ISTA/Scene March 07

narratives throughout the play, told by
the Hoopoe, each to teach a lesson to
the other birds. The play is quite
visually stimulating. We had one of the
classes at school design a bird mask
and wings for each bird character;
underneath this all the actors wore
white Middle Eastern dress (baggy
pants, knee-length shirt). The creativity
and colours that came from the
student’s bird creations were
awesome! We performed the play in
the round, with the main action taking
place on a circular carpet surrounded
by bamboo poles. When the birds
were not in the circle they were
perched on various sized ramps and
levels in the corners of the room. The
play is physically demanding in that the
actors must work hard to develop their
“bird bodies,” as well as give the
illusion of flight throughout the play.
Tim Evans – Yokohama
International School, Japan
THE BURIAL AT THEBES: Heaney
after Sophocles
This is Sophocles’ Antigone, but a
fairly new version by Seamus Heaney.
The language is very accessible. The
students did not feel threatened by it.
The cast was from 7th to 12th grade.
I used all my IB class too. The latter
took on both performance and
production roles. I used some
eighteen students on stage. I chose six
students to be the Chorus; you could
have two or twenty. It was my first time
working with a CHORUS and was a
desired challenge. They hold the play
together. But what would I do with
them on stage all the time! They
explored: jazz dance, Tango, physical
theatre and acrobatics. The stage was
open and minimal. We reset it in a
mythical South American country.
Creon looked highly dubious as the
Chorus swept in to the sampled Tango
sounds of Gotan Project. He did not
have a Cuban cigar.
ARMS AND THE MAN by G.B.Shaw
This is a perfect low-key, small cast
project for IB students wishing to
explore Victorian Theatre. 3 female, 4
male. 3 ACTS. 3 settings. A set
design challenge. We did it on an
open stage with 3 distinct areas for
each Act. Colour coded, semi-real and
contemporary. The play has many
themes: love, honour, deceit, war,
male/female. It concerns a soldier
trapped in the bedroom of a young
lady whose fiancé is on the other side
of the conflict. The fugitive appears
eccentric in his views of war and
honour. She becomes intrigued. Will
she protect him
THE NAVIGATOR
This was an adaptation of the little
known musical from 1976: Stephen
Sondheim’s PACIFIC OVERTURES.
With at least a dozen songs it was far
too ambitious for MS/HS. But being
here in Japan it seemed impossible to
ignore. So we rewrote the start and
the end. We only included 4 songs. It
had a rather dated view of the
Japanese: walkmans and sushi rolls.
We added AWA ODORI dance,
BUTOH movement and Complicite
lighting effects recently seen in THE
ELEPHANT VANISHES. The Cast was
large. I used over thirty but you could
add more in the crowd scenes. This is
in many ways Sondheim’s attempt at
an Asian play. So for IB students there
are opportunities for exploring: Kabuki,
Noh, Butoh, Kyogen and Bunraku. We
selected two out of those; Butoh and
Kyogen conventions. It is the story of
Manjiro, a young boy who is
shipwrecked. He is rescued by an
American Whaler and is taken to New
England. He learns English, one of the
first Japanese to do so, and returns
dangerously to the closed kingdom. It
is all based on fact so there is plenty
of opportunity for research and
historical cross-over. Again we used
our open stage and created settings
with slide projections. We also had live
music: taiko drums, koto and piano.
This was a very special play to do and
if you are going for your BIG one; the
one you wish to be remembered by,
the one you will watch again and
again on your dvd, then... dozo.
Jerry Flynn – International School
of Tanganyika, Tanzania
DRACULA SPECTACULAR: book
& lyrics by John Gardiner, music
by Andrew Parr, published by
Samuel French
This was a secondary school (grades
6-12) musical play with a cast of 25
(this is flexible). It has great music,
both big chorus numbers and
challenging solos and duets. The
characters are melodramatic and
stereotypical creating some great
humor. It has good scope for design
and construction and so we had a
large crew working on those elements
throughout the rehearsal process. It
was also used as a project in stage
lighting and sound for the IB Theatre
Arts students. It was a three- month
project, rehearsing twice a week as an
extra-curricular activity. The outcome
was kitsch and humorous. The
students and staff had a great time
working with this one and it was
received well as an enjoyable evening
of family entertainment.
PINNOCHIO written by John
Morley, published by Samuel
French
At the time of writing this is our current
project. We are working with a cast of
35 students from grades 6-12. There
are 12 principal roles with supporting
cast as puppets, circus performers
and villagers. The play is directorially
challenging with the script demanding
a variety of illusions and complex
settings. The original script is a musical
although we have decided instead we
have the MYP grade 10 students
composing and recording an original
score. The production is being used as
a vehicle for the IB students as well,
one who is working on Costume
Design for her Individual Project and
one who has taken on the role of
Stage Manager. The production is
working along the lines of
Physical/Total Theatre. Its greatest
challenge and benefit is the
opportunity it gives for an exploration
of movement and ensemble theatre.
Beijing MS
Calderdale HS
Scene | 2006-7 March Issue 3 | 7