Weekend update - good intentions!

Drama Club:  Good work, everyone, on the set!  Mr. Price has done a great job and it looks great.  We still have some things to do, but the focus for the cast needs to be on learning your lines and cues.  You all need to project, project, project.  You can't be softly spoken on stage.  The audience needs to sit back, relax and enjoy it, not strain to hear you.  Any crew members, make sure Rachel has your first and last names for the program.

Senior Drama:  Theatre production -- you guys can really help with the set.  We will need to paint next week, too, so make sure you bring clothes that you aren't worried about getting painty.  Actors:  I was really impressed with your back story plays.  We'll see the rest on Monday.  Directors:  This is an important part of getting a true performance from actors.  You need to think about what went on before the play started, what the subtext is in the scene and the things the actors say.  Actors will do this with any role -- ask themselves what motivates their character.  You don't have to tell them, but you should have an idea.  Remember your theme day is on Monday.

Drama 9/10:  What great comedia plays we saw on Thursday!  I was so impressed.  You have drawn the many components together to create cohesive, interesting and entertaining performances and I was thoroughly captivated by the two performances we saw.  I hope the other groups are as terrific.

Grade 8:  You will start leading the class next week.  I am looking forward to learning some new warmup activities from you.  Remember that you are expected to ask the "question of the day" and explain why your activity is good for drama.  We will be continuing to work on mime next week.

I had to lead an activity on our professional day yesterday.  I decided on the theme of "trust" and we talked about the value of students feeling that they will be treated with care and respect in their classrooms and how a student is more likely to take intellectual risks, if they have confidence that their efforts will be appreciated, and not denigrated.  When people think of trust in a drama classroom, they always think of those physical trust exercises, when someone falls backwards off a table into the arms of their classmates, but I think it is harder to trust that people will not betray your emotional risks.  When you try a wacky or emotional character on stage, your classmates will appreciate your effort and not sneer at your shortcomings.  That is my goal in all our classes -- that you will all learn to appreciate the good intentions of others.