From Off-Broadway to On-Campus: St. Luke’s Presents "Admissions"

“A dare that pays off,” is how The New York Times’ Jesse Green characterized the play Admissions, by Josh Harmon, when it opened at Lincoln Center last year, winning both the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for Best Play.

St. Luke’s School doubles down on that dare November 8, as they become the first school to present this biting satire of white privilege in the world of prep school admissions.

For Jason Peck, Director of Theater Arts at St. Luke’s, the campus is ready for it. When he took a group of students to see the play at Lincoln Center, Peck said there were “huge discussions.” The play zeroes in on the white, liberal director of admissions at an elite boarding school, whose job it is to increase campus diversity from 18 to 20 percent. When her son’s biracial best friend gets into Yale and her son does not—even though they’re equals on paper—her social justice warrior persona disappears.

“It’s a play about affirmative action and racism,” said Peck, “but it’s really about white anxieties and white privilege.” He reached out to Josh Harmon, the playwright, who granted St. Luke’s rights to be the first school to stage the play. “It’s a huge get for our campus,” said Peck.

His hope is that people leave the play talking. “The play is about what happens when our ideals clash with our personal ambition”—a hot topic on campus and off. With the college admissions scandal that broke this spring still in the news, and the fact that St. Luke’s students and their families find themselves at some point engaged in the admissions process, the timing couldn’t be better for a bold look in the mirror.

“We’re touching on topics people really don’t talk about,” said Leila Pearson, ‘21, who plays Sherri, the mother. As a junior going through college admissions now, she said the play offers real insight into the pressure to get into the best colleges.

Under the direction of Peck, whose U.S. premiere of "Milk" by Ross Dunsmore won him a Broadway World nomination, St. Luke’s Theater Arts program goes to places others dare not go. In Peck’s view, “If we limit our scope to avoid the less attractive aspects of humanity, we miss out on the beauty, inspiration, and compassion that await us.”

This daring approach has led to 82 nominations and 12 top awards, including three for Best Play statewide in the prestigious Halo Awards—the high school equivalent of the Tony Awards. Last year’s production of The Wolves, won Halo’s Fearless award.

Soon, Peck and his Admissions cast and crew will again do something fearless: asking each other—and audiences—the question he considers to be at the heart of the play: “Do we in our heart of hearts think one way and behave another way? Even when it may hurt someone else?”

VIDEO: St. Luke’s is the 1st high school anywhere to perform "Admissions"

This production may not be suitable for students under the age of 14. Students under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.

St. Luke’s Upper School Theater’s production of Josh Harmon’s Admissions is free and open to the public. There are three performances: Friday, November 8 at 7:00pm, Saturday, November 9 at 7:00pm, and Sunday, November 10 at 3:00pm.

Reserve your seat now.

It will be presented at St. Luke’s Wyckoff Family Black Box Theater, 377 N. Wilton Road, New Canaan, CT.

Interested in learning more about St. Luke’s? Visit during one of our upcoming Welcome Wednesdays.

St. Luke's is a secular private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5-12. St. Luke's mission is an exceptional education that inspires a deep love of learning, a strong moral compass, the commitment to serve, and the confidence to lead. St. Luke's Center for Leadership advances our mission by helping students develop exceptional leadership ability. Visit today.