ISTA/Scene March 07

Calderdale HS
Beijing MS
visual arts classes created art pieces
that were projected in each scene that
were inspired from artists of the time
periods, the choir and strings classes
explored music from the various time
periods and the performance class
explored acting styles. It included over
80 students and the school supported
the project by providing three in house
rehearsal days when the ‘full cast’
could come together to put the project
onstage. There were, of course,
elements that needed to be ironed out
as all the pieces of the puzzle came
together, but, working in this way
provided an incredible depth of learning
for the students and teachers alike.
Rob Warren & Sherry Weeks –
Atlanta International School, USA
24-HOUR PLAYS
Over a 24-hour period of time, working
with 6 Guest Directors and 5 Guest
Designers with various theatrical
backgrounds (clowning, improvisation,
comedy, dance, puppetry, tragedy, set
design, costume design, light design,
publicity & prop design.) High School
students had been divided into either
performance or production groups on
a sign up first come first sever basis.
Beginning at 7:00pm Friday night with
a family dinner each performance
group was given a Shakespearian
sonnet to create into a 5-10 minute
production using the Guest Director’s
background in theatre. At the same
time each production group worked on
designing, building or creating their
relevant production area. During the
first 12 hours scripts were written,
rehearsed and staged. The set,
costumes, props, lights and posters
had been designed and construction
was taking place. At 7:00am
Saturday morning both performance
and production groups were putting
final touches to their areas ready to
perform a dress rehearsal after
lunch at 12:00pm. From 1:00pm
onwards students were brought
into the theatre to begin staging
the opening and closing of the
show in addition to running a
tech/dress rehearsal. Little time was
left for final changes however some
groups managed to fit time in. All
production work had stopped and
these students began working on
technical positions needed to run the
show, for example backstage crew,
light & sound operators, ushers, tickets
& concessions. At 6:00pm the
audience arrived at the theatre to take
their seats for a night of Theatre. What
they didn’t expect was what 24 Hours
of little sleep, constant pressure to
taking risks and a Shakespearian
Sonnet could create. At 7:00pm the
curtain rose on 50 eager performers
and 30-inspired production crew who
had created something out of nothing
in 24 hours. This project is truly a
remarkable experience that shows the
power of ensemble and student’s
imaginations. My only criticism of this
project is the final productions can
focus too heavily on “in-house jokes”
or “things that only the 24-Hour
participants know about” and therefore
the final product can often be not as
clean or un-finished. However, to see a
production where no one gets cut,
every student is welcome and the
amount of creativity that occurs over
24 Hours is well worth trying.
THE DEAD MAN WALKING Project
by Tim Robbins
The DEAD MAN WALKING School
Theatre Project (the Play Project, for
short) is an opportunity to broaden
discussion about the death penalty
and involve schools and their local
communities in an inter-disciplinary
dialogue about this major social issue.
What is the Play Project Check it out
at http://www.deadmanwalkingplay.org
Any description we give you would not
do justice to the experience our
students had on this project. It was
truly a remarkable experience all around.
JUNGLE BOOK by Edward Mast
This was a production I did with our
Middle School students a few years
ago. Although the script describes the
production as being set “not in a
jungle, but a jungle-gym”, we decided
to take this opportunity and research
how Rudyard Kipling’s writing was
influenced by the time he spent living
in India. Allowing the students to
research Hindu myths and making
connections between their Jungle
Book characters and the Hindu God’s
& Deities we decide to develop our
production on Indian culture and
traditions. Using this to guide us our
design team who were made up of
IBDP Visual Art and Theatre Art
students, who had been influenced by
a Julie Taymor production we had seen
in New York, decided to design the
production using masks and puppets.
What later became the set and the
actors’ costumes began as mock
sketches of an Indian jungle, a study of
animals at the Atlanta zoo, and
research done on Hindu art and
artefacts. This final production was a
huge success both visually and
through the process we took. Giant
animal puppets roamed the stage,
characters with masks hanging over
them, traditional Indian dancing and
music, and finally a group of Upper
and Middle School students who had
learned the true nature of theatre as an
ensemble art form.
Tom Wilkinson – Dresden
International School, Germany
(formerly at Colegio Roosevelt,
Lima, Peru)
From Lima
We began the year wondering how to
have as many students on stage as
possible and not do a musical. Having
always had a burning desire to visit
Friedrich Durrenmatt’s THE VISIT and
trusting other choices would not
provide the stage time necessary for
forty to fifty budding actors, Todd
Welbes, who taught and directed with
me, and I decided the time was right.
His comment, “It’s so dark and
devilish,” pushed the decision even
further. We cast the show with a
marvelous pair of actor lovers, Claire
Zachanassian and Anton Ill, but
surrounded them with a cast of
villagers who managed to control the
audience through almost three hours
of performance. We even added song
and dance as we wrote in parts for a
pair of Harlequin narrators who led the
Scene | 2006-7 March Issue 3 | 27