Hail, fellow, well met!

It's "Meet the Teacher" tonight!  Make sure you tell your families that the school is open for visits from 6:30 until 8 tonight.  Ms. Sakata will speak in the gym at 6:30 and then, at 7,  families will go through your daily schedule, and get 10 minutes to meet all of your teachers this semester.  (We'll do a second "meet the teacher" in 2nd semester.)  I will be getting everyone to sit in a circle, just like we do in class, and then I'll talk a bit about how drama works here and answer any questions people might have.  It's an informal atmosphere and you are welcome to come along if you'd like to introduce your folks to me.  I look forward to seeing some of you tonight.

Don't forget Spirit Week next week!  It's fun to join in and see what people come up with in the costume department.  Drama students are often leaders in this respect!  Monday is Jersey Day, Tuesday is Backwards Day, Wednesday - Fashion Disaster, Thursday - Colour Wars (check out the posters to see what colour your grade is supposed to wear), and Friday - Pajama Day!

You have one more chance to see the Titus Andronicus spoof -- it has been held over as one of the "picks of the Fringe" (a great honour) and will be performed on Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Revue Stage on Granville Island!  Well done, Mark!

Just an update on what we're up to these days:

Grade 8's:  Great work on the tableaus (my favourite mode of presentation).  Remember what makes a good tableau:  a focal point, stillness, a dramatic moment, variety in your roles and positions and attention to visual detail.

Remember, you will be reciting "All the world's a stage" on either Monday or Tuesday of next week. Practice it a few times a day over the weekend, and you will have no problem.  Remember to speak clearly and project your voice!  Your audience should be able to relax and enjoy your performance.

Grade 9/10's:  Make sure you have handed in your heritage story.  Everyone is expected to contribute.      If you can write it and use the story arc we've talked about (introduction of setting and characters, conflict, rising action, climax, denouement) all the better.

Theatre Production:  You need to continue to think about the "scary place" project!

Today, we saw the heritage examples.  Try to learn from those experiences.  Use the curtains (blues and legs and travellers) to frame your stage picture.  Make sure that what the audience sees is INTENTIONAL.  You need to start preparing a sound and light plot to guide you through a performance.  You can't just "wing" it.  You shouldn't use music during scenes of dialogue.  Coordinate sound effects with the movement of the actors on stage.  This stuff should be practiced so it goes smoothly in performance.

Enjoy your long weekend.  See you on Monday!

The Light and Delightful Musical Comedy of Titus Andronicus

Remember I mentioned the Fringe?  Well, it turns out one of our favourite SLSS theatre alumni is working one of the shows featured at the Fringe!  I'm sure some of you older kids remember Mark, who used to act and work in the booth for many of our shows (no last names since this is the school blog)!  Mark is the assistant technical director for the show named above and if you want some theatrical fun, you should pop over to the Firehall Theatre on Cordova Street in Vancouver on Saturday at 7:45 or on Sunday at 2:45 to see the show.  It is based on Shakespeare's bloodiest and goriest play, "Titus Andronicus", but the premise is that Shakespeare loves the story and wants to bring it to a wider audience, so he decides to rewrite it as a musical comedy.  If you read my earlier blog, you know I like to see a lot of actors on stage, and this show delivers with fifteen dynamic actors, dancers and singers.  The energy and enthusiasm of the performers is really appealing and I was laughing and tapping my foot throughout the show.  And it looks and sounds fabulous (due to Mark's skill, I'm sure -- he's very good at what he does).  There is a live musical combo on stage to accompany the actors and the script sticks to the basic story (very difficult when trying to turn it into a comedy) with a few remediations to make it a little less horrible.  It's 90 minutes of laughs and fun and it's going to rain most of the weekend, so it's a perfect time to take in a play.

Make sure you tell Mark "Ms. Kosar sent me"!

Rainy days and Mondays

That's from a song by a 1970's group called "The Carpenters" -- a classic of pop music!

Journal for tomorrow (for 9/10's):

Write your heritage story.  It can be dramatic or comedic, but it should provide the basis for an exciting performance.  Try to provide detail -- that makes your story more compelling.  The most important part of a story is the intro -- that's what hooks your reader (or viewer) and makes them care about the characters.  Tell as much as you can about the protagonist of your story.  Talk to your family about this project -- you might learn some things about your background that you didn't know before!

Theatre Production:

What have you discussed so far about the "scary place" project?  What are you thinking of doing?

Remember!  We are going to see Mr. Trovato's presentation on Monday -- think of some questions you could ask him about his party's policies or about the election in general.  Talk about the election with your parents.  What issues are important to them?  What do they think about the ideas put forward by the different people running for office?  Have they decided for whom they will vote?  We had a good discussion this morning --  I was very impressed by your comments and your questions -- you are all thoughtful and concerned citizens.  What other issues besides the legalization of marijuana are you interested in?

Theatre sports tomorrow!  Read the newspaper to prepare!

Hamlet's advice to the players

Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to
you, trippingly on the tongue: but if you mouth it,
as many of your players do, I had as lief the
town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air
too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently;
for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say,
the whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget
a temperance that may give it smoothness.

Grade 9/10's:  This is your recitation passage.  Theatre production students, it never hurts to learn a bit of Shakespeare, so you can do it, too!

Theatre production:  Don't get obsessed with light and sound.  That's not going to make your scary place scary enough.  You need literary references and some sort of narrative!

Grade 8's, have a great time at camp!  Most students mention Grade 8 camp as one of the most memorable events of their time at high school, so I know you'll have a great time and come back with new friends and lots of great stories and adventures to remember.

 Remember, journals should be handed in today.

At the fringe

Just a note for any of you looking for some theatre this weekend!  It is the first weekend of the Vancouver International Fringe Festival, which takes place on and around Granville Island.  It is great because you can see theatre for very little and you get a great deal of variety in what you see.  It is hit and miss, because anyone who gets in their application and their money on time can put on a show, and some of the people are presenting vanity pieces that can be a bit embarrassing and uncomfortable, but it's all worth a look see!  You're not going to lose a fortune seeing a Fringe show, so if it's not particularly good, it's still an experience.

I am going to see "The Middle of Nowhere" by Wonderheads.  It takes place at a bus stop and involves physical theatre and puppets and I'm interested in both and so I will take this one in and then a few more next Sunday.

It's easy to see a show -- you can get a catalogue (from the Richmond Art Gallery or Gateway Theatre or Blenz Coffee shops) and choose something that sounds interesting.  I always lean towards shows that include more than one person (I like to see more than one person on stage in a play -- otherwise, it just seems like unfunny standup) and sometimes the reviews that they put at the end of the show description help.  If you know the critic, or it's from the Edmonton Journal or the Manchester Guardian, you know that the actor is a professional and may have taken the show all over the world and performed at more than one Fringe Festival. (They're everywhere!)  Or if you don't want to do too much planning, just go down to Granville Island and see what's on!  That can be quite an adventure.

Happy Fringing!

Talking isn't doing. It is a kind of good deed to say well; and yet words are not deeds.

Of course, that's Shakespeare.  Nice to start with a bit of Shakespeare at the beginning of a new year.  He's saying that "action speaks louder than words".  You can say you want to help, but that isn't actually helping.  You can tell your parents that you'll do your homework, but you actually have to do it to learn what it is you're expected to learn!  A lot of us are thinking these days about how to help with the Syrian refugee crisis.  I heard yesterday that one in 120 people in the world is a refugee, so, of course, it isn't just people from Syria who need help.  There are all sorts of people in the world who see Canada as a safe haven and a refuge.  We are so lucky!  I have a foster child in Guatemala and although they aren't at war like the poor people in Syria, things are not easy there either.  If you want to help, you can contact agencies like Unicef, the Canadian Red Cross, Medicins Sans Frontieres and Plan Canada.  They already have people on the ground in places like Syria or Somalia or Afghanistan and so they are already helping.  Someone on the radio said that for kids, one way to help is to suggest donations to worthy causes rather than birthday presents!  There's an idea.

Anyway, welcome (back, for some of you) to Drama!  It is great to see all your smiling faces in class these early days.  Make sure you bring a pen/pencil and a duotang with paper to write on tomorrow to class as we will be writing journals.

Grade 8's:  Your journal topic is simple.  Tell me about yourself!  We spent the first day trying to learn each other's names and we will be working together for quite a while, so it is helpful if you tell me a bit about your past drama experience (if you have any), whether you have stage fright or not (lots of people do, so you aren't alone if you feel nervous), whether you've ever performed in any capacity before (music, sports, public speaking, etc.), whether you like group work and anything else you would like to share.

We will be reciting a bit of Shakespeare in the early part of Drama.  Here it is:

All the world's a stage
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances
And one man in his time plays many parts.

Grade 9/10:  Write the story of a scary experience you've had.  Try to make your story dramatic!

Theatre Production:  Write about a scary movie you've seen.  Describe in detail what made it scary.  Could you recreate it in our theatre?  Why or why not?

Drama Club:  We will be getting together on September 21 and 22 to read through David's second draft of his play.  It will be very casual and everyone is welcome to come and read.  This is the play we will be doing early in 2016.

Our first show of the year will be called something like "As American As Apple Pie" and will be three American one-act plays:  "The Pretty Trap" by Tennessee Williams, "The Dancers" by Horton Foote, and "The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden" by Thornton Wilder.  We will be auditioning for acting parts on September 23, 24, and 25.  There are lots of parts and if you want to be on stage, I will make sure you get there (although I don't guarantee you'll have a big part, of course).  There are lots of jobs for people who want to help backstage, too.  Audition sheets are in the blue folder on the bulletin board outside the theatre.  We welcome all participants so don't be afraid to come out and see what all the buzz is about!  We will perform these plays in late November.

How did it get so late so soon? (Dr. Seuss)

Well, all things come to an end, I guess.  We have two days left of "unstructured time" (that's a teacher phrase) before we are back to intensely structured time.  My September to June time includes three plays, seven classes of Drama, report cards and marking, planning, housework and meals, Ant's hockey (I am the chauffeur), Will's soccer (again, the chauffeur), walking Miss Daisy (our lovely nervous dog) and whatever else comes up.  It is a real shock to go back to that after a summer of relaxing.  I often wonder what people do when they don't get two months off in summer.  This year, Ant will continue working as well, which will add another level of busy-ness.  And of course, for us, this will be the first school year without my dear husband, who died at the end of May.  As you can imagine, we miss him so much.  We went to the PNE last week and it was fun but also painful, because he loved the PNE and we had all sorts of things we always did -- the Superdogs, the prize home, photos we took on the midway, the house of mirrors -- all things he loved.  There is something about the PNE -- it is the same every year for the most part -- but that's what's fun about it.  It's rather tawdry and very silly and kitschy and that's what's so great.  We enjoyed our day there, but we were very aware that Mike wasn't there to enjoy it with us.  This will be a year of times like this.

For those of you interested in the Drama Club this year, I have chosen our first show which I hope to perform in late November.  We've done lots of comedies in the last few years so I wanted to do something a bit more serious this time and I've chosen three lovely American one act plays which we will perform under the title, "A Slice of Americana" or something like that -- I'm not married to that name.  Before the summer I was talking to a few Drama club characters and we were brainstorming what we could do -- we thought of Tennessee William's "The Glass Menagerie" (which has a very small cast, but is a lovely lovely play {it gets two "lovelies", it's that good}) and Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" (which is a very popular choice for groups in school theatre programs and has been done by kids in our program already {which would be a reason for us not to do it}).  With those ideas in mind, I mulled it over for most of July and came up with something I thought would work.  I found a couple of books of one acts by Tennessee Williams (he said he thought his best achievements were with one act plays!) and discovered a play called "The Pretty Trap" which is an early version of the last act of "The Glass Menagerie".  I also found a very sweet one act by Horton Foote (who wrote the screenplay of "To Kill a Mockingbird") called "The Dancers" about how painful being an adolescent can be and also how one finds independence from one's family and what is right and what is wrong -- perfect for us.  The last one is called "The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden" by Thornton Wilder.  It is in the same style as "Our Town" and is about a family car trip.  There are lots of parts as always and I think it will be lots of fun to put together and also provide our discriminating audiences with a great theatre experience.  Mr. Price is already thinking about the set!  We will hold auditions in September and start rehearsals immediately after that.  David is also working on his script and that will be our spring show.  So we have lots of excitement to look forward to.  See you all on Tuesday.