Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category
An Arts Education Revolution
The arts are an arena that immediately draws students into the learning process and keeps them engaged. When including learning through the arts or about the arts (hopefully both), education becomes revolutionary for our time if our intention is to educate caring, compassionate, engaged, thoughtful, and reflective citizens.
This article entitled Time for a Revolution: Arts Education at the Ready on artsblog is long. Longer than it should be. I know your eyes start to glaze over when you’re staring at a screen for too long. I see you hitting that back button.
But Merryl Goldberg has something very important to say. Something that’s worth fighting the eye glaze for.
If you’re a believe in the importance of arts education. If you’re involved with arts education. If you think arts education needs to change, needs to take a stronger stance, be a bigger part, it’s worth every word.
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Spreading Some More Love
Read this Q&A with 16 year old playwright Aliza Rosen today. Her short play ‘Pass the Salt’ has been produced and published. That’s awesome! I am all about celebrating young playwrights - every teenager should write at least one.
How to Be a Better Improviser
Dan Goldstein has put together a great collection of tips on improving your improvisational skills.
Any one of these tips will help take your improv to the next level.
Some great examples:
MAKING JOKES
Never try to be funny or tell jokes on stage. Humor will arise naturally out of tight relationships and solid, simple plots.COMMENCE WITH CHARACTERIZING ACTIONS
Characterizing actions are those which define a character’s occupation or role, such as a teacher erasing a blackboard, a janitor cleaning up, or a child playing with toys, are good for starting scenes because they provide your fellow actors something to build on. They say a lot about what is going on and thus help the scene get to the point faster. Note that the scene need not (and often should not) be about drinking a beer or chopping lettuce just because that’s what one of the characters is doing. Two people can start a scene engaged in an action together. By putting status into this two-person action, a lot of information can be communicated very quickly. For example, consider a scene which starts with one character hitting tennis balls, and the other chasing around after them. The audience knows what the status is and where the characters are before the scene even starts.
Also take a look at a two Theatrefolk Newsletters on Improv:
- Issue 5 - Improv
- Issue 25 - Competition Improv
A Community Supports the Arts
“The program is a win-win-win,” she said. “A win for parents, kids and the community.”
In this time of such dour news when it comes to arts eduction and keeping the arts in student’s lives, it was thrilling to read this story in the Cambridge Chronicle.
This production of Once On This Island involved over 60 students and strove to combine students in other departments. We hear time and time again of the drama department not getting along with the music department. It’s nice to hear of some collaboration and co-operation.
“Residents of the city of Cambridge have made it clear that the arts are important to their child’s education,” she said. “There is a wonderful inclusion of the arts as part of the overall curriculum, and a recognition of the arts as important.”
This was wonderful to read as well. Congratulations to the students, the teachers and the community for making the arts important!
Five Hours to Tape a Stage…
The McCarter Theatre in New Jersey posted a video on their website of the Stage Management Team taping out the rehearsal hall for their production of A Christmas Carol.
If you want to see what goes into the set up of a BIG production watch this video. It takes Stage Managment 5 to 6 hours to tape out the floor! The final visual of the tape is pretty amazing…
Video: How to Paint a Brick Backdrop
Paul Overton is creating an instructional video on scenic painting for high school and middle school theatre. He posted a sample on his blog.
Looks like a great start so far.
We’re Now on Alltop!
Just a quick note to tell the world that the Theatrefolk Weblog has been added to the Alltop Theatre page.
Check it out. It’s an amazing source for all of the latest theatre-related news!
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