Teaching Shakespeare - The Blog!

murder mystery?

2010-04-21T18:23:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone,

I need a good fundraising show for next year's season, and I think I'm ready to delve into the depths of murder mysteries. Does anyone know a good murder mystery, appropriate for high school, that is entertaining enough to sell LOTS of tickets, and good enough that I won't be spooning my eyeballs out after 6 weeks of rehearsal?

Thanks in advance!

Great Questions

2010-03-24T22:31:00.004-04:00

We performed "Shakespeare and the Language that Shaped a World" today at an elementary/middle school. It's a 45 minute piece that Kevin wrote which mixes facts about Shakespeare's plays along scenes, monologues, historical information, and goofiness. Think of it as a lecture/demonstration, but irreverent.

Anyway, before the show, I was talking to some 4th graders in the front row. A little redheaded boy asked me "What? is this Brittney Speares?" I could not understand his question. He repeated it "What is this? Brittney Speares?" "What are you talking about?" I answered/ (I should never be allowed to teach 10 year olds.) The kid next to him elbowed him sharply. "Dude, it's SHAKESPEARE."

So easy to get those two confused.

After the performance, we had our usual round of question-and-answer, which yielded some of the best questions we've ever had, namely:

1. "Is that stick real?"
We use a tall, twisted walking stick for Prospero's staff. Later we wondered whether the kid wanted to know if a) it were a real magic staff, or b) was it really made of wood. --and in the case of "b" what is wrong with kids today?

2. "Are you really actors?"
Well, let's look at the evidence, kid: we came to your school, performed a play, and drank a lot of bottled water. What more proof do you need?

3. "Did you two really kiss?"
This is actually one of the questions that we get asked every time, but today when I said "yes" the girl asking the question looked at me in horror and said "that is disgusting of you!!!" Perhaps, but I think it's a bold move for someone who carries a Jonas Brothers Trapper Keeper to be sitting in judgment of what is or is not disgusting.

And so it goes.

Hoping you are all well and encountering life's many joys with good humor and fortitude!

.

Shaker Heights High School Won The ESU Cleveland Branch Shakespeare Competition (Again). Thank You Shakespeare & Company!

2010-02-27T17:02:00.007-05:00

Greetings from the snowy north coast. Thinking of my NITS 06 days today as another of my students won our local Shakespeare Competition.

http://www.cleveland.com/onstage/index.ssf/2010/02/shaker_heights_high_wins_annua.html

Hope you are all well!

Love,

Christine

Not as good as a hot dog suit

2010-01-17T22:31:00.001-05:00

Julius Caesar, designed by Marvel.

And the winner is...

2009-12-06T10:06:00.003-05:00

Good news from the world of competitive theatre!

Yesterday my kids performed "The Miracle Worker." The girl playing Kate was named part of the Honorable Mention All-Star Cast (eight kids total in the district), and my Helen was part of the All-Star Cast (another eight kids). My crew was named Best Tech Crew in the district, with my stage manager being singled out as Best Individual Crew Member. Also, my Annie Sullivan received the award for Best Actress in the whole competition.

Finally, we edged out a beautiful "Magic Flute" and a spectacular "Diviners" from our closest rivals to bring home the first place play award for the first time in my school's history.

Special thanks to all my NITS friends for their unwavering support and love.

Movie scores

2009-10-01T07:14:00.001-04:00

I'm looking for music to use for scene changes in "The Miracle Worker." I like to use movie scores because they add emotional resonance without distracting. I'm looking for a versatile score with upbeat and downbeat parts, with piano as primary instrument. Any favorites?

Masks

2009-09-16T23:54:00.003-04:00

I had some success this week with a new lesson, and wanted to share. I always start the year with lots of nonverbal activities to ease anxiety my kids have over memorization. This week I had the kids make "neutral masks," which are just plain white masks with no real facial expression. Ours were super-ghetto: paper plates with eye holes and a yarn string around the head. Next time I'll try papier mache.

Then I took the list of adjectives we got at NITS. I wrote each word down on an index card. We sat in a circle. I gave a kid a card, and he had to act out that adjective nonverbally while wearing the mask so we couldn't see his facial expression. As you can imagine, it was nearly impossible for the class to guess the correct adjective.

But today we did the same thing, but I started them in pairs. Instead of acting an adjective alone, they got to work with a partner. And the words were easier to guess because things seemed more clear. Then we did groups of three, four, and so on (I'd give them a minute or two to prepare what they were going to present). The larger the group, the clearer things seemed, which led to a great wrap-up about the collaborative nature of theatre, and why cooperation and connection is so important in what we do.

Teaching "Taming of the Shrew?"

2009-08-26T13:10:00.002-04:00

I'm expected to teach "Taming of the Shrew" in a week or so. Anyone taught it before? Had any special successes with a certain lesson? Have any ideas that would be great fun?

Thanks!
Rachael

Ideas gone wrong

2009-08-19T18:40:00.002-04:00

Today was "Job Alike" day, which means that all teachers in my district with the same subject areas all meet together instead of just meeting with your own school. It's the only time of the year that I get to see the high school theatre teachers, and one of a handful of times I get to see the other middle school theatre teachers, so it's always something to look forward to.

The head of theatre for the district brought up my idea from last year about starting a non-competitive theatre festival. We had two issues preventing us from doing it. One was the lack of host venue: we simply couldn't find anyone to give us their theatre for a weekend. But it was also a scheduling problem. It's hard enough for each of us to coordinate a show schedule on our home campuses without interfering with music and athletic events; trying to coordinate with other campuses was logistically impossible.

But today, someone said, "Well, what if it wasn't full shows that we're trying to rehearse at the same time? If it's just monologues and scenes? Then we can work on them in class and fit the preparation into almost any schedule."

I tried to butt in and say that monologue and scene showcases are dumb, and boring, and aren't theatre. I mean, would the Steppenwolf or Guthrie add a monologue showcase for local actors into their season? No, because it's self-serving and masturbatory, and it's just not theatre. But I couldn't get a word in because someone else said, "Yeah, and instead of trying to get a theatre space, we can just do it in classrooms at one of the schools."

The bad advice just kept coming. "And the high school theatre teachers could judge them!" "And assign each one a grade, like at a choir UIL contest!" "Yeah, each kid can do their piece, and get a rating!"

So instead of doing actual theatre, we'll have dozens of kids desperately trying to disconnect with others, working alone, not seeing all the other performers, and getting judged. It's like a speech tournament, but even worse. At least a speech tournament has fun and silly events like TV Commercial and Pantomime, and you get a trophy for your trouble. This is beyond pointless.

The middle school teachers are getting together with the head of theatre in two weeks to discuss logistics for setting this up. I'm of two minds. I could say, "This is the opposite of working together to achieve a creative goal, which makes it the opposite of theatre. It's isolated, judgmental, and pointless, and I'm not going to devote a second of class time to train kids for something so worthless."

Or, I could say, "You want to do it when? Oh, we've got a meet-the-teacher thing that night. The next week? That's a choir concert, my kids will be busy. The week after? I'm going out of town, I'm sorry. The next month? That's the only time we can have auditions for our spring show, and we'll be busy all year after that."

So should I play this aggressive or passive?

tips?

2009-08-17T12:55:00.001-04:00

Any ideas about teaching a combined beginning/advanced Drama (acting) class?

My plan with Advanced was to start with competition pieces (comp is 8 weeks into school) and do about 5 - 7 week units, each of which end in a showcase. My plan for Beginning was to develop technique and skills first, then artistry by working on scenes, monologue, reading/discussing plays, etc.

Spring show

2009-07-28T11:57:00.002-04:00

Traditionally, my school has done a musical in late May. However, changes in the last two years have made putting up a show at this time nearly impossible. There's been a big push to put more and more kids into after-school tutorials all through April (the month that Texas tests everyone), which means they can't be at rehearsals. May is also filled with tons of field trips. This year I didn't have a rehearsal with every cast member until the day before we opened, and that just doesn't work for me.

I'm thinking of changing things up a bit, and wanted to know what sounds best.

Option #1: Do the musical just like I've always done. The school expects it, and they'd be disappointed if we didn't do a musical, and when rehearsals get tough I should just suck it up.

Option #2: Do a musical, but cast it out of my Advanced Theatre class, rather than having all-school auditions. This would eliminate the after-school problem because I could rehearse in class. However, it would mean a smaller cast than we usually have with the musical, not to mention the fact that my Advanced class doesn't have a lot of singers, and it'll only have three or four boys next year. The rehearsals of the show would go smoother, but the show likely wouldn't be as good as in years past.

Option #3: Instead of a musical, do a festival of short plays. I can rehearse them all in class, and it would get even more kids involved than the musical does. It'll also be cheaper to produce, most likely. However, I'd probably take some flack for not doing a musical. Also, not all classes are equal. Sometimes I get a great class that would put up a terrific class play, and sometimes I get a class of screwups. And if I required every kid to do this, it's likely several kids just wouldn't show up. It's not like a choir show, where no one notices if there's one less alto. If a kid with a speaking part just blows it off, I don't know what to do about that.

Option #4: A Shakespeare festival. I can have my Advanced class do a Shakespeare one act, and the other classes can contribute to the festival in different ways. Variety entertainment, food service, etc. It could be a Ren Faire kind of atmosphere. However, I've never done anything remotely like this, and wouldn't know how to set it up.

Option #5: Something I haven't though of yet.

Any ideas or thoughts?

You Can Go Home Again, and they Won't Make You Eat Pasta

2009-07-14T21:25:00.004-04:00

Kevin asked me to come up to the 2009 NITS and work with some scenes, and since they're looking at Romeo and Juliet, who could resist?

And so it was that I went back to Smith College and I got to say hello to Bob again, as well as to Sandy Mack. I didn't expect Sandy to remember me at all, and he didn't, leading to an awesomely awkward moment of him saying "it's lovely to meet you" right as Kevin was saying "Meg was in this institute in 2006." Then there was lots of stammering. And yes, Sandy was wearing his "Vote for Pedro" t-shirt. I also got to talk to Trish for a little while (she's working at the Institute in the "Mimi" position). She has dyed her hair "vivacious violet" and it looks fantastic! Jenna was later telling stories about how with about three sentences, Trish was able to totally open up a scene exploration for some of the participants. The point of the story was that Trish=awesome, which we can all agree with.

The NITS folks were in a particularly happy frame of mind today, having learned "belli momba" and having done Air Broadswords. I had a wonderful time working with them on their scenes and was so excited and surprised by the things they came up with.

Later when Kevin was talking about this year's group and how happy they are, he cited two major changes this summer: #1--the weather has been cool and pleasant, and #2--the food has been wonderful. "we worked really hard to make sure that the food would be especially good." So I guess the days of pasta at every meal are a distant memory.

So there it all was: Ainsworth and the rock wall, 151 and the smelly rug, the be-mirrored dance studios, and all the rest. When sitting in the reinforcement circle, I was struck by how much they looked like us, and because Trish was there, I caught myself more than once scanning the circle for Jennifer or Mel or Amanda or any of the other 2006 NITSers.

I'm supposed to go back again next week, and I'll try to take a picture of the campus (I hope this shot of the Rose is a decent enough evocation of our summer). In the meantime, know that I'm sending fond thoughts to all of you, and for the new batch of teachers who are in that lovely period of discovering the Green World.

.

Outside the Folger Library

2009-06-19T14:31:00.002-04:00

Here I am with my buddy Puck, standing outside the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC. A super-nerdy vacation full of museums and libraries culminated with a trip back to my old stomping grounds. O, Folger, how I missed you! The exhibit in the main hall is very different since my last visit, but the theatre and the reading room haven't changed a bit. If you're going to DC anytime soon, the Folger is a must-see.

Macbeth help me!

2009-05-07T15:26:00.001-04:00

Hi all! I have a very important demo lesson on Monday and need to create a 30 min lesson, reviewing Macbeth (including symbolism, theme, character, etc). I have such a limited time to figure this out and would appreciate any thoughts, ideas, or past lessons that could be of help.

Thank you so much!
Rachael

A Call To Action

2009-04-10T09:56:00.000-04:00

A mini-rant

2009-04-04T22:40:00.002-04:00

It’s theatre competition season for Texas high schools. I’ve been timekeeper for a couple of local contests, which means I’ve seen thirteen plays in the last week.

I saw one good production (Man of La Mancha, which didn’t advance to the next level of competition), one bad production (Inherit the Wind, performed by rhesus monkeys on Paxil), and eleven productions that elicited no feelings from me whatsoever. These shows were not bad. They were well rehearsed and precisely performed. However, they were not good. At all.

I used to enjoy going to the theatre quite a bit, but now I don’t. I don’t see a lot of terrible theatre, but easily 90% of what I see is just pointless. Like, one of the productions I saw yesterday was Rabbit Hole, a play about a couple coming to terms with the death of their child. It wasn’t awful, but it was derivative of countless similar plays and movies, and I still don’t know why the playwright bothered to put pen to paper to tell this story.

I also saw Kindertransport. Once again, not a poorly accomplished production. But I really wanted to go up to the director after the show and say, “If you’re looking for something to do on a Friday, and you see that a theatre is doing this play, do you immediately call for tickets? Is this the kind of theatre you enjoy watching? If not, then why would you bother to make this kind of theatre?”

It’s not that I don’t like contemporary, heavy drama. I think The Laramie Project is an excellent piece of work because it feels new, and it takes advantage of what theatre can do as a medium of storytelling. Rabbit Hole felt like a Movie of the Week, and Kindertransport felt like a novel being read aloud. Shouldn’t theatre feel like theatre?

When did theatre get so dull? I still enjoy the process of making theatre, but the act of attending theatre has been boring me to tears. Is anyone else running into this problem?

Odes?

2009-03-22T12:31:00.002-04:00

Hey guys! I'm getting ready to teach Antigone again (we're using a new textbook and I'm just wanting something new to do...) and I need a way to make the Odes exciting for my students. Anyone have any experience here? What ideas do you use in staging or teaching them? Either will help me immensely!

Thanks!

Suggestions?

2009-03-20T17:12:00.003-04:00

I'm going to be in Greece for a bit this summer, and I don't want to miss any must-see-theater-stuff (since that's mostly my purpose for going there).

So, do any of you have suggestions for theater stuff to see (or not see) in Greece? I'll be on the mainland (Athens, mostly) for a few days, then island-hop my way towards Turkey. The islands aren't decided yet - it depends on what there is to see.

(And if any of you have suggestions for spending a day in Madrid and a week exploring Turkey, I'm listening!)

Life in Shakespeare Land Keeps Getting Weirder...

2009-03-18T16:08:00.003-04:00

Hard to believe, but true: that's me over there far stage right, in the Lecture/Demonstration Shakespeare and the Language that Shaped a World. (can't call it a production or the two Equity actors would be in trouble.) We tour around to middle/high schools with this 45 minute show which combines irreverent facts about Shakespeare's life and times with scenes from a bunch of his plays. That picture is from last year--we have two different cast members with us this year, but I'm mostly playing the same characters. Kevin wrote the show many years ago, but yes- there are a few quick references to Julius Caesar and I often think of our NITS summer while I'm crouching in an uncomfortable position, waiting to cry "Havoc."

I don't think anyone from the area is still checking in here, but if you are, I invite you to come on down to our new theater on March 28th or April 4th at 2:00pm and watch the hi-jinks unfold. I'm also going to be in the children's show on the Rose Footprint this summer, so if anyone is making a pilgrimage to S&Co, please stop by and say Hi. My normal job involves teaching and directing students aged 9-19 in various programs for the S&Co education department--right now the high school kids are working on Troilus and Cressida and Henry the Sixth part 1, the middle schoolers are working on The Tempest, and the 4th and 5th graders are doing Romeo and Juliet. It can be dizzying to switch from play to play every day of the week, but I'm getting the hang of it. Of course, by the time I'm truly on top of the schedule the contract will end, and I'll have to start again with the summer programming.

So here's hoping you all are well (and the recent posts give many reasons to cheer) and enjoying your many projects. I'll be looking forward to hearing Trish's updates on how the new session of the NITS is going in July!

My Name is David, and I'm a White VW Convertible

2009-03-16T00:02:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

Sending some love to those I love, yet haven't seen in toooooo long.

Was in NYC for a day and a half two weeks ago, and caught OTHELLO at Theatre for New Audiences, the one that the NY Times raved about.

It was well-earned praise, indeed. Still, two weeks later, it is sitting in the all-time position for Shakespeare (and, therefore, productions of Othello) I've seen. Tremendous performances - centered on the text. I was acutely aware of the text in a way that I have never been before, and that surprised me.

Anyway, I got back to Seattle to find a copy of an Othello DVD I'd ordered waiting for me. It is the Summer 2007 Globe Theatre production (starring Eamonn Walker). I watched it and was immediately struck by the audience which, much like the NY production, is all around the stage. In the same frame, you see the actors and - because of their proximity - close-ups of the audience members as well. It's jarring...and beautiful at the same time.

Anyway, I was chatting about it at Seattle Rep, and someone pointed out that Wilson Milam, who had directed the Globe production, was the current director of our production of The Seafarer...and that he was standing 10 feet away from me at the time!

As you've all spent time with me, you know where this is going: I cornered Wilson at the opening and got him to chat away about his choices, his research -- the whole ball of wax. It was awesome!!

Anyway...I'm about halfway through my film unit, heading towards Spring Break and then Othello! It's the second time I'll have taught it since we were together. I'm super excited to make it even BETTER this year.

And, soon, I will think of ALL of you ALL DAY LONG!

Me, my student and Shakespeare on NPR

2009-03-03T10:48:00.000-05:00

Here is the NPR radio interview we did yesterday! Happy almost spring break to us all!

My Student Just Won the Cleveland Regional Shakespeare Competition

2009-02-28T16:12:00.004-05:00

Hope you are having a wonderful school year. Mine just got a little sweeter!

http://www.cleveland.com/onstage/index.ssf/2009/02/shaker_heights_high_junior_val.html

Seeking the perfect show

2009-01-29T16:29:00.002-05:00

The counselors are asking the fine arts teachers for the upper-level class lists already, so I'm working on cobbling together my Advanced Theatre class for next year. As usual, I'll be girl-heavy. Right now it's looking like fifteen girls and six boys in the class.

I rehearse my competition play out of the Advanced class. Last year I knew I had the perfect Romeo, and so I selected the show based mainly on him. I'm trying to find the right show for next year's kiddos, and I'm drawing a blank.

First, some words about the competition. The rules limit each cast to fifteen actors (doubling is fine, the rest of the kids will be understudies and crew). Though I am allowed to do a show with as few as three actors, I prefer larger shows so that I can get more kids involved. Not to mention that the judge for this year's contest was flabbergasted when she found out that about three quarters of my kids were 7th graders. "You're going to be a powerhouse next year," she said.

I tend to divide most theatre into two categories: director-centric and actor-centric. Director-centric shows have more intriguing concepts, staging conventions, blocking, and tech. Actor-centric shows are no-nonsense, people-in-a-room-hashing-it-out realistic theatre. I greatly prefer the former, but the latter tends to do better at competition (my flashy and awesome R+J was beat by a simple show with honest, good acting). Dramas usually fare better than comedies at competition.

Though my six boys will be solid, they're green. Only one of them was in R+J, and he's not very good. The other five boys, all 6th graders this year, are fine, but no one I can build a show around. They'll work fine in supporting roles, but I can't pick a Cyrano or any show that rests entirely on one boy's charisma. The girls are experienced and capable. Most of them are probably better suited to comedy, but there are a few who could easily carry the right dramatic lead.

So, in addition to "what show should I do?", I have another question. How much do I pick the show based on the contest, and how much do I pick what I think is right for the kids? For instance, I want to do a show with a larger cast because I like working with so many of the kids, and I don't want to have to say "no" to some of my favorites. But what if I find a great show that'll do well at contest, and it only has five actors? What if I think The Diary of Anne Frank will impress the judge, but my kids would grow more by doing a wacky farce, which the judge might think is too light?

Competition is what it is. Debating the usefulness of competitive theatre is kind of pointless, since I know that I have to do it. But as I weigh what's best for the school and what's best for my particular kids, I find that those things aren't always in agreement. I doubt a football coach would play a less talented kid in an important game just because he knows that kid will grow as a result. Is it silly of me to pause over a similar option? How can I remain a serious competitor and look good to my bosses while still being true to my kids?

You Never Thought This Stuff Would Play This Way...

2009-01-25T11:23:00.003-05:00

It seems that my life has taken the strangest of turns. I've been asked to take the JV Cheer sponsor job for next year.

I'm good friends with the Varsity coach and she asked me last year. At that time, I just laughed at her and pled busy with my duties as Spirit Club sponsor. But when she asked me again last Tuesday, it made more sense.

There have been three JV Cheer sponsors in as many years. Although two of the tree had chosen to leave the school, all of these sponsors were baby teachers who didn't handle the "teen drama" of the job very well. The JV squad has long had a repuatation for backbiting. I've been thinking hard about that and about what skills I have that led everyone to ask me to take this job (my principal, the athletic director, assisstant athletic director, varsity cheer coach...I worry that they'll bring the custodians in soon!).

Here's what I know I can do: I can make kids see themselves as a family and as a team. I had a sense of that before our summer together but after NITS, I really think I can do this. We might be the only cheer squad around with daily check in. We're going to use hard rules and heap praise on each other's heads. I know this is a twisted use of our methods, but I do think this sort of respect is what these girls have needed.

So I need more suggestions. I'm perfectly willing to let you laugh at this for a bit but after that I wonder what other ideas you have to teach these girls how to live in a community.

Musical theatre unit

2009-01-11T19:06:00.002-05:00

Last year I directed my first musical (Annie Jr.). It was more fun than I thought, and not quite as hard as I dreaded. Also, choreographing the dances was relatively painless, and fun in an I'm-working-outside-my-normal-sphere-of-creativity kind of way.

So now I'm thinking of doing a musical theatre unit in my class, and I'd like some input. I'd like to start in the first week of February, and spend three to five weeks on it. Since my classes are 48 minutes long, and we'd have to take time at the beginning of class to strike the desks and at the end of class to reset the desks, I figure we'll have about 30 good minutes of working time a day, which leads me to believe we can stumble through one song each week.

I imagine I'll start with some numbers from Annie Jr., since I'm confident with them. I'll likely start with "NYC," since the choreography we used largely entails tableaus, and not that much "real" dancing. Then I might do "Hard Knock Life" or "Never Fully Dressed," but I'm worried that the boys might bristle at being forced to do "girl songs."

I'd like to give the kids the opportunity to work in small groups to choreograph their own numbers, but there are several challenges to this idea. First, what songs? I can't allow them to have free reign, or it'll just be a lot of grinding to Solja Boy. I also thought of teaching them a dance from a movie, but most are just way too hard (my wife suggested the dance from the end of Napoleon Dynamite, and I think that's a pretty good choice). I figure I'll need to give them a list of songs to choose from. Then, what about the noise? If there are four groups in the class, that's four CD players blaring, and four groups bumping into each other. I have a large room, but still. It sounds pretty tough.

I'd like to end the unit by teaching kids a number fron this year's musical. We're doing Willy Wonka Jr., and auditions are right after Spring Break, so we'll need to be done by then.

Have any of you ever done a musical theatre unit before? How do you combat all the "this is gay" and "I didn't sign up for a dance class" stuff? How do you let the kids be creative and set their own choreography, but not lose control of your class?

Deus ex Machina

2008-12-12T00:01:00.007-05:00

(I know, way tiny. But I didn't want to get sucked into redesigning the blog's measurements so you could see the comic better, so please just click on the link and read it and enjoy because it's a Shakespeare reference with talking dinosaurs and a time machine but no guy in a hot dog suit or abominabable snowman but still it's funny and holy crap I'm tired and need to go to sleep.)

(Love you! And congrats, Craig!)

From here.

With love's light wings

2008-12-11T12:18:00.002-05:00

Six schools competing. I had three actors (Romeo, Juliet, Prince) win individual awards, putting the three of them in the top ten actors in the district. Additionally, Romeo was named Best Actor in the whole district. We also won the Best Crew award, and took home the 2nd Place trophy.

All's Well Pictures!

2008-12-05T17:02:00.001-05:00

Take a gander at the crazy show I'm in!

http://sffct.shutterfly.com/2691?startIndex=50
Rachael

The Prince be straight up pimpin'

2008-12-03T11:10:00.001-05:00

A picture from the costume parade from my upcoming production of R+J. We're superbad.

Happy Festival!

2008-11-21T09:10:00.002-05:00

Somewhere in the wilds of Western Massachusetts this weekend, hundreds of teenagers are gathering to cheer, cry, shout, sigh, and whoo-hoo with all the passion of an audience at a rock concert. Which means it's time again for the Fall Festival of Shakespeare, which opened last night with a performance of Twelfth Night followed by a Hamlet. Four days. Ten productions. Ten high schools. No competition.

My own production of Much Ado About Nothing (that's it in the picture) doesn't go on until Saturday, so in the meantime I'm working assignments in tech and front of house for the other productions. The generosity and enthusiasm of the kids towards each other's performances is really stunning and heartening, proving once again that while most of us are stuck with the competitive model for theater, kids are actually eager and delighted to put that aside and whole-heartedly cheer for the success of kids they've never met. Out in the lobby after shows they congratulate each other (and promise to friend one another of Facebook, of course). It's the perfect antidote to my six years of having to be involved in theater competitions.

It's also amazing that we've arrived at the 20th Fall Festival, since I was participating as a high school student in festivals 1-3. Apparently there is a picture of me in the rotating slide show in the lobby. I haven't seen it yet, but my kids did, and they were weirded out to think that I was ever their age. I don't know--I still feel 17 most of the time.

In the lobby last night I also had my first sighting of Trish, and we had a mini NITS reunion right there. Kevin was wandering the lobby in a tuxedo and baseball hat and Jenna was beaming after her production of Hamlet came down. Crem is doing The Merchant of Venice this year, set in the 1950's with a largely Latino cast. It is a green world here.

So this goes out with well-wishes to you all for your productions and your kids and yourselves.

It's opening night

2008-11-20T21:04:00.001-05:00

And last night at final dress, my SM and one of my leads were sick, so I had a second playing the lead and an ASM calling cues, and it worked amazingly well, all considered.

Yay!

Checking in?

2008-11-16T15:17:00.002-05:00

Hi all! It's been quite some time since I've been on this thing to see what is up with everyone. Feeling the need for a NITS reunion?? Perhaps in Texas?

That's the big news on my front: I'm moving to Austin in June! I'm also in a production of Alls Well That Ends Well in SF as Diana right now, and loving that outlet, but it definitely brings up memories of Caesar. Maybe some day we can reenact that....

Good thoughts going out to all, all over this country on the brink of change!

Rachael

Checking In

2008-11-10T17:54:00.002-05:00

Hi. My name is Amanda and today I feel... maroon with vertical stripes of blue.

I started a new job hunt this weekend. My current job is... frustrating? Infuriating? Totally against creativity being exhibited by me or my students?

Which is annoying. I knew I was going into a school/district that is Title-1, high-risk, on academic watch, etc. What I didn't know is that they were hiring a new superintendent after they hired me, who came in and made some sweeping policy changes that I don't agree with. That they brought in a new curriculum coach who thinks that "novels are a waste of time." That the money they swore to give me so I could start a drama program "isn't available this year". And so on. If you saw the venting on my blog from last week, well, you have a pretty good idea of what's going on on the classroom level, too.

In any case, I started the job hunting process over again. Because I know that it was right for me to be in Denver right now, but this job sure isn't right for me. Which makes the whole moving thing a bit perplexing for people who don't understand that sometimes you make choices because you're listening for the harmonies in life when everyone is singing along to the melody. You know?

So, to sum up. Hi! I'm Amanda and today I feel anxious and I could really use some reminders that green places do exist in public schools, please.

And I pass it to Craig.

I love my job

2008-11-05T15:03:00.001-05:00

I love my job.

I'm in the middle of beg. tech theatre and my set is almost ready to paint and life is grand.

This is all in opposition, of course, to my breakup with Tyler.

Medea

2008-11-01T14:33:00.002-04:00

I'm cutting 45 minute version of Medea, to be produced in my Advanced Drama class a'la Julius Caesar. Let me know if you want a copy.

the experiment continues

2008-10-02T23:24:00.003-04:00

Today was our fourth day of rehearsal - one read through, one walk through of each act, and today we started blocking. I've been using feeders for every rehearsal (except the read through), and I see great progress. I can actually watch each team (referred to together as their character name) gel, gathering speed and confidence and anticipating the needs of each other. The seconds feed in, and today were writing down blocking for their partners (whom I refer to as partners rather than actors - together the second and partner make up one "actor"). Having two people for each character also allows us to continue with rehearsal even if someone has to talk to their mom or use the restroom.

I asked my kids today what they think. Overwhelmingly, they love it. My seconds love being part of the team, one of my actresses said, "I already know some of my lines," and one of my actors said, "Me too, I just say them in the wrong place sometimes." I figure, heck, for them to know any lines at all at the end of the first four-day rehearsal week is pretty amazing.

My department chair saw my rehearsal schedule and said, "I think it's ambitious; be prepared to not start blocking as soon as you think you can." I was able to answer only that she should stop into rehearsal one day.

Now I need to figure out how to use seconds for a musical...

It's A Big Day For Book Nerds!

2008-10-01T10:04:00.002-04:00

As a part of Banned Books Week, NPR ran this great story on The Grapes of Wrath. It's the sort of story that makes me proud to teach English and prouder to be the great niece of migrant Okies who did, in fact, settle in Northern CA.

I also spent most of the morning laboring under the impression that today is the 80th birthday of our beloved Oxford English Dictionary. Well, it's not. I guess the story I heard on NPR was a rerun?

Have a Merry Unbirthday, OED! I'm off to get more coffee and perhaps hear clearly.

callbacks using feeders

2008-09-29T00:13:00.002-04:00

A word of warning: it goes slowly. However, it offered me a chance to figure out who can read - and who I could use as a "second" if needed. I also made notes during auditions about who was a strong reader, even if they weren't a strong enough actor to cast as a "partner".

Casting seconds allowed me to use almost twice as many kids (one second is doubled up), to bring kids onto the team that I wanted to work with, and good actors that wouldn't have been used otherwise. I now also have a good back up system in place in case someone drops out or their GPA dips below 2.0. It might add the pressure they need to stay on top of their lives - they know there's another person capable of stepping in with no notice. I'll keep you all apprised.

This is my explanation/justification of the term "second" that I am sending home with students.

THE SECOND

I borrow this term from dueling, one of the most civilized activities in modern society – at least by reputation. Like acting, dueling is a visceral experience, one that draws from the most primitive of human emotions, yet it has been dressed up with rituals, rules and routines to make it acceptable to a polite society that shuns such passionate acts.

In traditional American duels, the parties in dispute would both name a “second,” a trusted confidante who would make sure the duel was fairly arranged. The second had many duties: the first was to protect and support their friend by reconciling the offense without violence. If those attempts proved unsuccessful, the second would communicate with the other party’s second to arrange a fair “field of honor” and examine the weapons. In extreme cases, the second might step in and fight for a wounded friend.

Here at AHS, the second’s duties are much the same. She supports her partner and shares the challenges of rehearsing, creating a character, learning lines, and being at every rehearsal and performance. The two partners work together seamlessly, and will ultimately find that the rehearsal process is twice as joyous when it is shared.

Though the second may not perform for an audience, their role in the production is vital, and their contribution is to be honored as much as that of all other members of our team and family.

-Emily Coalson

Sharon Loves Her Yankees!

2008-09-27T17:53:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to know how many peeeps out there saw (our very own) Sharon on TV this past week. She looked awfully cold, but she was clearly at (her beloved) Yankee Stadium for their last game. She got some nice TV time, too!

It Lives!

2008-09-23T22:11:00.001-04:00

(Courtesy of Craig and Jen)

The nerdiest joke ever

2008-09-22T16:22:00.000-04:00

We’re doing status. We’re doing the activity where a kid leaves the room, and I tell the rest of the class who that person is, and everyone gives him that status.

A kid left the room, and I told everyone that he had a terribly contagious disease, and it was fatal. He came back in, and everyone freaked out, moving away from him as fast as possible, covering their faces.

Me: Okay, do you have a guess for who you are?

Kid: Um, am I the guy that came up with the idea for the Star Wars Holiday Special?

A Parable from Kevin

2008-09-20T00:34:00.002-04:00

(I promise I'll post the warm up stuff on Sunday.)

We're in the middle of Director Training for the Fall Fest, and Kevin told the following story, which I thought some of you might find interesting:

The four "Super Friends" were walking along together one day when they learned that in the next garden was a songbird with the most beautiful voice in the world. They rushed to the garden, but the bird would not sing.

"Sing, or I'll kill you," said Mohamed
The bird would not sing.
"I can teach you how to sing," said Jesus.
The bird would not sing.
"I'll wait until you choose to sing," said Buddha.
The bird would not sing.
"I'll sing, so that you will sing," said Krishna.

After discussing how all four of these tactics are part of the successful director/teacher tool kits, we went around the room to name which was closest to our default mode, and which was one we found it hardest to use. (And of course the Mohamed example is not so much the default of threatening violence to your students, but rather the high-authority, high expectations voice that does not allow students to refuse to try.)

Of course, this was followed by a rather hilarious discussion which included statements like "I tend to be Jesus..."

The Grand Experiment

2008-09-17T22:06:00.002-04:00

Auditions are on Monday and Tuesday, callbacks on Thursday, cast posted on Friday. Rumors (thanks, Craig!) has ten parts, and all auditioners know I will cast two in each role, one who will perform, and one "second," a term I am borrowing from high-society sword fights. I demonstrated feeding in at the "play meeting" yesterday, and the kids all went "ooooohhhhh." I will hold auditions with seconds feeding in to auditioners, and rehearsals will use the technique until everyone is off book. The acting teams will be responsible for building characters and learning lines - together.

I'll keep you all updated on how it goes.

a great theatre arts book

2008-09-13T11:11:00.003-04:00

Gai Jones is a mentor of mine. I worked with her when I was in high school, and continue to call on her when I need something. She is in the thick of SoCal educational theatre, even though she "retired" a few years ago.

After she retired, Gai published a book, Raising the Curtain, that outlines a course of study for beginning and advanced theatre students (more acting than tech). It is full of activities to bring to the classroom, and tips on creating a positive, supportive learning environment. It's got worksheets for almost anything you could want. (It is NOT a text book.) I highly recommend it. I find that I can open that book to any page and have my day's lesson plan ready to go.

Her website:
http://www.gaijones.com/pages/endors.html

The book:
http://www.perfectionlearning.com/browse.php?categoryID=1595&level=2&parent=2572

Dallas Rock City

2008-09-10T16:23:00.002-04:00

On November 20, 1973, The Who was playing to a sold-out crowd in San Francisco. At the start of the encore, Keith Moon passed out after having taken handfuls of tranquilizers. After attempts to revive Moon failed, Pete Townshend asked the audience, "Is there a drummer in the house?" An incredulous teenager raised his hand, and got the impromptu opportunity to play "My Generation" in front of thousands of screaming fans.

I, too, was called to greatness.

Earlier today, lunch was nearing an end. I was chatting with some teachers in the lounge and doing a crossword puzzle when the secretary came in. "Does anyone here have 5th period off?" None of us did. "Oh, that's too bad," she said. "The fundraising guy is here for the 7th grade assembly, and he set up the game Rock Band, and he's looking for teachers to play as the kids and entering the gym."

I bought Rock Band at the start of the summer, and it's practically all I did for two months. I love Rock Band. I adore Rock Band. Once, when my wife was out and I had a few drinks, I got to third base with Rock Band.

"I'd love to play," I said, "but I have a 5th period class." The secretary insisted, saying she'd find someone to cover my class. I didn't need any more prompting.

I wrangled two of the coaches to play guitar and bass (if I ever form an all-teacher band, I'm calling it The Whom), and we rocked out to "Say It Ain't So," Creep," and "Wanted Dead or Alive." The kids cheered. "Our teacher rocks!" my 5th period class shouted. The fundrasier guy was so impressed that he got other teachers to cover our last two classes of the day, so we got to play for the other two assemblies, adding "Mississippi Queen," "In Bloom," and "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" to our setlist.

I spent the last half of my day playing Rock Band, and getting paid to do it. I rule!

Warm-ups

2008-09-09T10:37:00.002-04:00

Hey gang, I'm trying to compile a warm-up regimen for my Advanced class. I want to prepare around twenty minutes worth of vocal and body warm-ups and put them all on a list. Each day I'll assign a kid to lead the warm-ups, and he'll pick his favorite five minutes worth of warm-ups and lead the group.

I've gone through the NITS handouts (milling and seething, oh how I've missed you!), but I'm still looking for more ideas. Do you have any favorite vocal warm-ups, or tongue twisters, or body stretches, or anything like that?

Feeders

2008-08-27T23:18:00.001-04:00

Has anyone come up with a more graceful name for feeders? Maybe seconds?

Hi. I Need Something Happy.

2008-08-27T20:07:00.002-04:00

I've already written about this on my blog so I won't give all the details, but today about 1pm I found out that as of Friday, my last period class of Sophomores will be dissolved and in its place will be a class full of 9th grade repeaters. It's two weeks into school and Every. Kid. There. Will have failed English I.

I almost posted here yesterday to tell about the kid who saw Kevin's picture in my room near one of you all. He asked if he was my husband. :) Then I got my bad news, then I got an email from Amanda, then I got to look at Kim and hear her voice. I'm just kind of a mess right now.

Just please, tell me something good about teaching 9th grade repeaters or give me ideas for them or something. Maybe just a joke about a guy in a hot dog suit.

news about my theatre company

2008-08-11T13:33:00.003-04:00

The show my theatre company is doing right now is kinda getting big press and doing really well. Thought I'd share with everyone. If you're in LA between now and the end of August (or first week of September, since we might extend the run), let me know - there's a discount for educators.

LA Times review
LA Times photo spread (they came back after the review to do another article - it's a full page, full color photo spread published on Aug 10)
ExperienceLA review
LA Taco review
Broadway World review
DownTown News review

The show is an LA Times Critic's Choice, and an American Radio Network Critics' Pick of the Year.

Yay, Rogue Artists Ensemble!

Thought You Should Know

2008-08-07T22:49:00.005-04:00

And by "you" I mean EVERYBODY.

here

Back to the Rose!

2008-08-01T19:37:00.002-04:00

Okay, so it's too much to hope that any of you will be in the area at month's end, but here's the announcement anyway:

August 20th and 22nd, S&Co Young Company performs Henry V along with a compilation piece called Come, Woo Me, Woo Me (which is a whole bunch of wooing scenes from various Comedies and Histories). Jenna and I are the directors. V.I.P. seating (read: very crappy lawn chairs) will be available for all NITS alumni.

The kids are obsessed with dictionary work (they plan picnic outings and bring their dictionaries and scripts) and are very sweet. Jenna and I are having a blast, and the kids survived all of Kevin's fight classes without a single drop of blood spilled--so clearly fortune smiles on us all.

And as I go about my business, I still sometimes find myself reminded fondly of our summer, (most frequently when we are working on the Rose Footprint) and I wish you all the best.

My new job...again

2008-07-24T22:26:00.003-04:00

So... after much drama (not the good kind) at my middle school last year, we decided I shouldn't return.

At the end of June.

That led to much anxiety on my part, a flurry of job applications for any position I could conceivably do, and my considering leaving the classroom.
However, I have now landed a dream job: a high school theatre program of my very own at a large school with wonderful facilities. I have a 50-ish seat "teaching theatre" which is my classroom, and a 1500 seat auditorium with full lighting, sound and fly systems. Granted, much of it needs love to really be awesome, but that work was started by the previous teacher. The VPA Dept Chair is the Choir Director, there is also a band program, a dance program, and strong visual/fine arts.

I need to pick a show for the Fall. We have the rights for South Pacific secured for Spring, and I'd like to do something light-hearted with a medium cast that could either contrast it or work thematically with it. I have sixty kids in tech theatre classes, so a big set is doable, or a set with multiple locations so I can play with the flies.

Any brainstorming help y'all could do for me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Check-in Questions

2008-07-10T19:23:00.002-04:00

Since my creativity often ran dry after a few months of trying to think of new short-answer questions, one of my goals this summer is to make a list of at least 180 questions for check-in. Rather than do it all by my lonesome, I thought I would tap into y'all's creativity. I'll get things started, but if you have any ideas, I'd love it if you added them on to the list in the comments.

Thanks!

P.S. Are the rest of you still doing check-in?

Questions for Check-In:
(Numbered to help me count, not in order of importance or whatever)

1. What's your middle name?
2. What is the date (and time if you know it) of your birth?
3. What is your shoe size?
4. If you won a round-trip ticket to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
5. If you could have any kind of pet, what would you choose?
6. What's your favorite restaurant?
7. What's your favorite movie?
8. What's your favorite book?
9. What's your favorite singer/band?
10. If someone made a biopic about your life, which actor should play you?
11. What would you title your autobiography?
12. What was the last song you listened to?
13. If you could choose, which superpower would you pick to have?
14. Who is one of your heroes?
15. If your mood affected the weather, what would the forecast be for today?
16. If you could paint your bedroom any color, how would you paint it?
17. Where do you want to live when you grow up?
18. What do you want to be when you grow up?
19. Name one person (famous or not) that you've had a crush on.
20. What's your favorite TV show?
21. If you were a shoe today, what kind of shoe would you be?
22. If you could choose any kind of transportation, what would you pick?
23. If you had to get a tattoo, what would you pick and where would you put it?
24. What's one thing you are afraid of?
25. If you had to be raised by some kind of animal, what would you like to be raised by?
26. If I gave you a million dollars to donate, what charity would you pick?
27. What was the last thing you bought?
28. What is your favorite kind of weather?
29. What is your favorite thing to drink?
30. If you had to dye your hair, what color would you pick?
31. What was the last risk you took?
32. If you could get vanity plates for your car, what would they say?
33. Share one piece of random trivia you know.
34. What radio station do you listen to the most?
35. What is the oldest possession you have?
36. What is one thing you still have from your childhood?
37. What was your favorite TV show when you were 10?
38. If I went looking for you at recess in 2nd grade, what would you be doing?
39. If you had a time machine, where (when?) would you go first?
40. How long and with whom was your longest phone conversation?
41. What is your favorite sports team?
42. What's your favorite sport to watch?
43. What's your favorite sport to play?
44. What's the best present you ever received?
45. What's the worst injury you've ever gotten?

Wordle

2008-07-03T13:42:00.003-04:00

Looking for cool poster or t-shirt designs? Enter random words, or whole blocks of text, at Wordle.net and you get an instant work of art.

Covers

2008-06-30T15:27:00.003-04:00

I know I'm supposed to be enjoying my summer and NOT thinking about work, but I just can't help it. This will be the first time I'll have an Advanced class full of the kids that I handpicked, and I'm excited about it. Barring any unforeseen counselors-decide-to-screw-with-the-schedules mishaps, I'll have an awesome bunch of kids for Romeo and Juliet, which is what I'm hoping to do for my One Act competition in December.

I'd like to do it in modern dress (or more likely, in stylized, modernish-type dress), and I'd like to score the show with modern music. I've never really used a lot of music in my shows, but when I was cutting the script I discovered that I could show some of the scenes nonverbally if they were scored to music. Simple scenes, like Romeo and Juliet showing up at Friar Lawrence's cell to get married, don't really have important dialogue, and can possibly become more emotional with the use of music.

One day in the car, I heard a cover of the Dire Straits song "Romeo and Juliet." I briefly toyed with the idea of scoring the whole show to songs that reference R+J (such as Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper") but was wisely talked out of the too-cutesy idea (thanks, Jen).

But it got me thinking. I've always enjoyed good covers, especially when the artist puts his personal stamp on the song, like the Ben Folds cover of The Cure's "In Between Days." Sometimes, the cover ends up better than the original, like the Gary Jules version of "Mad World" by Tears for Fears. Since my show would be setting Shakespeare in the modern world, I thought that scoring the show with covers might be a fun way of blending the old with the new.

Do you think this idea will be too limiting in my choices? If not, what are some of your favorite covers?

Congratulations!

2008-06-04T00:34:00.005-04:00

Yays all around for surviving another school year!

CAUTION: Celebration may be premature. Some teachers, including the author, still have at least two days left of school. Many disasters may yet occur. Which, to be fair, is all the more reason to celebrate NEAR the end and not just AT the end.

So, what are YOUR plans for the next three months?
Me, I'm moving to Denver!

Curtain call

2008-05-19T20:41:00.002-04:00

Last year I saw an incredible high school production of Les Miz. It may have just been because the show was a technical marvel, but they chose to have all the techies take a bow during the curtain call.

I think it's pretty awesome, but most of my friends think it's a terrible idea. They tell me that there's no theatre in the world where techies take a bow, and if these kids want bows then they should just audition for the show. I get that, and I don't disagree, but I've been trying to explain to my kids what an important part of the show the techies are, and I'd like to give them more exposure. But the very nature of their job requires a lack of exposure, so I'm not sure.

Plus, the idea of letting techies take a bow runs contrary to my own personal desires. When I act, I hate curtain calls. I think they're self-serving begs for attention. Similarly, I think that directors should be neither seen nor heard at a show. When I direct I hate giving curtain speeches because I think a director's work is done when audience members start showing up.

Still, I think back to how the audience of Les Miz applauded loudly for the techies, and though my friends and my instincts advise against a crew bow, I wonder if it's the best choice for the kids. Thoughts?

Not on the Test

2008-05-13T23:25:00.000-04:00

by Tom Chapin

TAKS test

2008-04-26T22:27:00.001-04:00

This bugged the hell out of me yesterday.

I should begin by saying that standardized testing, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. Without them, there is nothing to stop schools from becoming diploma mills. For the general good, some standard of education must be maintained by the state. The only way to assess this standard is to test all students.

That being said, standardized testing is only good if the test itself is good. And the Texas TAKS test is not a good test.

I help with math tutorials. Most of the questions are word problems that have some kind of practical value. They're usually somewhat simple, multi-step problems that are in some way useful.

But every fifth or sixth problem is something ridiculous. On Friday a girl was having trouble with a problem. "Which of the following answers is the best estimation for the weight of a small pickup truck?"

Now, there are three separate problems with this question. One, a sixth grade girl doesn't drive, and doesn't know what "small pickup truck" means. She asked me if it meant a toy truck. Sounds silly, but why wouldn't she think that?

Secondly, the four possible answers had two of them in metric weights and two in tons. Their formula chart had sample conversions within each system (like, 2000 pounds is a ton, and 1000 milligrams is a kilogram) but no indication of one to the other. One of the possible answers was "10 kilograms," and this girl had no way of knowing if that was correct. She had no context because she didn't know what a kilogram actually was.

Finally, none of the answers were good answers. The four possibilities were 100 centigrams, 10 kilograms, a half ton, and ten tons. None are even close to the weight of any pickup truck! I'm assuming "one half ton" is correct, partly because it is closer to the actual weight of pickups than the other answers, but mostly because I assume the author of this test question got confused by hearing TV commercials that talk about "half ton pickups," not aware that the commercials are talking about load capacity, not total weight.

It's kind of like asking, "What is the best estimate for the attendance of tonight's baseball game? Is it eleven people, or four trillion people?" Well, "eleven people" is closer, but that's so far off that it can't really be called an estimate.

So what is a teacher to do? This girl asked for help, and I couldn't provide it, and trying to explain to her that the Texas Educational Agency is composed of people who couldn't hack it in the classroom would have been a fruitless endeavor.

If this is what we're telling kids they need to do in order advance to the next grade, then we are doing them a tremendous disservice.

Save the mount!

2008-04-22T15:15:00.004-04:00

Save the Mount!
Why Edith Wharton's house is an architectural treasure.
By Kate Bolick
Posted Monday, April 21, 2008, at 7:22 AM ET

Outside design circles, not many people know that Edith Wharton's first publication was a decorating manual. It's a perplexing fact. Our own American grande dame, author of more than 40 books, friend of Henry James and Theodore Roosevelt … bothered herself with wallpaper and sconces? (Actually, she loathed wallpaper.) But after the initial shock, perhaps you'll remember reading The Age of Innocence or seeing Martin Scorsese's film adaptation of it and realize that Wharton is fused in your mind with masterfully described interiors—at which point, your confusion will click into a satisfied "Huh!" If so, you might be moved, as I was, to rent a car and go visit the Mount, the only one of Wharton's many residences remaining. But act fast: If the Mount doesn't somehow acquire $3 million by April 24, the bank is going to shut it down. The interiors you're about to see may be lost to the public forever.

Why didn't I think of this?

2008-04-08T21:59:00.003-04:00

David Horvitz offers many kinds of services (not that kind of services, Craig).

Although this has nothing to do with teaching or Shakespeare, I thought I would share this with you guys because

1) I think it's a neat idea - honest, but kinda magical.

and

2) I'm tired of seeing teenage heart-throbs when I check here.

For what it's worth, I think about you guys for free frequently!

High School Shakespeare

2008-04-02T19:06:00.004-04:00

My English class decided that the Romeo in Zeffirelli's movie looks remarkably like Zac Efron of "High School Musical" fame:

Have you/your students noticed the similarity?

A Very Special Wish

2008-03-13T20:58:00.001-04:00

...because it's never too early to wish the ones you love a happy Ides...

Broadway Junior

2008-03-08T06:53:00.000-05:00

I'm about to start working on the Broadway Junior version of Annie. Because of a bureaucratic entanglement, it looks like I'm not going to get the show kit until after auditions.

If you have done Annie Junior, do you have a copy of the CD without the voices? What about a script? If not, can I just use the Broadway soundtrack for auditions and early rehearsals for choreography? I'm worried that if I teach them the music and choreography from the Broadway soundtrack, they'll be lost when the show kit comes in, and the music is cut down and musically transposed for kiddie voices.

I could not believe this!

2008-03-05T13:44:00.003-05:00

This week's This American Life:

350: Human Resources

The true story of little-known rooms in the New York City Board of Education building. Teachers are told to report there instead of their classrooms. No reason is usually given. When they arrive, they find they've been put on some kind of probationary status, and they must report every day until the matter is cleared up. They call it the Rubber Room. Average length of stay? Months, sometimes years. Plus other stories of the uneasy interaction between humans and their institutions.

Podcast: http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=350

Dave...Sharon...did you know?!

Rachael

Is That a Koala in Your Pocket...?

2008-02-27T23:46:00.001-05:00

One of my kids in class today tried to comment on the big fight scene "between Tybalt and Marsupial".

What favorite name-mistakes have you heard lately?

Shakespeare and the Language that Shaped a World

2008-02-25T17:51:00.002-05:00

From the "you never know where life will take you next" files:
Today was our first performance of Shakespeare and the Language that Shaped a World. It's a 45 minute piece that Kevin wrote which mixes information about Shakespeare's life and times with scenes and monologues from his plays, tracing his development as a writer and some of the themes that weave throughout his works. There's also a whole lot of silliness, as you might imagine. We'll be touring it around to schools this spring (it's not the tour of Midsummer that is wending its way across New England from S&Co; this is the education artists from the spring elementary and middle schools teams, plus the guy who was dressed like a Mountie in Servant of Two Masters, for those of you who saw that show during our NITS summer.). There are six actors playing multiple characters we also do the narration.

It was a little frightening to be performing again (Outside of NITS, I haven't been on stage since high school), and it's a little intimidating to be part of a cast where everyone else is a trained actor, but rehearsals have been fun because everyone is so nice and I can already tell how much the experience of performing is going to help me when I'm back to directing kids. Today's audience was with the show the whole time. There were a few little kids in the audience who laughed at all the slapstick comedy stuff and squealed in disgust and horror when I (as Beatrice) kissed Benedick. Ah, it feels good to know that I am frightening children... After the show, some old ladies came up to us and said "we wanted to see scenes from Taming of the Shrew! And we wanted to hear the dirty jokes!" This is in reference to a section where the narration says "if anyone ever tries to tell you that Shakespeare's low comedy and bawdy characters were only for the no class, low class groundlings...Just mention that Queen Elizabeth loved a dirty joke as much as anyone. Certainly more than the Puritans. Probably more than your parents." During this narration, the actor who plays Shakespeare whispers a dirty joke in my ear (I'm playing Queen Elizabeth) I'm supposed to laugh and slap Shakespeare for being so naughty. Of course, the actor never actually tells a dirty joke, and never tells a joke with the timing to land at the moment where my laugh cue is, but I like thinking that those old ladies were imagining all sorts of scandalous things!

There is a little bit from Julius Caesar in the show, and since I don't have any lines in that section, I took that moment today to think about our Caesar scenes out on the Rose stage. It's strange to think how unexpected some of the twists and turns of life can be, and just how far out of my comfort zone I am on this project. But surviving it! I hope you all are well and are continuing the wonderful work you do with your respective students.

GAP commercial

2008-02-16T10:04:00.000-05:00

My theatre company (Rogue Artists Ensemble) made the shadow puppets for this GAP ad . We worked with Blind to create the black and white ad for GAP's Sound of Color campaign. To watch it, click on "sound of color," then on "hear the sound of color," then on the black end of the spectrum. The Raveonettes will show up; the video was released in conjunction with a new song of theirs.

Enjoy!

Rules for Teachers 1872, 1901

2008-02-02T12:07:00.000-05:00

(from here)

Rules for Teachers
1872

1. Teachers each day will fill lamps, clean chimneys.
2. Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day's session.
3. Make your pens carefully. You may whittle nibs to the individual taste of the pupils.
4. Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly.
5. After ten hours on school, the teachers may spend the remaining time reading the bible or other good books.
6. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.
7. Every teacher shoudl lay aside from each pay a goodly stime of his earnings for his benefit during his declining years so that he will not become a burden on society.
8. Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pool or public halls, or gets shaved in a barber shop will give good reason to suspect his worth, intention, integrity, and honesty.
9. The teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of twenty-five cents per week in his pay, providing the Board of Education approves.

and

Imagine the horror they would have felt at seeing not one, not two, but an entire group of teachers loitering in Harrell's! Without petticoats! With men!

Why I'm Mad Today

2008-01-29T23:52:00.000-05:00

I pulled one of my students aside today to ask her why she's been missing so many rehearsals for the musical. I absolutely adore this girl - smart, confident, independent, mature, funny, just an awesome kid. Anyway, I pieced together from our conversation that she's been skipping rehearsals to be home with her mom since her mom 1) is a drug addict, 2) is mentally unstable, 3) has attempted suicide in the past and is threatening to do so again, and 4) is currently being tested for breast cancer. Basically, this 14-year-old is terrified that if she's not there every minute, her mother's going to die. To top it off, though, the girl also feels immense guilt because she's skipping rehearsals. When I tried to reassure her about that, she told me that she feels even worse because when she skips rehearsals to be with her mom, she doesn't go "where [she] should." So, she misses rehearsals to be with her mom, but can't handle that emotionally so she goes somewhere else instead and feels even worse for letting down more people.

I love this girl, and I don't see how this can possibly end well. Either 1) mom sticks around, and the girl stays with her out of guilt and misses on the potential of having a life of her own (and what a life it could be!), or 2) mom dies and the girl has to go through that particular hell, or 3) mom lives and the girl leaves her, but has to deal with the guilt of that independence.

I hate that she has to be dealing with this kind of stuff. Believe me, I know that part of the reason why she's such an awesome kid is because she deals with this kind of stuff, but I really, really wish I could take this away from her, if only for a little bit.

So, doing one of the few things I can for her, could you keep my girl in your spare thoughts this week? She could use some "green world" wishes from others, even if she is totally unaware of you, my friends. Of course, I ask this knowing very well that you all have your own dear ones to worry about. Which is why today's model of Very Bad Parenting is not a surprise to me, just an all too sad refrain.

The day I became brilliant

2008-01-23T18:22:00.000-05:00

I've been fretting about the 5th grade tour. I wanted to have my kids present a song and dance, but I didn't think we'd have time. The kids just got back to school today, and I'll be out on Friday. They're testing all day on Tuesday, and there are some various awards assemblies here and there next week. It would be a very abbreviated time to teach a song and dance to students, somewhat because I don't know what I'm doing, but even more so because they would be resistant to the idea of singing and dancing.

I was in the middle of an e-mail to Jen, elbow deep in all these whines and whimpers, when I suddenly because brilliant. The 5th graders will sit and listen to the band play. Then they'll sit and listen to the orchestra play. Then they'll sit and listen to the choir sing. They won't get to play instruments or sing a song, they'll just see a demonstration and listen to a sales pitch for that program.

To sell the theatre program, why make the 5th graders watch others having fun? Why not do theatre exercises and games with THE 5TH GRADERS THEMSELVES?!

So that's what I'll do. The coaches have graciously agreed to babysit the fine arts students for that day, so I'll send off my students to the gym and spend 100% of my presentation time focused entirely on the incoming 5th graders. When these 5th graders go home, I'll bet they won't remember what violin concerto they heard, but they will remember being a sculpture in a garden, walking into the wrong room and losing status, and participating in a glorious broadsword battle.

Song needed

2008-01-16T17:03:00.000-05:00

On February 1, the local 5th graders will be touring my middle school. Each year the 5th graders walk around the school, meet the core teachers, and visit the music department. Band, choir, and orchestra each get five minutes to pitch their department to the 5th graders, and they usually use most of that time letting the middle school students play and sing. After all, nothing shows off a department like actual student demonstrations.

Theatre has never been a part of this event because there had not been a 6th grade theatre class until this year. Now that we have a 6th grade theatre program, I asked why theatre is still not participating. I'd love to add a second 6th grade class next year, and eventually a second teacher who would have a full load of just 6th grade theatre. The administration agreed that this was a good idea, and so they will be taking tours of 5th graders through my room on February 1 so that I can show off my program.

Now I just need something to show them.

We've done monologues and small group scenes so far, and I'd rather show the 5th graders something that the whole class does together. I could teach them a Waterhouse-style physicalization of R+J's prologue, or we could have a giant Air Broadsword battle (though I think that might frighten my principal a bit). But what I'd really like to do is a song and dance. We'll be doing a musical at the end of this year, and I'll need to do a class unit on musical theatre eventually, so it might as well be now.

The problem is time. Our semester ends Friday, so all this week is taken up by exams. Monday is a holiday, and Tuesday is a teacher work day. So once the kids come back I'll only have six class days to put something together. I'd like a song that's not too complicated, with plenty of individually sung lines, like "Comedy Tonight" from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. I'm no Alvin Ailey, so I need something that's closer to "choreographed movement" than "dance." It shouldn't be too long, since the 5th graders will only have five minutes in my class. And I need to be able to get the karaoke CD or download the instrumental song from iTunes this weekend.

I was thinking maybe "Anything You Can Do" from Annie Get Your Gun. It's recognizable from TV commercials, and it can largely be spoken rather than sung. It can be done by two large groups back and forth. That's the best I've come up with after an hour of brainstorming, but I'm certainly open to other suggestions. If this were your program, what would you show in five minutes to pimp your program? If it's a musical routine, what song? Can this be done in six class days?

Middle School Macbeth

2008-01-11T00:47:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow my current Middle School residency comes to an end with our culminating performance of Macbeth. I've gotta say, there are moments when I watch my wee ones saying the lines and I suddenly flash back to the smelly room with the horrible grey carpet at Smith, and all those exciting, alive moments you all found when we were working on that play. I keep remembering NITS colleagues playing the various roles and it always makes me smile. Jen-you are still my Duncan!

Since we were talking a while back about fitting more kids in our plays to increase participation, I thought I'd share how I managed to get 50 kids into this production. I split the major roles to ensure that no child had more than 50 lines of text to memorize. (We had five weeks to put the whole thing together--including tech and auditions. yikes.) We've got 5 Macbeths, 3 Lady Macbeths, and 2 Macduffs. But I still had 12 kids who needed roles, so I created a prologue filled with "Ghost Soldiers." Why are they ghosts? Because it's cool to be a ghost, and it was an easier sale than simply saying "you have these two lines." So I made up all kinds of military ranks (my favorite of which is 'Subaltern') and added the prefix "Ghost." In the prologue, the Ghost Soldiers speak text from the play--mostly the witches' prophecies and other bits of advice that people give Macbeth. Add dramatic lighting and creepy music, and Voila! "Was that the best Ghost Soldier Prologue you've ever seen in a production of Macbeth?" the Ghost Ensign asked me the other day. "Yes," I responded truthfully. I will not be there when she cracks open an unedited copy of the play, but it's going to be rough.

We also had an effective tech project I'll share in case anyone is in need of giving tech kids a project. I made them go through the script and seek out interesting images and words. They then drew pictures based on what they'd found "full of scorpions is my mind," "a moving grove" "the charmed pot" "look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it." And one boy drew a skull wearing a crown with eyes filled with FLAME. It was not from the text, but he was super-excited by it, and I was too. Then they scaled up their drawings onto butcher paper, cut out the patterns, traced them onto black fabric, cut those out, and finally glued them on to banners. I sewed dowels into either end, and we hung them for our set. (You can sort of see them in the picture.) I'm skimming over the day when I had to help them to create images that would work in silhouette, but overall, it was an easy project and a cheap way to fill a large space. (thank you $1/yard fabric table at Wal-Mart!)

Hope you are all well. Welcome Trish! (sorry it took me so long to get your email to Amanda, but I'm delighted that you are here. I'm still bummed that I didn't get assigned to help with the residency at your school, but I hope you'll tell us all about it here.)

Save the Polar Bear!

2008-01-07T21:03:00.000-05:00

(from here)

I saw this today and totally thought of you all. As a matter of fact, every time I leave a room and even consider leaving a light on, Ariana's cries on behalf of the polar bear echo in my head and I go back to give the little guy a few more seconds on the iceberg.

Happy New Year Everyone!

2008-01-07T06:31:00.000-05:00

I am so happy to be back in contact with everyone. I feel like I was lost for so long and now I am comming back from an abyss. I look forward to hearing everyones news, and sharing mine.
"Everything you want is just ouside your comfort zone" -Robert Allen

Another from Emily

2007-12-31T12:33:00.000-05:00

Hello, friends!

I hope this holiday season finds you happy and healthy.

If you have a Ralph's club card, you can earn money for my theatre company, Rogue Artists Ensemble, without doing anything except buying groceries and swiping the card (which I assume you do anyway). We just got our 2007 check for a little over $200, and we had only been signed up for two months. You can sign up any time: the "new year" has already started.

Either of the processes below will help us out a lot. Our last show had a budget of a little over $20,000. We're planning to remount that one, and have one more on the calendar for next year. EVERY PENNY helps!

Here's what you do:

If you shop at Ralph's and have a Ralph's club card (if not, get one —they're free!), you can register to donate a percentage of your grocery bill (1-4%) to the Rogues every time you shop. Simply visit http://www.ralphs.com/ccprogram.htm and click the "sign up" button in the "participant" box. Enter the code 84744 in the NPO box (it's right at the top), fill out your card information, and submit! It takes just a minute of your time, and you'll be helping fund art in your community without costing you a thing.

If you're feeling especially generous, you can also make a secure donation through the new " Amazon Honor System." Or, you can simply make your regular Amazon.com purchases through the link on our website (look for it in the right-hand column of the main page). Every time you make an Amazon purchase using our link, a small percentage of the total order goes directly to the Rogues! The best part is that there is no additional cost to you and every item you purchase remains at the low Amazon.com price.

Thanks in advance for your support!

Apartment swap?

2007-12-26T01:26:00.001-05:00

I'm thinking of joining an apartment swap community (e.g. I'll stay a week in your house in Dublin, and you can stay a week in my apartment in Los Angeles). Has anyone heard of good companies, anyone who's tried it, anything at all? The only websites I've found so far require an annual dues payment, and I don't want to join until I'm sure I want to do this.

=D

Seasons Greetings

2007-12-25T12:45:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

From me and them...

Taylor Mali

2007-12-18T23:44:00.000-05:00

Between the snowstorms and the steady approach of the winter break, I've been thinking of lines from this poem by my Most Favorite Living Poet Ever. And, since I've also been thinking of you all quite a bit lately, I decided to share:

Undivided attention
By Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com

A grand piano wrapped in quilted pads by movers,
tied up with canvas straps - like classical music's
birthday gift to the insane -
is gently nudged without its legs
out an eighth-floor window on 62nd street.

It dangles in April air from the neck of the movers' crane,
Chopin-shiny black lacquer squares
and dirty white crisscross patterns hanging like the second-to-last
note of a concerto played on the edge of the seat,
the edge of tears, the edge of eight stories up going over, and
I'm trying to teach math in the building across the street.

Who can teach when there are such lessons to be learned?
All the greatest common factors are delivered by
long-necked cranes and flatbed trucks
or come through everything, even air.
Like snow.

See, snow falls for the first time every year, and every year
my students rush to the window
as if snow were more interesting than math,
which, of course, it is.

So please.

Let me teach like a Steinway,
spinning slowly in April air,
so almost-falling, so hinderingly
dangling from the neck of the movers' crane.
So on the edge of losing everything.

Let me teach like the first snow, falling.

The Dread of Something

2007-12-15T01:02:00.000-05:00

My Advanced Drama classes and I decided to memorize some of the big Shakespeare speeches lately. We already had "Romeo, Romeo" and "Two households" down pat, so I pulled out "All the world's" and, of course, "To be, or not to be".

It's been fun. The kids dove into the dictionary work willingly enough (I tested my new theory that kids will try anything that is referred to as a "game". While reluctantly giving in and writing down the ninth definition of a word, one kid grumbled, "Waterhouse, this feels more like dictionary work than a dictionary game!" I just laughed to myself and walked on.), and they came up with some fantastic moves for gesturing the lines. They like doing the poems, and they're proud of what they're memorizing.

There is a little shadow of worry in my mind, though. One of my girls, Valerie, her older sister committed suicide last year. I checked with her when we started it to see if she would be okay with playing with a poem about suicide. She said she's "totally fine with it".

Still. Every time we do it, every time we do a line where the students assigned a gesture of stabbing yourself, I either furtively look at Valerie or deliberatly try not to look at Valerie to see if she's okay.

There's really nothing big to report - she does seem fine with it. But I wonder what you, my fellow teachers, think about/do for the kids for whom the tragedies are all too realistic?

Where the wind comes right behind the rain

2007-12-11T18:42:00.000-05:00

(and the crippling ice storm right behind the wind)

Let's all think good thoughts about our favorite Oklahoman (sorry, Chuck Norris) who braved a terrible storm. Speaking of brave, she's staying in a hotel with her whole family! We love you, Jen. Come home soon!

Script Ideas Needed!

2007-12-08T16:37:00.000-05:00

I apologize for being off-topic, since the blog is supposed to be about teaching Shakespeare, but Jenna just hired me to direct Lenox Middle School's non-Shakespeare production in the Spring. Since I'll also be spending the Winter and Spring doing Shakespeare Residencies in middle schools and elementary schools as well as leading the Riotous Youth, I think it might be nice to have a brief Shakespeare break. Also, this show would be with the same kids I'm doing Macbeth with right now, and I adore them, so I'd love to work with them again.

Here are the guidelines:
There are 50 kids in Macbeth, and in the past they've have comparable or even more numbers for the Non-Shakespeare production. So I need a play with lots of parts, and opportunities for expansion.

The theater program is an offshoot of the English department, and the school principal is really adamant that the script be of obvious literary value. This is probably the most important factor--you can't underestimate the snob factor.

The school says "no musicals."

Since Macbeth does not offer a lot of opportunities for them to be silly, I'd like to do a comedy in the Spring.

Recent Titles include (and therefore are off the market) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Phantom Tollbooth, Alice in Wonderland, and The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe.

I'll take any and all suggestions--and I'm totally willing and able to do an adaptation if you can think of appropriate public-domain source material. I've got a playwrighting background.

thanks in advance!

Curtain teasers

2007-12-04T22:14:00.000-05:00

I helped herd kids at the school's choir concert tonight. There must have been 400 audience members packed into the cafetorium to hear the show. I'm told that the usual audience for theatrical performances is around 50. This leads me to believe I should include more kids in my next show, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Our stage isn't all that big, so I can't just add 100 fairies to the show. I was thinking of starting a bit smaller and just having my sixth grade class perform a curtain teaser, and/or some kind of epilogue (a bergomask?). My only two ideas so far are a choral performance of "once more unto the breach" ending in an air broadsword battle, and a song and dance of "Brush Up Your Shakespeare."

Both these ideas seem a little twee. Any other ideas? Has anyone ever had success with any kind of curtain teaser that's unrelated to the show?

The results are in

2007-12-02T09:55:00.000-05:00

Like most things in Texas, the public schools’ One Act Play competition is a big deal. The high schools compete in an intricate bracketing system that takes eight schools to Austin for the state finals each May. No bracketing system exists for middle school (they just do the play once within their district and trophies are awarded for first, second, and third place), but it’s still a pretty big deal in my district. One of the high schools that my school feeds has been to the state finals seven out of the last eight years, and has more trophies from the state finals than any school in Texas.

Our competition was yesterday. Despite a kid flaking out on me (I had to kick her out on Friday after she had skipped three rehearsals, and then I had to talk another cast member into learning her role in a day) things went well. They talked way too fast (we usually ran the show at 29 minutes, they did it in just under 20) but they were enthusiastic, expressive, and loud.

The awards ceremony started with the tech awards. They gave trophies to the best tech crews, and we were awarded first place. I’m a very competitive person, and I’ve always wanted to win an overall trophy, but that tech award means more to me than anything else. The overall trophies basically come down to the whims and opinions of a single judge, but the tech awards are decided by the in-house crew. A good school can walk out without an overall trophy, but this tech award means I’m doing something right as a teacher. The high school tech teacher said that my kids were the most well-prepared and professional of all the crews.

Then came the acting awards. The judge picked eight kids from the whole district as the “honorable mention all-star cast” and eight kids as the “all-star cast,” plus a “best actor” and “best actress.” Would you believe the girl who took over the role at the last minute was named part of the honorable mention all-star cast? My female lead got “all-star cast,” and my male lead was named “best actor” in the district. Seeing my kids winning awards for things we’ve worked on together is one of my proudest accomplishments. Seeing them smiling down at me from the stage and holding their medals filled me with complete and total joy.

In the end, we took third place overall. The shows that took first and second place were legitimately better than ours, and my kids recognized that, and they weren’t bitter. They said it gives them something to aspire to, and next year they’re going to blow everyone else away.

Yeah we will.

Alright, I've got one

2007-11-26T13:48:00.000-05:00

Latino 96.3 (big radio station here in LA) came to my school on Halloween (and has since adopted us and will be hosting fundraisers for us, yay!). Since my classroom is unusual (no desks or chairs), I'm one of the stops on the basic KIPP:LA tour for visitors. The kids were doing a story writing project with scary story elements, and the guy (Calla 13) came in, with cameras and entourage, walked about five feet into the room, turned a full circle, made a comment to someone, and left. Of course, the kids all got silent when they walked in, some tried to continue working, others just stared. I did my best to look like a "good teacher"... whatever that means.

After the camera crew, etc. left, one of my boys looked at me and said, straight-faced,

"That was awkward."

I agreed with him.

I don't know how well this story translates in print, but it was hilarious in person.

Also, as I type this, my cat is on my lap, industriously sucking on my tshirt.

Testing?? Is This Thing On??

2007-11-25T22:43:00.000-05:00

I don't know why I was driven to this blog's archives tonight, but I've just read few a few months and remembered how hilarious and generous and lovely you all are. Since we haven't heard about embarassing Mel with laughter in front of her students anymore and Michael hasn't confessed to any inappropriate dreams and Hildy and his girlfriend have been gone, I thought I'd stage a check in.

It's your turn to check in. Haiku is optional.

Anything For Money

2007-11-20T02:23:00.000-05:00

At the 19th Annual Fall Festival of Shakespeare, a challenge grant was issued: if we could raise $5,000 from the audience in the four days of the festival, an anonymous donor would give us $10,000. To collect the money, Karen Harvey and the other education managers dressed up in red dresses and wandered the lobby.

Well, before one of the productions Kevin was doing his usual shtick explaining the challenge grant to the audience and said that if we raised $3,000 more dollars, we would stop shaking down the audience for money. A cheeky high school boy yelled out "will they still wear the red dresses?" Kevin, with perfect timing, retorted "if we make the money, I'll wear a red dress." The cash was earned in record time, leading to the following priceless moment:

("You Sexy Thing" played on the sound system to mark Kevin's entrance.)

I also had a mini NITS reunion with Trish in the lobby before Jenna's epic production of Midsummer (Trish was there with her daughter and students). I can't believe it's all over now. Although I'm exhausted after helping to load in and out ten shows, I'm exhilarated. I've now seen an audience of teenagers give the character Richmond a standing ovation after the killing Richard III. I've seen Pyramus ask the audience for a suggestion on how to die, only to get "death by allergy to polar bear." I've seen an audience gasp at Juliet's suicide as if her death came as a cruel surprise. It really is true: it's like a rock concert, a Thanksgiving day football game and a religious experience all in one.

But the best summation came on one of our student evaluations, where the kid responded to the prompt what have you learned as a result of participating in the festival? with this:
"I learned that storytelling is a way that people connect with each other to make the world make more sense, and that theater is telling a necessary story to a group of people who are willing to listen. Theater can change the way people think about how to live their lives, and I can say now that it has absolutely changed how I think about forgiveness."

Every state in America needs a non-competitive, totally supportive festival like this one. If you're ever in the Berkshires in November, this is an event not to be missed. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Oh, Yay!

2007-11-11T20:42:00.000-05:00

(From www.stage-directions.com

National Endowment for the Arts Awards $50,000 to Shakespeare & Company
Nov 08, 2007

LENOX, MA — The National Endowment for the Arts' Learning in the Arts Program has awarded $50,000 to Shakespeare & Company's 19th Annual Fall Festival of Shakespeare. The generous support of the NEA for Shakespeare & Company dates back to 1984, and this gift brings the running total of NEA contributions to nearly $600,000 over the past 23 years.

The Festival, which has been rehearsing over these past several weeks, is a nine-week program involving over 500 students in Massachusetts and New York, culminating in a four-day marathon of 10 fully-mounted Shakespeare plays in the Company's Founders' Theatre Nov. 15-18. Performances in the participating schools run Nov. 7–11.

Shakespeare & Company is founded upon a belief in the power of language, and this approach is reflected in the Fall Festival. Students are encouraged to dig into Shakespeare's works from the inside out, breaking down the language and mentally chewing on it so as to taste the humor, violence, heartbreak and transcendent beauty of plays written over 400 years ago. Daily rehearsals focus on students' response to Shakespeare's text, opening the doorway for the essential personal connection to works that students may have previously written off as inaccessible.

Led by Shakespeare & Company's Director of Education Kevin G. Coleman, Education Program Administrator Karen Harvey and School Program Manager Alexandra Lincoln, the Fall Festival is specifically designed as a celebration rather than a competition between the schools.

This season's participating high schools include Chatham High School, Mt. Everett Regional High School, Mt. Greylock Regional High School, Lee High School, Lenox Memorial High School, Monument Mountain Regional High School, North Andover High School, Springfield Central High School, Taconic High School and Taconic Hills High School.

"We are incredibly honored and grateful for this recent gift from the NEA and their continued support for all of our Education Programs, in particular our Fall Festival of Shakespeare," said Coleman. "It is this kind of support that makes the Festival possible, and will not only bring Shakespeare vibrantly alive for hundreds of students this year but it also reinforces the fact that arts in education is essential to the full development of all our children."

The 19th Fall Festival of Shakespeare (almost)

2007-11-10T08:56:00.000-05:00

(sorry that this picture is a little wonky, but it's the best I could do.)

Greetings, all. This weekend we are running The Winter's Tale at the high school before next week's mega-event wherein all ten high schools involved will perform their shows one after another for four days at Founders' Theater(where we saw Hamlet and Merry Wives). So in this tiny corner of the world right now, Facebook is alive with the sounds of Shakespeare, and my mother's church choir practice was gutted because everyone was out supporting the local high school's Romeo and Juliet. It's amazing to me how much the whole community gets behind Shakespeare in this county.

As with most things, now that it's almost over I finally have an idea how to begin. Since my next contract with S&Co is to do a Middle School production of Macbeth starting the minute Fall Festival is over, I'll have plenty more opportunity to screw things up--I mean learn. Joking aside, I'm loving the work and I'm learning a ton about artisitc collabortation (working with so many other adults and their opinions is challenging my shyness!) as well as how to work with different kinds of kids (this group in WT was very difficult and slow to warm up.) And of course, hearing bits and pieces of Julius Caesar and Macbeth brings back so many fond memories of our NITS summer. Here's hoping you all are well and are having great years with your students!

This made me happy. Go English teachers.

2007-11-05T18:40:00.000-05:00

Literature's antidote to hate
The literary world can encourage understanding between bitter enemies.

By Amos Oz
November 1, 2007

If you buy a ticket and travel to another country, you are likely to see the monuments, the palaces and the squares, the museums and the landscapes and the historical sites. If you are lucky, you may have a chance to conduct some conversations with the local people. Then you will travel back home, carrying a bunch of photographs or postcards.

But if you read a novel, you obtain a ticket into the most intimate recesses of another country and of another people. Reading a foreign novel is an invitation to visit other people's homes and other country's private quarters.

If you are a mere tourist, you might stand on a street and look up at an old house, in the old part of town, and see a woman staring out of her window. Then you will walk on.

But if you are a reader, you can see that woman staring out of her window, but you are there with her, inside her room, inside her head.

As you read a foreign novel, you are actually invited into other people's living rooms, into their nurseries and studies, into their bedrooms. You are invited into their secret sorrows, into their family joys, into their dreams.

Which is why I believe in literature as a bridge between peoples. I believe curiosity can be a moral quality. I believe imagining the other can be an antidote to fanaticism. Imagining the other will make you not only a better businessperson or a better lover but even a better person.

Part of the tragedy between Jew and Arab is the inability of so many of us, Jews and Arabs, to imagine each other. Really imagine each other: the loves, the terrible fears, the anger, the passion. There is too much hostility between us, too little curiosity.

Jews and Arabs have something essential in common: They have both been handled, coarsely and brutally, by Europe's violent hand in the past. The Arabs through imperialism, colonialism, exploitation and humiliations. The Jews through discrimination, persecution, expulsion and ultimately mass murder on an unprecedented scale.

One would have thought that two victims, and especially two victims of the same oppressor, would develop between them a sense of solidarity. Alas, this is not the way it works, neither in novels nor in life.

Some of the worst conflicts are indeed between two victims of the same oppressor -- two children of the same violent parent don't necessarily like each other. Often they see in each other the image of the abusive parent.

Which is exactly the case between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East. While the Arabs regard Israelis as latter-day Crusaders, an extension of the white, colonizing Europe, many Israelis, for their part, regard the Arabs as the new incarnation of our past oppressors, pogrom makers and Nazis.

This situation charges Europe with a particular responsibility for the solution of the Israeli-Arab conflict: Instead of wagging their fingers at either side, Europeans should extend empathy, understanding and help to both sides. You no longer have to choose between being pro-Israel and being pro-Palestine. You have to be pro-peace.

The woman in the window might be a Palestinian woman in Nablus. She might be a Jewish Israeli woman in Tel Aviv. If you want to help make peace between these two women in the two windows, you had better read more about them.

Read novels, dear friends. They will tell you much.

It is even time for each of these women to read about each other. To learn, at last, what makes the other woman in the window frightened, angry or hopeful.

I am not suggesting that reading novels can change the world. I do suggest, and I do believe, that reading novels is one of the best possible ways to understand that all the women, in all the windows, are, at the end of the day, in urgent need of peace

Amos Oz is an Israeli novelist and essayist. This is adapted from his acceptance speech in Spain last week for the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature.

While You Might Not Get Porter Wagoner...

2007-10-29T00:09:00.000-04:00

...you might get the larger meaning of this post.

I just got the news of the death of West Plains, MO's favorite son, Porter Wagoner. Giggle if you must, but the news of his passing didn't bring memories of listening to his music with my PaPa or even actually seeing him perform at the Grand Old Opry. It brought memories of buying a card for Michael with Mel and Amanda and trying to explain to them who the man was. That memory then led to memories of playing games in Hubbard and laughing until I hurt and a general feeling of silly grinning that's lasted for a few minutes now.

You all just pop up in the strangest places sometimes.

Sir Ian McKellen

2007-10-25T11:16:00.000-04:00

I saw Ian M in King Lear with the RSC this weekend. The performance overall was technically perfect: every scene was carefully rehearsed and directed. Ian was wonderful.

However, the entire play (and they did the ENTIRE play, 3 1/2 hours worth) left me very cold. I often found myself thinking about how their inflection changed the meaning of the line, or how her rhythm was lovely to listen to... not feeling the story. I laughed twice and I felt drawn in on Lear's "never never never never" line, but spent the rest of the show admiring the set, and seamless transitions and fabulous ensemble work.

I realized that, no, we NITSers are not the Royal Shakespeare Company, but we had our priorities in the right place. Who cares if you know your lines? Who cares if you've blocked the scene? If you are making the audience FEEL something, then you're doing it right.

Common Problem

2007-10-17T13:11:00.001-04:00

In my discussions with other performing arts teachers, I keep coming across the same problem: How do you occupy the other students while you work on one scene? I know we have talked about this before and I have ideas if the students are self-motivated, but what do you do if the students need to be monitored closely at all times and cannot be left to their own devices?

Rachael

Unscrewed

2007-10-08T09:49:00.000-04:00

In an unprecedented bit of luck, it seems the head of fine arts for the district took my side.

My principal came up to me after school on Friday and said, "I talked with the head of fine arts, and we have a compromise. You can do this show for the contest, but you can't have a performance of it here on this campus." Which is totally fine with me, but it seems odd. How is that a compromise, and not a victory for me? The only scenario that makes sense is, the fine arts director told my principal that the show was not problematic (it was even done by other school in this district a while back), the principal didn't want to eat crow and tell me she had been overruled, so she had to craft some type of middle ground so it didn't look like she lost this one.

I've been butting heads with administrators for my whole career, and something finally worked out! I know this is going to be the year I finally get to see what I'm capable of.

Screwed

2007-10-04T21:48:00.000-04:00

My district’s one-act play competition is on December 1. I read a lot of plays (a LOT of plays) to try to find one I liked enough to direct. Finding a play for a middle school contest isn’t easy. Most plays are either way over their heads in subject and tone, or way below their intellectual level. Everything is Arthur Miller, or melodramas for six-year-olds.

That’s why I was thrilled when I found the play I wanted to do. It’s a quirky little play about a twelve-year-old boy who flees from the oppressive military regime in an unnamed Latin country. The boy goes on a kind of hero’s journey, meeting characters from Mexican mythology and folk tales on his journey north. In the end, he is captured crossing the border into America, but he promises that his story will be remembered. The play is fun, challenging, thought-provoking, and age-appropriate. I have just enough time to start rehearsals and get it the way I want it for the contest. I have a clear vision in my head of what I want, and I know my kids will be successful.

Too bad my principal told me today that I can’t do it.

The city my district is in made national news recently because of a city ordinance requiring landlords to check citizenship papers before renting apartments. Those in favor of this policy say that it will force those who don’t pay taxes out of the city. Those who oppose this policy say that it’s illegal to turn landlords into INS agents. Immigration is a hot-button topic in my district, and my principal doesn’t want a play dealing with it.

I told her that the play’s plot really isn’t about immigration at all, it’s just a factor in the climax. This play is about immigration like King Kong is about skyscrapers. But even if this play was all about immigration, wouldn’t that make my school an ideal place to produce this play? Wouldn’t Little Rock’s Central High School have benefited by reading Langston Hughes poems in 1954?

She asked the head of fine arts what he thought, and he’s asking the guy above him, but I imagine they’ll uphold my principal’s decision. I’m so frustrated about this. Last year my school did The Yellow Boat, about an eight-year-old with AIDS, and Then They Came For Me, about the Holocaust. Is a story about a kid meeting Mexico’s mythological figures more controversial than that?

So now I have to start from the beginning and find a whole new play. I’ll probably do Midsummer, since I’ve already done a good cutting and I know the play well, but my heart’s just not in it.

A Dream

2007-09-22T12:28:00.000-04:00

I had a dream that I was starting at a new school, only it was a haunted plantation and my theater was the old barn. Oh, and Tina Packer was the principal...

Rachael

NCTE in NYC

2007-09-20T19:48:00.001-04:00

Anyone else going to be there? I've just gotten partial funding and approval to go!!!

Long Live Caesar!

2007-09-14T23:04:00.001-04:00

So Michael Cremonini is directing Julius Caesar for the Fall Festival of Shakespeare (the program where the Shakespeare & Co people go into the high schools and direct plays), and the word on the street is that he never thought it could be done until our Institute got him excited about the play. So I say "Yay us!"
I still haven't chosen my script for the Festival, but my assistant and I are furiously narrowing down our choices. We're going to see who turns up at auditions before we pick, but right now our short list includes Shrew, 1 Henry IV, and Winter's Tale. Anyone out there have experience working with teenagers on any of those scripts? Words of wisdom? Warning?

hoping you are all well,
Viva la Revolution!

Because YOU Will Understand

2007-09-12T23:11:00.000-04:00

I need to tell some people who get it about my latest administration-frustration:

My administrators recently informed me that they've scheduled the city's symphony to perform at our school, in our auditorium. Cool, right? I like the symphony, and they deserve the exposure.

Except it's the day before my fall play. And they need the whole stage.

Me: Um... my play is that week, though.
Assistant Principal: I know. But it's not till the next day, so I figured the stage would be free.
Me: (trying to keep up the facade of a supportive, pleasing suck-up that I've established for my principal) Well... I guess we could still rehearse after school. But what about the set?
AP: The set? Oh. I didn't think about that. Couldn't you just put it up after the concert? They should be gone by 1:30.
Me: But that's our dress rehearsal. We need that rehearsal, we can't spend all that afternoon putting our set up the day before the show.
AP: Huh. (Long pause) What if you just put a set, like, on the outsides of the stage and left the middle of it empty for the orchestra?

!!

(If any of you have any experience with either video-projected sets or if you know where I can get a set that pops up like a camping tent, let me know.)

Donors Choose

2007-09-08T22:28:00.001-04:00

I wanted to make sure you all know about the website Donors Choose. You can upload a proposal for materials or, when you accumulate enough points, field trips and guest speakers. You write about why you want these things for your class, how many students it will help, and how many of your kids are poverty level. Then the proposal is posted and people give you money. Seriously. It's that easy.

Go here for more info.