Bailey Wright (I) is no stranger to the arts. She has been a part of Boston Latin School’s Theatre program since 2018 and has participated in many theatrical performances, including the 2020 play, My Love Lies Frozen in the Ice, which holds a special place in Wright’s heart. The show won preliminaries at its Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild (METG) performance, but unfortunately, BLS Theatre could not perform in the semifinals due to COVID-19. Despite this disappointing setback, Wright’s artistic abilities have thrived throughout the year with the return of in-person school.

This year, Wright helped direct A Clown Show About Rain, BLS Theatre’s most recent production. The play is almost entirely silent, so the actors rely on physical movement and facial expressions to communicate. On April 2, A Clown Show About Rain received a Regional Winner award at METG’s 2022 High School Regionals. In addition, Wright won a student recognition award for student directing. For Wright, “Seeing a show out on the stage and knowing that you helped put that out there [is] a priceless feeling.”

Wright’s talents reach far beyond the realm of theatre. She has been writing her whole life and has been working with fan fiction since fourth grade. Her writing has changed quite a bit in the years since, but she still loves it and is currently working on the first draft of her novel for her Senior Capstone project. The novel, Skinwalker, draws from her own life and personal experiences to create a psychological fantasy that discusses the effects of mental illness. This is the longest piece of prose Wright has ventured into writing. Although juggling the writing process with the difficulties of senior year has been challenging, Wright says that it has been easier as the novel is a school assignment and therefore has fixed requirements. BLS English teachers Ms. Sophia Campot and Mr. Jeff Mikalaitis have also supported her in the editing process of the novel.

Despite her focus on writing and theatre, Wright is always looking to explore new art forms. She has worked with visual arts, music, filmmaking and hopes to get into drawing as well.  Her extensive experiences with writing and theatre may be able to lend her some help in the process, although she acknowledges that “a massive part of [learning how to draw] is just accepting that it’s gonna be pretty bad at first.” All art requires time and dedication, and Wright has become well acquainted with this practice over the years.

Wright’s biggest inspiration is a seemingly simple one: living. She is most inspired by life itself because she has found that “the beautiful thing about humanity is that none of our challenges are truly unique to any of us.” She has used writing and theatre to relieve stress and cope with difficult emotions, and she hopes that others can gain insight from her work. In the process, she has discovered that her “twin loves are writing and theatre.” The arts have been an outlet for Wright to express her feelings, and she hopes that creating something that many can relate to will help people feel that they are not alone.