Monthly Archives: August 2016

These adolescent actors are WAY out of shape. It is sad that a 57+ year old man (me) shows more stamina and core strength then some 17+ year olds who tire at the prospect of sitting upright. Sad. Back in the day – and I know that causes eyes to roll – back in the day we all had to take PE in high school EVERY year and that PE had quarterly fitnesses tests where we had to climb ropes to the ceiling, meet certain sprint times, benchpress a set amount of weight, chinups, pullups, etc. In PE class you sweated – you sweated so much that there was the obligatory shower at the end of class. – – But now I have no idea what they do in PE. Read more →

One of our assignments in Plays and Playwrights is to write a Major Dramatic Curve for an original play – – not the whole of the play – but simply an outline or structure FOR a play. The plans for this play SOUND quite simple but prove to be more difficult. The first problem that the students run into is that they want to introduce car chases, shootouts, clever escapes from prisons, superheroes doing their magic and all sorts of techno bells and whistles to their play. I do all I can to validate that they DO have a valid story – BUT it is a story that is best saved for the movies. Read more →

I have a reoccurring nightmare that I am about to graduate school – perhaps high school/perhaps college and I have no idea what I am going to do. I find myself rifling through course catalogues trying to find some other major – some other courses that I could take to stave off this future emptiness. Read more →

One indicator that you have been cast in a Higgins show is that you are often seen after school running around the building – not because you are late – but because Higgins insists on a bit of torture before you get your hands on the story and start working on a play. Read more →

Each year in Theatre History the course begins with a discussion of ritual – where it comes from and what purpose it serves. I find it to be the very root of theatrical practice – and further, that no exploration of theatre is possible without understanding this primitive element. Read more →