [fine arts] will be perceived publicly, and I think that’s an important issue,” Ms. Doherty said at the time.

Although the six-to-nine million dollar building was expected to break ground between April and commencement in 2016, funding was lost and the space still remains empty over a decade later.

For now, performances remain on the St. George’s Lower School Campus—a setup students have lived with for years.
Even without a new space, students say the program already feels different.

“I think that the school’s done a good job of trying to bring theater into more emphasis because I know that there was a lot [of people] upset last year because the show got canceled… This year there’s just been a lot more support for our program,” Leibovich said.

For Ms. Bugg, that shift is about growth and access.

“I just hope that if anybody’s interested, they’ll just come talk to me and find out how they can get involved. Because the more the merrier when it comes to the theater department,” Ms. Bugg said.

As Vidal graduates from St. George’s, she hopes that theatre program continues to grow and flourish under Ms. Bugg.

“It is not the biggest the art program has been, but if we keep following that trajectory, I think our theater program would be amazing,” Vidal said.