By Hayden Yu Andersen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Last Sunday, the Chief Sealth International High School Drama Company wrapped their spring production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” It was a moment of pride for the cast and crew, but also bittersweetness for the graduating seniors. For everyone, though, the predominant feeling was hope.

After spending many years without a theater program, Chief Sealth returned to the stage in 2023 with a production of “She Kills Monsters” (as reported here), a play written by Qui Nguyen. Since then, the Chief Sealth Drama Company has produced five shows. The theater program’s revival is thanks to BAYFEST Youth Theatre, a West Seattle-based nonprofit organization which runs K-12 theater programs across Seattle.

Reflecting on the experience, Satomi Giedeman, who played pianist Schroeder in last Sunday’s show, said it’s been a privilege to be in the program. “It’s changed big time,” said Giedeman, who’s been with the Chief Sealth Drama Company since the beginning. “This was by far the best production I’ve been in. Because the cast was so small, we got the chance to get really close together.”

(L-R: Rowan Loidhammer, Leena Nguyen, Satomi Giedeman, Josey Kent, Katie Ackers, Richie Nguyen – photos by Robert Shampain)

Echoing the sentiment were crew members Josephina Smith Matteucci and Georgia Palmer-Markham. As the Stage Manager and Assistant Stage Manager respectively, both of them are excited to see the program continue to grow. Palmer-Markham has also been with the program since 2023, and said the changes since then have been incredible. “For our first show, we didn’t even use the full stage,” she said. “The program has gotten so much bigger, and the community has kept growing and changing.”

Kekoa Dilay, who directed “Charlie Brown,” said it was great to work with such a small cast, especially with the increased support to the crew this year. Dilay, brought on by BAYFEST to direct the show, is a teaching artist and actor and the first out-of-school director for the drama program.

(Katie Ackers as Snoopy in ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown’)

Supporting the program is a challenge BAYFEST has taken on enthusiastically over the last few years, and owner and founder Robert Shampain says they’re committed to expanding the program as much as they can. “There are lessons learned from each show, and we want to make sure that each year we’re stepping it up in terms of sets, costumes, and how things are organized.”

Someday, he hopes the program will become self-sufficient. “We’re really trying to focus on making the program sustainable, without needing outside nonprofits. We all believe it should be funded by the school.” It seems like things are going in that direction, as this year BAYFEST signed a contract with the Career Technical Education program to provide academic credit to students participating in the program.

(Rowan Loidhammer as Charlie Brown in ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown’ – p Robert Shampain)

There are big things on the horizon as well, including the upcoming intergenerational theater project, which we wrote about previously here. In short, the program has Chief Sealth students working alongside adults, with priority given to seniors, as part of a six-month program culminating in a final show in June. “The Intergenerational Theater Project is something I’m especially proud of,” Shampain said. “It’s bringing together senior adults and teens for an intergenerational project which is about more than acting, but also themes of intergenerational life together.”

If you’re interested in supporting the program, you can donate to BAYFEST Youth Theatre here.