Archive for February, 2008
Success.
This weekend at the Alabama State Thespian Festival.
The grumpy student says to the teacher, “I don’t want to go to the workshop.”
Says the teacher to the grumpy student, “Go to the workshop.”
Says the grumpy student to the teacher, “I don’t want to go to the workshop.”
Says the teacher to the grumpy student, “Go to the workshop.”
Says the grumpy student to the teacher, “I won’t like it.”
Says the teacher to the grumpy student, “Go to the workshop.”
Some time later….
Says the teacher to the grumpy student, “Did you go to the workshop?”
Says the grumpy student to the teacher, “Yes.”
Silence.
Says the teacher to the grumpy student, “Did you like the workshop?”
Says the grumpy student to the teacher, “Yes. It was the best one.”
Success.
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Georgia Thespian Festival
I went to the Georgia State Thespian Conference earlier this month, and recorded a podcast about my workshop experiences.
I was also thrilled to meet a couple of cast members from the Newton High School production of Look Me In The Eye.
They asked me to sign copies of their poster for the cast, which I was more than happy to do.
Silence is not golden
Teachers ask us all the time for ‘cuts.’ Since we deal with schools, we’re pretty flexible when it comes to some things such as language. But it really makes me crazy when administrators censors topics that are clearly important to expose students to. How do they expect students to learn, to make decisions, to become human?
Censorship wins when we are silent. When we begin to self-censor ourselves. I am re-posting an email from fellow writer Jonathan Dorf which he originally posted on the plays and playwrights listserve about his recent experience in Missouri. He encourages any and all to spread the post far and wide.
Lindsay
*********************
I’m saddened to report that the production of Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions and Now You See Me, my plays about bullying and school violence, respectively, has been canceled less than a month before opening at Smithton Middle School in Columbia, Missouri.
The story was first reported on Sunday, February 9 in the Columbia Missourian, the University of Missouri daily newspaper:
http://www.columbia
A more informative (and closer to the truth) story then ran Tuesday, February 12, in the Columbia Daily Tribune:
http://www.columbia
The school’s stated reason for not allowing the production to continue, as you’ll read in the Tribune article: the plays were too metaphorical for middle school students to grasp their “message.” What’s puzzling is that both plays, which illustrate the need to reach out and create community, have been consistently used as part of prevention programs nationwide, and such programs have often included students of this age. Further, the teacher, Debbie Baldwin, had prepared pre and post-show programs, including discussions with me (yes, I was supposed to visit for a week) and a crisis counselor, to help the students process the material.
Now You See Me, a highly theatrical, seriocomic look at what causes students to resort to violence, was commissioned and developed by the Choate Rosemary Hall Summer Arts Conservatory (CT), where it was performed by a mixed group of middle and high school students. It went on to premiere at Oak Park High School in Kansas City (MO) and has since had numerous productions at middle and high schools, including a New York production by City Lights Youth Theatre (another cast of middle and high school students) on a double bill with William Mastrosimone’s celebrated play, Bang Bang, You’re Dead!. There, Bill and I participated in a panel discussion about teen violence prevention with the plays’ director and professors from Columbia and Harvard, moderated by Dan Abrams of MSNBC. City Lights later used the play, which is published by Brooklyn Publishers (Odessa, TX), for violence prevention at underserved middle schools in the Bronx.
Thank You for Flushing… follows a pair of bullied students who stand at the crossroads-to save themselves, will they be forced to become bullies? Published by Playscripts, it has, in the 15 months since it premiered at the Springfield Academy of Arts and Academics (Springfield, OR; directed by Michael Fisher, who directed the premiere of Bang Bang, You’re Dead! as well), already been produced 20 times across the United States and Canada, with many more productions slated to take place later in the year. Said Troy Herbort, who directed the Socorro High School (El Paso, TX) production, “In my 17 years of teaching, I have rarely found a script that has touched the cast, crew, student and adult audience in such a profound way. Upon our first reading of the play, our company stated that it was a play that we had to produce. My students felt like they needed to do this for their school.”
Thank You for Flushing… has its own website at http://thankyouforf
I have been in touch with the Dramatists Guild of America–as you’ll see from reading the second article, which interviews Guild executive director of business affairs Ralph Sevush and me, among others–and I’m hopeful that the Guild will shine a bright light on this.
Censorship is greatly disturbing for many reasons, but it’s particularly disappointing in a case like this. Bullying and violence in schools are major problems (the irony here is that censorship is a form of bullying), and not talking about them isn’t going to make them go away. On the other hand, having that discussion always creates an opportunity for positive change.
Cheers,
Jon Dorf
I love the internet
I’m doing preliminary writing work over the next month. It’s the most forgiving work; fragmented note taking, internet browsing, gazing out the window thinking. No deadlines, no dialogue, no need to have a finished draft yesterday.
I’m always amazed at the access to information at my fingertips. How did people survive without the web? I guess they walked down to their library, searched through the card catalogue and actually read through book after book hunting for scraps. I get to sit in my office (a pot of tea by my side) and plunk in search after search. Still after the same scraps but the hunting is much more comfortable.
So today, the particular scraps are winter stories, superstitions, traditions, rituals; on and on and on. The politically correct School administrator has decided that ‘Christmas’ plays are persona non grata. It’s oddly appropriate that I’m also working on a censorship play at the same time….
Sometimes I’ll plunk in my search and imagine pages and pages of material will surface - but I’m left with nothing but an empty plate. Other times I’m insanely surprised. A story, a fragment, a piece of information comes out of nowhere and I’m writing, writing, writing.
My favourite story in my hunt is something called ‘The Yule Cat.’ It’s a fable from Iceland. In the story people who work really hard during the fall get a piece of new clothing at the end of the year. If a person doesn’t get a piece of clothing, they’ll get eaten by the cat. I just….. it’s certainly a boogy man will get you story, but the set up and punch line is so bizarre. If you’re lazy, you’re cat food….
Spotlight: E-News from Theatrefolk - Issue 27 - The Issue Play
Issue plays are popular and important. They can bring an issue to life and allow an audience to directly connect to that issue. Having said that, they are not the easiest plays to produce.
For this newsletter I talk to teachers and students who have directed my play The Bright Blue Mailbox Suicide Note. Read about their experiences and their advice. There’s also an introduction to Augusto Boal and the Theatre of the Oppressed, an interactive issue based theatre form.
In This Issue
* SHOUT CONTEST
Film a scene and win a great prize!
* VIDEOS
Theatrefolk publishers record their adventures.
* INTRO
An introduction to the newsletter.
* DIRECTING THE ISSUE PLAY
Directors talk about The Bright Blue Mailbox Suicide Note.
* WRITING THE ISSUE PLAY
What are the responsibilities of the writer?
* ACTING THE ISSUE PLAY
Downplay dramatic-downness.
* DOWNLOADS
Two pages of rehearsal exercises.
* THEATRE OF THE OPRESSED
An introduction to Augusto Boal.
* SHOUT BLOG
Lindsay and Kristin talk about the song Friend.
* RINGTONES
Get your favourite literary quote on your phone!
* MRS. MERRITT’S BIG BOOK OF HOLIDAY SKITS
Holiday plays for the whole calendar.
* WHAT’S NEW?
Our student film contest is open for submissions!
* CONFERENCE ALERT
Meet us in person.
* IN THE NEXT ISSUE
What you can expect next.
* FACEBOOK/MYSPACE
More places to reach Theatrefolk.
* STAY IN TOUCH
Contact Info/Read Our Blog.
Read it here:
http://www.theatrefolk.com/spotlight
TETA 2008
A short video of Theatrefolk at the Texas Educational Theatre Association Conference in January 2008.
Good news
Got some good news yesterday. Found out I’ve been accepted as a playwright mentor for the Uth Ink program. This program is sponsored by the Playwrights Guild of Canada and promotes youth writing.
The project starts out with a day long workshop were youth are encouraged to write something (short scene or monologue) inspired by their community. I’ll be there to help corral that inspiration into play form. Then I’ll continue to communicate with the playwrights through email as they work on their script.
This is the interesting part. At the end, the plays will be recorded. Signs will be put up around the community with a phone number on them. The general public can then call the number and hear the plays.
I highly support youth writing. Everyone should get their thoughts out on paper at some point in their life, in whatever form they like. I’m very happy to be a part of this program.
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