Here comes the annual, “Please, God, help with me my monologue – or my life will soon have no meaning.” The line up begins at the door, and all are shaking against the the unlikelihood that someone will love them and invite them into their school. Although the two minute limit seemed absurdly too short when they first went a lookin’ for monologues, the same time frame now seems much, much too long to offer a polished project. Read more
Monthly Archives: September 2016
Just Read
I have a group that meets once a week during an extended lunch to simply read plays. Anyone in the Junior or Senior class is invited to attend. We take no notes; we take no quizzes; there is not a test in sight. We are going to write no paper. We will not cut-and-past a single thing from Wikipedia. There is nothing to prove. Why does reading always have to be connected to work, documentation and evaluation. Why can’t it just be reading for the love of reading? No wonder picking up a book is the last thing so many people would choose. Read more
Never Average, Medium or in the Center
Today in Directing class we began to unravel the challenge of organizing space to create meaning. As some would say, theatre is simply “a frame trapping a piece of chaos.” At first look, it seems simple get people to stand on a stage and act out a moment – – but Read more
Joy at a New Turn
Sometimes the choice for who should be part of your productions comes so clearly and easily as you sit there watching all audition. The right person has the right partner and all of the doors of the play begin to open – and you can rest knowing the momentum is there. Sometimes this is not so easy. You are squinting and squinting and doing all you can to see the roles fill in. Sometimes it seems as if you are looking through funhouse mirrors. Sometimes it feels like looking through a dense covered in vaseline to see if anyone sparks with the text. It makes for a long night or two or three. Read more
Just on the Floor
Today Theatre History classes of 40+ and 50+ students wound up a full day of presentations of original rituals. They used the grid, powerpoint, screens, and every speaker imaginable. They splashed body paint. They dripped, splattered, and draped from the catwalk. There were buckets of water and buckets of sand. It was everywhere and then some!