ISTA/Scene March 07

Alenka Dorrell - American
International School Budapest,
Hungary
Kabuki MACBETH: three Scenes
from Shakespeare
As part of a final directing unit, three IB
student directors tackled the Prophecy,
the Letter and the Final Battle in
Kabuki style. Each student actor also
took on a production role. The results
were spectacular and the learning
curve immense for everyone. The play
lent itself well to the style. Our witches
created some very Kabuki special
effects (fishing lights in their teeth,
cobwebs sprayed from their sleeves),
the kata for the warriors and the
extremely bloody fights with convenient
mie to underscore the action (and
allow everyone to breathe!) gave the
choreographers a job while the
designers worked with Kabuki colour
symbolism for the Hanamichi floor
cloths and the wall hangings. There
was space for the musicians to
compose a drumming and flute score
and our narrator spoke the text in
Japanese and English!
THE GRADUATING CLASS by the
High School Theatre Ensemble of
AISB
This was a devised production. We set
it in an International School,
improvising with characters from
different walks of life/circumstances.
The basic premise was a student
thinking on the questions posed by her
headmaster at Graduation, ‘Where
have you come from Where are you
going’ After every rehearsal, I took
away the notes I had written from the
students’ improvs and wrote the script
that way. This is obviously going to be
a touch frustrating in terms of writing
because often you would rather the
story was different (!) but it is a great
way to teach devising and character;
and to give the kids ensemble
ownership of their piece. It was also
hugely popular with the audience
because they recognized so much
from it – though we tried hard not to
tell any personal stories.
THREE SISTERS: an adaptation
based on the play by Anton
Chekhov
My IB Seniors are exploring Naturalism
through site-specific and Promenade
theatre, by rehearsing and performing
in my house. The first two acts take
place in the living room, the third act is
in the basement and fourth act takes
Calderdale HS
place in the garden! I can report that
we are having a ball doing this piece.
Working within a domestic environment
has been fantastic. So many moments
happen differently. A stage rehearsal
for instance, had Vershinin walking
around when talking. In the living room,
this was clearly ‘unnatural’ so we
made it much more static but used
hands and faces more. In terms of
production too it has been fascinating.
Mood music doesn’t work at home,
but you can do all sorts of things with
stage lighting. Our performance is, for
instance at 6pm but the first act is
daytime, spring. We are placing large
lights outside windows to shine in and
give the conceit. Because it is cold
here, torches and fire heaters are part
of the 4th act (now set at night...)
Interestingly, the 3rd act, in the
smallest space, works the best of all.
Anne Marie Drodz – Bilkent
University Preparatory School,
Turkey
ANTIGONE by Jean Anouillh
adapted by Anne Marie
Grade 12 IB Theatre Arts students
gained an experience of performing
this play in a professional small studio
theatre in February 2006. The play was
adapted to suit the individual needs of
7 students. They were given enough
individual exposure but were not
overburdened with large chunks of text
to memorize. The essence of the play
was kept intact – maintaining themes
of oppression, teenage rebellion and
search for identity. Drawing on Greek
myths and the theatrical conventions of
Greek Theatre, (masks, ritual dance
and choral movement), we also used
rehearsal techniques drawn from
Boal’s “Theatre of the Oppressed”
which was later incorporated into the
fabric of the play, eg, Colombian
Hypnosis, Mirroring, Image Sculpturing
etc. This was interlaced with modern
music and modern references in terms
of props and costuming. The set
design owed much to the influence of
Peter Brook with a minimalist approach
and an “empty space” feel to the
piece. The 7 actors gained a
worthwhile experience of performing in
a professional theatre space and
gained a synthesis of the two year
journey they had taken from Greek
Theatre in Year 1 through to Theatre of
the Oppressed in Year 2.
THE DINING ROOM by A.R. Gurney
The Grade 11 IB Theatre Arts class
performed this American classic in May
of 2006. Each of the six actors played
six to eight characters in the course of
the two-act play. As the director, I was
thrilled to finally have the numbers and
talent to put this piece on the stage.
This was also the first time at
BUPS/BIS that students performed a
full length dramatic piece, another sign
of how our theatre department is
expanding. The structure of the script
made every student stretch themselves
to reach the ultimate challenge faced
by every actor: How does one create a
believable character onstage They
had to exit, unbutton a shirt or pin up
their hair and come back on stage as
another character entirely. Due to
scheduling restrictions, the IB students
worked on the piece for over three
months before it went up, requiring
them to sustain focus and commitment
on a much higher scale. The main
challenge of the piece, technically, was
the set and props. The dining room in
question had to be stereotypically
American WASP, yet versatile enough
that it could withstand the 11 scenes
played around it. Students learned the
incredible frustrations every prop
master goes through: how to find not
just a spoon, but a whole set that not
only matches each other but the
Scene | 2006-7 March Issue 3 | 5