7th Grade Plays

Greetings, earthlings.

THIS earthling is weary of the school year, of the workload, and of her stress level. I'm glad Friday of this week is a day off ... although in my case it will be absorbed by doing taxes. yippee

I am also quite tired of being "absent" from school due to the masters' degree stuff. I hope my experience hasn't terrified any of you out of going to college. ;) [It's a lot easier if you're not working a full time job at the same time as you're trying to carry a full course load.]

I feel like I owe you guys an apology for how loose & unstructured this quarter in drama has been so far. I would have rather handed you scripts in mid-March and gotten the student directors rolling a month ago. That's not the way it turned out. *sighs* Failure is always a bitter pill to swallow, no matter how old you are.

So two things, before I bury myself in a thesis project for (hopefully) the last major workday:

Short Plays
Being an eternal optimist (although my optimism has come under severe attack in recent days and has retreated somewhat) ... this is still on the table. I have asked Coart to bail me out by heading up some of the details at the moment ... we're definitely tag-teaming the drama class right now. He'll be talking to directors about potential scripts on Monday ... that's the last hurdle before auditions.

We'll have auditions for the roles on either Wed or Thurs. If you are leaving early on Thursday, I need to know that NOW. I have to schedule the auditions for when everyone is here... and they need to happen this week.


7th Grade Plays
I am assigning most of you to a particular 7th grade play to help out with. I've left the 11th graders off this list for 2 reasons: They are the prime candidates for directing and assistant directing the short plays. They're also trying to plan the spring formal, which is a chunk of work.

Of course, any 11th graders who want to help out with the 7th grade plays are more than welcome to volunteer. But I'm not demanding it of you.

For the rest of you:
Helping the 7th graders won't take much of your time ... possibly one or two recess sessions in the next few weeks just to check in on their rehearsal progress, then some work with them during their dress rehearsal/ performance week.
If you want to help out more than that, please do. You are all more than qualified to coach them as they try to act out these stories.



What you should help the 7th graders with:

• Work on characterization, projection, and general acting skills. Some of them are better naturally than others. Work with all kinds, both the ones who love acting and the ones who struggle.
  
• Be an encourager. Always point out something they did well before moving on to stuff they need to fix.
  
• But be honest ... NONE of these students are so good that you can't give them something to work on!
• Make suggestions about blocking. They don't know how to block a scene. ;)
  
• Get them to think about what kinds of gestures or stage movement is suggested by the script. Don't let them just sit/stand there during the scene.
• Remind them that acting is REACTING... no one can passively exist on stage; you're always acting.
• Don't tell them a specific way to read a line if you can help it. Ask them questions instead or get them to imagine how they would feel in that circumstance....
• Hound them about being LOUD ENOUGH and SLOWING DOWN.
  

Your official responsibilities:

1. Get together with the others in your play group to watch the play all the way through as soon as you can this week. You drama students need to give unified advice to the 7th graders, not a mishmash of conflicting opinions. So watch the play and put your heads together to decide how it should go.
   
2. Divide up the actors in your group among yourselves. Pick a particular 7th grader to "coach" that day. Feel free to switch around from day to day so you work with different kids. Don't forget to coach for volume, body movement, gestures, acting . . .
   
3. Watch at least one rehearsal of your assigned play this week and one or two rehearsals next week. The more you watch, the easier your life will be -- you won't have to make them un-learn bad habits that they picked up by rehearsing when you weren't around. ;)
   
4. Stay through the entire rehearsal when you watch.
5. Coach the actors in building a believable, well-rounded character on stage. It's OK if the kids don't act a role the way YOU would act it ... as long as they are creating a believable, consistent character
6. Take the lead in figuring out staging, set design (mostly chairs or small tables -- no backdrops), prop lists, costumes, makeup, etc.
   
7. Keep a group log of your work with the play. That will form part of your grade for this assignment, so don't forget to do it. Assign a group secretary if you have to....
   

When we get to the last week of April, you'll serve as backstage crew as needed for their dress rehearsals and performances. These plays are REALLY short, so don't get stressed -- not a big demand on your time.

I expect the final performance to be in C-108 (where we did Midsummer) on Thursday, April 27th. They'll do one performance of all 3 plays in the same day, with the upper school and interested parents in attendance. Might invite the 4th grade too ... we'll see.


Play Assignments:
If you have an allergic reaction to where I assign you, find someone who's willing to switch with you AND ask me about it first.

In the Fog
Nate
Aaron
Sara

When the Rattlesnake Sounds
Ryan
Casey
Abigail

The Governess
Bettina
Taylor



I hope your week goes well.
The end of all burdens is near.
Hang in there!