Happy Hallowe'en!

The halls of Steveston-London are full of crazy characters and scary ghouls today!  Kudos to all of you who put together the imagination and the effort to create a costume.  I really had no idea what to wear myself this year.  My creativity seemed to have reached a stop sign.  My son decided to go as the "headless horseman" and that took all my ingenuity!  It turned out really well in the end.  He is all in black, with his old Dracula cape from last year and used his hockey shoulder pads to build up his body and hide part of his head.  We made a neck stump out of an old Easter basket and covered it with bandages and fake blood -- the neck stump fits over his head.  He was pretty happy with it in the end, although he doubted me as we put it together.

I decided to be Elsa Lanchester's "Bride of Frankenstein".  I looked at her online and it seemed like something I could do.  Of course, I have an advantage, because I have the whole prop room at my disposal.  I picked out a nasty old dress and some white fabric for her outfit.  The hair and makeup is always the part that impresses people, but it is very easy to do.  I sprayed my hair with that temporary hair colour and backcombed it within an inch of its life.  Then I applied the two white streaks at my temple.  I used clown white for my face, and gave myself the shocking eyebrows and the stitches at my neck and there you have it!

The English department came up with a great theme -- dumb ways to die.  Mr. Price is a guy who did his own electrical installation in his house (always hire a skilled tradesperson!), Ms. Matsuzaki sold both her kidneys on Craig's List, and Ms. Mah dressed up as a moose in hunting season!  It's fun to walk around the school today and see what people thought of for costumes.  Some are really amazing!

If you go out trick-or-treating tonight, be extra careful.  Don't get involved in any crazy fireworks play.  They are super dangerous.  And watch for cars!  Some people are in such a hurry, they don't really look to see if there are people trying to cross the street -- you have to watch out for them.

Grade 10's and 8's - sorry I missed your classes.  I had to go to the doctor.  Be ready to perform tomorrow.

Grade 9's -- have your lighting instructions ready and write out the order of the scenes and what everyone has to do to change your sets.

I hope you all went to the dance and had a terrific time!  And I hope to see you all in costume tomorrow!  Let your imaginations run wild!

Dearly Departed Redux

Well, our revels have ended at Evergreen Cultural Centre and the play has closed.  It has been great fun and a lot of hard work.  It was a very funny play and the best thing about it was that there were lots of interesting characters to play and everyone did his or her best with what they had.  A couple of people only had a couple of scenes, but they made the best of it and created memorable moments on stage.  When I first read the play, I thought it was a very silly piece of fluff, but having worked on it over the last month or so, I realize it did have some really lovely moments in it.  The relationship between the two brothers was very real -- they hated each other in a way, but still wanted to help each other and offer support to each other.   The widow initially wanted to put "Mean and Surly" on her dead husband's gravestone, but realized that their life together had its ups as well as its downs.  Junior's speech about feeling like a man, his pride at being a "businessman", just like his daddy, is quite poignant in these days of economic downturns and high unemployment.  Well, it's over now and like all theatre, is just gone.  Nothing left except the memories.  They will be fond ones.

A Word or Two Before You Go

You are all coming to the end of your most recent projects:  Grade 10's -- comedia del'arte, perform on Wednesday of next week;  Grade 9's -- Heritage Drama, perform on Wednesday of next week; Grade 8's, perform "The Creation of the World" on Monday of next week.

Make sure you use your practice time wisely.  Don't waste time arguing endlessly.  If you have a personality conflict with someone in your group, try to figure out a way to work around it.  The theatre is full of difficult people, some of whom are very talented.  You need to find a way to get the work done.  Perhaps if you ask them what they want to do and really listen to them, that can be a step in finding a way to cooperate.  Don't just stand in the way of someone else's ideas.  Before you discount someone's idea, try it to see if it works.  If you allow yourself to argue over every little thing, you will be like a dog chasing its own tail.  You'll get nowhere.

Play your character.  Make sure you match your facial expression with your mood.

Think of what the stage looks like to the audience.  Clear all the chairs and props, etc. off the stage and keep only what you need in your scene.  Use the curtains if you like.  Play your scene as far downstage as possible and ALWAYS cheat to the audience.  Project your voices.  If you cannot be heard or understood, your performance is lost.

Remember, music is a very helpful tool in theatre.  It can help the audience respond in the way that you want.

Dearly Departed

Thanks to everyone who's made the trek to see the show I'm in called "Dearly Departed".  It is still on at the Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam for another week with shows in the evening at 8 and one on Sunday at 2.  It's quite a laugh riot, I think, about a family in the southern United States planning their uncle's funeral.  I'm really enjoying playing Marguerite, who is a nasty old woman who drives everyone crazy by quoting the Bible at them.

It's great fun to be in a play (and also a little nerve wracking).  You really feel close to the other actors and work together really hard to create the best performance you possibly can.  Our director, Dale Kelly, is very inventive and I have learned so much about staging and set design and lighting and sound ideas from him.  As I said before, he has made the set changes just as interesting as the play with a great sequence called "the parade of the coffins" (you have to see it to appreciate it) and a slow motion chase scene and a set piece that really looks like a car, using flashlights and people dressed in choir gowns.  The theatre is such a magical place!

Midterm self-assessment

Since we're approaching the midway part of the semester (in November) and interim report cards will soon be issued, it's important to think about how well you are doing in drama.  What are my expectations of you in drama (for example, I want you to stay in character on stage, I want you to stay with your group during rehearsal times)?  Try to come up with at least four things that are expected of you in class.  Now, decide how you are doing in class.  Are you living up to my expectations?  Explain.  What can you do to improve?

This is the journal for all grades.

I have nothing to declare but my genius!

It is Oscar Wilde's birthday today!  He was a great playwright and a great wit.  He said the above (when he was going through Customs to enter the United States) and he also said,  "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about!"  These are called epigrams -- pithy sayings.

He also wrote "The Importance of Being Earnest" which is, earnestly, one of the funniest plays ever written.  I would go on but no one can compete with Oscar Wilde for wit or a well-turned phrase.