Striding across the open stage with fluorescent lights shining down on her as she recites lines to an eager audience. This stage is not just that of a theater but of a classroom. Lauren Larson started teaching at White Station High School (WSHS) in the 2022-23 school year as the temporary theater teacher. The following year, she began working as the Advanced Placement (AP) English Language and Composition teacher. Larson, however, is not just a teacher but also an actor and mother of two.
“Teaching is a lot about leading a crowd, and I think there is a performance aspect to it because you kind of have to be ‘on’ and … theater is [about] communicating ideas, and that’s the same thing with teaching,” Larson said. “You have to think about how to communicate ideas and respond to the audience feedback. But theater, especially plays, it is visual, but it’s also based in language a lot. So, I think that’s also why I like teaching, because I like thinking about language and kind of how it shapes our world.”
Larson is a lifelong performer. She took ballet lessons, sang and started acting at 10 years old in a children’s group. She moved up to the intermediate-advanced class early because the group thought she was 13 when she was still 10. Larson continued acting through high school and college, taking a 16 year break after getting married. About two years ago, Larson returned to the stage.
“My sister’s boyfriend — she had a boyfriend when she was 11, she met [him] at ski club or whatever — [his mom] did the sound for the Treehouse Players,” Larson said. “That’s the acting company I belonged to. They did children’s performances, like youth theater, but they also did their adult theater that would travel to schools and do theater, and she did the sound for them… and she talked to my mom. She suggested the group, and that’s how I heard about it [and] got signed up for it — ‘cause she saw me hamming it up or whatever at home, and she thought I might like it.”
There are various theaters around Memphis where people can audition for community theater, like Theatre Memphis and Hattiloo Theatres. There are also different theater companies, like the New Moon Theatre Company and the Emerald Theatre Company. Larson has acted with Theatre Memphis, LoneTree Live and Germantown Community Theatre.
“I did a show with LoneTree Live; it was 24-hour plays where they write, you rehearse and everything all within the span of 24 hours; it’s like a series of 10 plays,” Larson said. “In Germantown, there’s the Germantown Community Theatre — that’s where I did ‘Little Women,’ [and] I was Marmee.”
Larson has been teaching AP Lang for 15 years. The class focuses on the analysis of non-fiction texts and the literary choices writers make to accomplish various goals. Students discuss rhetorical arguments and how theses, evidence and commentary fit into writing. This year, students read books like “The Warmth of Other Suns,” “The Great Gatsby” and “Demon Copperhead.”
“I liked [AP Lang] when I was in 11th grade,” Larson said. “It’s about how language does stuff in real life and persuades people, which is also something that does tie into acting because whenever you’re saying lines and stuff as an actor, you’re thinking about ‘Well, what’s the goal; what are you trying to achieve; who are you talking to; how does that influence how you say it’ — which is kind of the same concept of AP Lang where we talk about rhetoric and when we make our arguments we consider always the audience like, ‘What are they thinking, what are they coming in with, how are we gonna address that,’ so to me, it’s all related. [It’s] all about how language shapes our actions … I feel like AP Lang can also be whatever you make it. There’s a lot of creativity in it for a teacher because you don’t have to follow a particular curriculum.”

There are several moving parts that go into preparing for a theater performance. Actors must memorize their lines, connect with their character, and learn their locations and movements for each scene. The tech crew must perfect the timing of each sound and change in lighting, organize and prepare each prop, and style actors’ hair and makeup.
“I like to, during rehearsals when they’re doing the blocking, I try to be in character the whole time,” Larson said. “Some people just mark it, ‘cause, you know, we’re just doing the blocking or whatever, you know, just arranging everybody all over the set. I try to be in character the whole time because it helps me — especially if I’m doing more of an ensemble character — develop ‘Who am I in this world, what do I think, how do I behave, what am I concerned about [and] what’s my relationship to the other characters.’ If it was a role with more lines and stuff, I would probably spend some time reading and practicing and memorizing those lines on my own … You don’t really prepare by yourself. You kind of create the world with the other actors and with the director, so it’s really in rehearsal ‘cause you guys have to agree with what’s going on in that space.”
In January and February of this year, Larson played Mrs. McClain — a local townswoman — in “Inherit the Wind,” a play based on the 1925 Scopes trial. The trial occurred after high school science teacher John T. Scopes was accused of violating Tennessee’s Butler Act, which made teaching the theory of evolution in schools illegal. The Scopes trial was really a publicity stunt for the town of Dayton, Tennessee; Scopes was not even sure if he had directly taught the theory, but admitted to it so the trial could occur. The play, however, portrays it differently.
“In the play, it’s an emotional conflict for the teacher who’s teaching evolution, where he’s got this moral struggle,” Larson said. “He’s gotta teach what he knows is right, and [there’s] space — enough for people to hold onto their religious beliefs and also consider new scientific studies … When it comes down to the actual trial, a lot of people in the crowd are very against the other lawyer, who comes in and tries to defend evolution, because they think it’s an affront to their religious beliefs, but others are sort of transformed … Ultimately, the message of the play is that there’s room for all of these ideas to exist. It doesn’t just have to be one or the other.”
Being on stage in front of hundreds of audience members — or in front of a group of 20 or so juniors who suddenly go quiet when a question is asked — can be frightening. After years of experience, in acting and teaching, Larson has found ways to combat this fear.
“I do feel a little nervous,” Larson said. “It’s not like when I was younger and I had the leading roles or anything. I’ve only kind of had supporting roles so far, which kind of takes the pressure off a little bit. But I think the thing about acting is forgetting about the audience and being in the story and thinking like your character when you’re on stage. Being kind of swept up in the moment so you’re not really thinking about the nervousness anymore — you’re kind of being that character. So I like that and kind of the nervousness — the adrenaline or whatever — just kind of gives you energy when you’re about to go back on stage. That’s something I learned when I was growing up, like to warm up, to shake it out, stretch, jump up and down and all that stuff so you don’t shake when you’re on stage.”
After performing for nearly her whole life, Larson has participated in many shows and auditioned for even more. For aspiring performers, Larson advises to not hold back.
“Audition for everything. Have fun with it. Don’t take it personally if you don’t get a role that you thought you would be great for, because ultimately, as an actor, you don’t really have any control over what role you get. Try to have fun at the audition and try to prepare for it like you actually have the job already.”