This page (Page
#6) has creative ideas
for directing a fun, successful play or musical. Check
out these examples used in ArtReach popular titles: The
Velveteen Rabbit, The Emperor's New Clothes, Wizard
of Oz. Don’t forget, a Teachers Guide will come with
your School Play Package and contain many other ideas and inspirations!
It's
All About the Experience
It’s all
about letting kids explore their imaginations
Maybe you know a kid who shies
away from the experience of performing in a play because or she is
afraid of the responsibility of learning lines, standing up straight
and looking good before an audience. As director you may be
primarily concerned with teaching everyone where to stand, when to
come in and making sure they keep their faces toward the audience.
But at ArtReach we believe
that kids need a chance to perform, act out and pretend.
It’s time to use funny voices, walk like crazy people, scream
and laugh and dance like nobody’s looking. As
director you feel you must keep control of your cast and be concerned
with whether or not the audience can see the action. But since
these are kids, just getting their feet wet, it’s quite all
right to let them test their wings – and fall – if they
have to. What if Captain Hook isn’t the best you’ve
ever seen? What if the audience isn’t exactly thrilled
with the performance?
"Give
them roots and wings – and confidence!"
Students rehearse ArtReach's The
Velveteen Rabbit -- Fleetwood Community Theatre, Exton PA
What matters is the child
performer has a chance to experience Captain Hook, try on the
clothes, hobble on the peg leg and enjoy being something they never
dreamt of. Give them roots and wings – the confidence to
try something new and a safe place to land if they don’t exactly fly.
Failure doesn’t need to
be pointed out or even worried about. It just isn’t part
of the experience. Giving kids a chance to have fun and feel
free to explore something outside of the ordinary – that’s
what it’s all about.
Give yourself the freedom to
value the process over product – and you’ll have the time
of your life!
ArtReach's
Emperors New Clothes Jazzes it Up with an Orchestra
Add creative
fun with percussion instruments
Danny Da Drum, Zella Bella,
Horatio Hornblower, Ting-A-Ling, Tim Whistle and Huey Kazooie.
What do these characters have in common? They are the members
of a fun and silly orchestra for ArtReach’s play THE
EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES.
Raid the music room!
Look for kazoos, triangles, drums, chimes, tambourines, rhythm
sticks, slide whistles, bells, cymbals and anything that makes
noise! Bring these to your first rehearsal and ask the kids to
play with them during scenes to see if they enhance the
performance. Show your cast an example: Peter rams his
head against the castle door to open it. Use the cymbal for the
crash and then a slide whistle as Peter circles his head around,
dizzy from the crash. Ask them to think of similar sounds for
other moments throughout the play such as the Empress’ entrance,
Peter’s travels etc. Set aside a little time each
rehearsal session to review ideas for sounds and decide which will be
included in the play.
The script for EMPEROR’S
NEW CLOTHES calls for the storytellers to also be the
music/sound makers, but you may apply this idea to any of the
ArtReach plays. Even if storytellers don’t stay stationary
at the percussion stand, they may carry small instruments in their
pockets or on chains around their necks. You can also eliminate
literal props by having the orchestra make the sounds such as sawing,
creaking hinges, a blacksmith’s tapping etc.
"Storytellers
are
also
the music/sound makers!"
ArtReach's Emperor's
- Campanile Center for the Arts, Minocqua WI
Example: Here’s a trick I
used often. When your Prince Charming hero enters have him
smile big. Have someone "ting” a triangle at just
that moment. It seems to make your hero’s teeth glint in
the sunlight. It never fails to get a laugh and establishes
your hero as a super good-guy.
JACK
AND THE BEANSTALK, ALICE
IN WONDERLAND and LEGEND
OF SLEEPY HOLLOW are great scripts for percussion instruments
but the idea may applied to any play with narrators.
Monticello
Elementary School (KY) presents ArtReach's The
Wizard of Oz
It's More Than Just a Play
The community is in for a treat this Thursday
(April 6th) at 6:00 p.m. if they would enjoy following the yellow
brick road to Emerald City in the children's version of The Wizard of
Oz. The third, fourth and fifth graders have been working on this
play for months and it will be a colorful adaptation when they bring
the famous story to life on the Monticello Elementary School stage.
The Monticello Elementary (KY) students will
get a chance to see the production during school hours, so parents
and the rest of the community are encouraged to attend the evening performance.
"Being
exposed to drama is very beneficial to youngsters."
Monticello Elem KY - Forsyth
Academy Performing Arts, Cumming, GA
Local teachers realize there are many
educational benefits in staging a play and in adding creative drama
to the school curriculum. Whether it is through the CKLA Reading
program at Wayne County's elementary schools where teachers bring
stories alive in their classrooms or in actual play productions like
Monticello Elementary's The Wizard of Oz play to be performed this
Thursday, April 6th at 6:00 p.m.
Enhancing imaginations through make believe is
completely natural for children. It builds their creativity,
self-esteem, and teaches them to deal with others in a cooperative
manner. So, being exposed to drama is very beneficial to youngsters,
according to the performance guide by ArtReach Children's Theatre
Plays, which is the company that has customized the play for schools.
"Students
learn to cooperate in a group activity."
Monticello Elem KY - Forsyth
Academy Performing Arts, Cumming, GA
Working together for a common goal producing a
play involves many different activities: memorizing lines, learning
stage movement, and creating costumes, props and set pieces. Students
get to experience the process of taking a project from inception to
completion. By its very nature, drama is a collaborative art:
students learn to cooperate in a group activity and enjoy the
camaraderie of the experience.
Children also develop their ability to focus
when participating in a play. By the time the play is ready, teachers
notice a vast improvement in their students' ability to focus - not
only on their parts, but on the other roles and the play in general.
"They
rise to the occasion, create a whole new world."
Monticello Elem KY - Forsyth
Academy Performing Arts, Cumming, GA
The Joy of Learning is realized on the day or
evening of the performance, as the audience enters and the play is
about to begin. The children will sense the excitement that it's show
time. They may be a bit nervous, but they know that now all their
diligent work will come together in something new and special. They
rise to the occasion, create a whole new world of make-believe, take
their bows, and beam in the applause that tells them they did a great
job. They are proud to be there, they have a sense of accomplishment,
and they are joyful that they learned and performed the play.
So, with all that said, sit back and enjoy this
student production Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. on the stage at
Monticello Elementary!
Directing Tips
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