I’m working on a new play for middle schools about bullying. It’s going to be mostly non-verbal (although as I continue to work on it, that actually means no dialogue as actors will make sound). The theme of the play is how overwhelming a bullying situation can be – not just having to deal with a bully, but the fact that friends may desert the bullee, that parents may push the bullee to stand up for themselves, that teachers may not believe the victim. That bullies often end up escaping appropriate punishment because the adults involved aren’t willing to step up themselves.
I’m circling around about the end of the play. It can’t be all ‘hey all I have to do is tell a teacher and all my problems will be solved! Hooray!’ Telling a teacher did didly squat when I was bullied in middle school and the research pretty much shows as such. On the opposite end, it can’t be a violent retaliation, a vomit of anger, a bloody shoot out because then schools won’t do the play. Which belies the point of writing it. Middle school is such a tightrope in that regard. At the end of the day, it’s better to have the play in the schools, being performed.
So, I thought I’d throw this out to you. Given the circumstances (it’s for Middle Schools performers/audiences, it can’t have a ’and they all lived happily ever after ending,’ nor can it sound like a government statistics pamphlet) how would you end the play? What’s the most important message when it comes to this issue? What do you want relayed to a middle school audience? What is important to get across to that one kid who feels so alone and unable to see a way out of his/her situation?
“When we cut funding for arts education, we’re undermining the quality of our society.” – Evelyn Dolowitz Nitzberg, Petaluma (CA) Federation of teachers.
The March issue has even more Arts in the Schools coverage. Lots of wonderfully inspirational stories. I still think that they need to be publishing a toolkit for action but this is a great start.
Click the graphic above for a direct link to a free PDF of the issue.
* – Please note: I am under no delusions that the good folks at American Teacher read our little blog. It’s just fun to pretend that they do!
Know yourself. Know what you want. Know what’s going to make you happy, as opposed to what you think is going to make you happy.
All pithy, fortune cookie kind of bon mots. Cheap dollar store greeting card kind of phrases. But behind the pith and the cookie crumbs and why do all dollar stores have that funny smell, lies some good old down home thinking. Some thinking everyone should do, especially those of us trying to forge out a career in the arts. There are so many artists out there who do what they think makes them happy as opposed to being truly happy.
Craig and I are pursuing a side project this month. As Craig shared yesterday, we’re in Sudbury putting up The Flying Bandit for the Sudbury Theatre Centre. It’s a chance for me to direct, something I haven’t done in years – oh – since the last time we did this show. For Craig, it’s a chance to act (tour de force acting! Over 30 parts! Phew! ). For the both of us, it’s a chance to delve into parts of the theatre world that are outside the realm of Theatrefolk.
Every once in a while I get that far away look in my eye and wonder about things that might have happened. Could I have had a different kind of arts career? A more traditional one? Could I have been a professional director? Could I have made it as a different kind of writer? Am I missing out on something that might make me happy? Am I really happy writing for schools? Or is it only pretend happy? Is it hiding in a hole happy?
Well, working on this play has been nice. A nice side trip. A nice adventure. But I’m not missing anything. What is nice is to be reminded, every once in a while that I made the right choices, that I am truly happy in my current work, and if I never directed another play again I wouldn’t have a smidge of regret. Not an ounce. Not a metric ton. No regrets.
More than that, I’m looking forward to getting back to my world. As The Flying Bandit goes into it’s final runs before opening and the director really has nothing to do but watch the show and give some notes, I’m already thinking about work that has to be done, plays to be created and workshops to be given.
Many moons ago, before Theatrefolk as you know and love it existed, Lindsay and I had a theatre company. A very small theatre company. The world’s smallest theatre company.
She would write and we would act. When she decided that acting wasn’t for her anymore then it was just me acting. It was at that time that we first learned of a bank robber/gold thief/master escape artist named Ken Leishman (aka The Flying Bandit). The story intrigued us enough to turn it into a play.
There were 37 different characters in that first version of the play and I played them all.
We toured all over Canada with that little show. A few years later we toured it again. A few years later we performed it at the Showboat Festival. And this week we’re about to open again at the Sudbury Theatre Centre.
So I’ve been doing this show on and off for nearly 13 years now. The script has changed, I’ve changed. I honestly don’t even know how many characters there are in the show at this point. I’ve resisted counting because it would just freak me out.
We put together a short video for the Sudbury folks showing how we went about developing the multi-character aspects of the show. Hope you enjoy it!
Artsedge/The Kennedy Centre has this lovely shadow puppetry resource. Lots of information, lots of video examples, and instructions on making your own shadow puppet. But wait, there’s more!
background on the art
how traditional puppets were made.
how to create your own show
typical shadow characters
how to bring character into a puppet
shadow puppet masters
Certainly it’s not as good as something hands out, but absolutely a great place to start.
Welcome to this week’s Spread the Love. This week we are talking about, another issue play, we are talking about The Pregnancy Project. We put the word “Pregnancy” right in the title so that there is no surprise as to the subject matter of the play.
And indeed, there is a pregnancy project in the play. An entire health class, both girls and boys, have to wear pregnancy bellies to simulate what it’s like to pregnant and discuss their views. Some like the project, some hate it, some are influenced, some not at all. And one girl is Late. For Real. And doesn’t know what to do. Craig what do you love about The Pregnancy Project?
I love how well the ensemble is integrated into the play. You know that saying “there are no small parts only small actors?” Well, this is a one act with a cast of twenty, pretty big cast, and there are no small parts. Because, everyone gets a monologue or at least a moment to shine in the script. Really wonderful writing. Lindsay, what do love about The Pregnancy Project?
As a writer, I don’t think it’s my job to tell anybody what to do. Even if I want to. Even with an issue like this where I want to throw myself at the feet of every teenager and say: “Don’t do it! You’re too young! There’s so much time!!” Not my job.
It is my job to take an issue and present all angles even if I don’t agree with them. You want to present all angles and you want to make sure those angels are represented by characters. And you want to be sure those characters are three dimensional. And that’s what this play has in spades: characters from all angles that are human beings discussing an issue, living an issue.
Lindsay and I are huge fans of a group called the Neo-Futurists, a New York-based group that performs 30 plays in 60 minutes under the moniker Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind. Lindsay wrote a blog post four years ago about the first time we saw them.
They’ve posted a video from a recent show where they performed a piece called The Complete and Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O’Neil Vol.1: Long Day’s Journey Into Night Act Two Scene One. Anyone who’s read this play knows that the stage directions are intensely detailed. Sometimes the stage directions are longer than the actual dialogue. Here’s a scene from the play as hilariously interpreted by the Neo-Futurists. Enjoy!
We love that you dropped by to visit and we really hope you find this stuff useful. Want to be notified every time this blog is updated? Subscribe here. It's easy! It's free!
I’m working on a new play for middle schools about bullying. It’s going to be mostly non-verbal (although as I continue to work on it, that actually means no dialogue as actors will make sound). The theme of the play is how overwhelming a bullying situation can be – not just having to deal with a bully, but the fact that friends may desert the bullee, that parents may push the bullee to stand up for themselves, that teachers may not believe the victim. That bullies often end up escaping appropriate punishment because the adults involved aren’t willing to step up themselves.
Craig and I are pursuing a side project this month. 
