Shows

You’ve picked your next play or musical - hooray! The script is chosen, the dates are set, and your students can’t wait to hear what it is. Now comes the next big step: How do you share the news in a way that gets your students, school, and community excited too? A show announcement isn’t just an update; it’s your first opportunity to build buzz, curiosity, and anticipation. Whether you want something simple or spectacular, here are some creative ways to make your next show announcement shine. 1. The Big RevealYou can’t go wrong with a classic. Create a dramatic “reveal moment” for your cast and crew. • Option A: Gather your students and drop a big hint - a single prop, a line from the script, or a quote - before revealing the title. • Option B: Hang a banner or projection that says “Our Next Production Is…” and let students pull the curtain (literally or figuratively). • Option C: Wrap your script in a box and let a student open it like a gift. Bonus: Film the reveal and post it on your program’s social media pages. 2. The Mystery GameTurn your announcement into a week-long guessing game. • Post a daily clue on your classroom door or bulletin board. • Share close-up photos of props, costumes, or words from the script. • Create a “Title Scramble”: Rearrange the letters of your show’s name, characters, and lines from the show and challenge your students to decode one per day, ending on the show title. • Have students guess the title each day. This keeps students engaged and builds excitement all week long. The more interactive, the better. 3. The “Escape Room” RevealFor a class that loves puzzles, create a short “escape room” or scavenger hunt activity. Each clue leads to a new piece of information - a theme, a character name, a prop - until the final answer reveals the show title. It’s a fun and collaborative way to make the announcement memorable and connect students to the show before rehearsals even begin. 4. The Social Media Teaser CampaignStart a countdown to your announcement day on your program’s social media pages. • Day 3: A photo of the stage with the caption: “Something’s coming…” • Day 2: A cryptic prop image • Day 1: A line from the script • Announcement Day: The poster, title, and performance dates Hashtag it up: #DramaReveal #NextShow #TheatreSeason Tip: Use Canva to easily create sleek, professional-looking social media posts. 5. The Themed Photo WallSet up a “photo reveal wall” in your classroom or hallway. Decorate it with colors, props, or symbols from the show, and have students take pictures with it once the title is revealed. Share those photos on social media or the school bulletin board; it’s a great way to visually introduce your show’s vibe. 6. The Trailer DropChannel your inner movie marketer and make a teaser trailer with your students. • Use dramatic music, short quotes, or even your students’ reactions without showing the title. • End with a fade to black, the show’s name and dates. • Post the results! Students love seeing themselves featured, and it’s one way to spread the word online. 7. The Costume Clue LineHang a line of costume pieces or props across your classroom or hallway. Each item connects to a character or moment from the show. Let students guess the production before you reveal it. (Hint: Keep one totally unrelated prop in there just to throw them off.) 8. The Community ConnectionAnnounce your show by involving your school community. • Collaborate with the art class to design teaser posters. • Have the morning announcements crew read dramatic hints. • Drop “sneak peek” flyers in the library or cafeteria with just the tagline or theme. The more people feel involved, the more invested they’ll be when opening night arrives. 9. The “Cast Reactions” VideoIf your returning students already know the show, film their reactions to the reveal (no spoilers!). Their excitement and energy are contagious, and it shows future students and your audience that this is a production to get excited about. 10. The Quiet RevealSometimes less is more. A simple, stylish poster on your classroom door with just the title and performance dates can make a big impact. Final TakeawayYour show announcement sets the tone for your entire production season. Whether you go for mystery, creativity, or heartfelt excitement, the key is to make your students feel like they’re part of something special - because they are. Your next show isn’t just a title; it’s the start of a new story, a new adventure, and a new chance for your students to shine. Additional Reading: Fun Ways to Announce Your Next Show

Whether your drama program is just starting out or it’s well established, it’s important to keep a record of your theatrical achievements. Your drama portfolio should consist of a digital and physical archive, as well as a social media presence, and a display element in the school, preferably near to your drama classroom or the school auditorium. School sports achievements are always displayed prominently; the arts should be no different. Your work and your students’ work should be admired publicly and remembered fondly. Celebrating your school’s theatrical achievements shows that you are proud of the work you do and encourages more students to participate in drama class and future productions. So let’s get showcasing! 1. Start a physical archive.You likely don’t have a ton of room to spare for a huge archive, so be choosy about what physical items you keep. You should keep a show programme, a show poster, and a cast photo print from each show you produce. As well, you can include things like newspaper clippings or printouts from online publicity sources, a photo or two from a special event, any award certificates or adjudications received, and any similar small items you deem important to a particular show. Keep memorabilia to a minimum though; there’s no need to save every piece of paper associated with the show. Keep each show contained to one folder. Be sure to carefully label any undated or unmarked items so future generations can identify what they’re looking at. For printouts of web articles, write the website address and the date accessed on the paper, as articles often vanish or are re-routed frequently. Store archival items up off the ground in sturdy, weatherproof boxes, rather than in cardboard boxes that can deteriorate or get wet. For bonus points, label the outside of the boxes so you know what items are inside. For those minimalists who turn up their noses at a physical archive, it’s useful to have a small physical archive because you never know if or when a digital archive might fail, get corrupted, deleted, or lock you out (lost password, anyone?). As well, you can display the archival items for students, faculty, and visitors to view and shift them around whenever you feel your display needs a glow-up. It’s also just a nice feeling to be able to hold a small piece of memorabilia in your hands. 2. Start a digital archive.Having a digital archive is useful in case your physical archive gets lost or damaged. If possible, use a cloud-based system that can be accessed from anywhere, and keep a backup as well. Again, keep digital versions of show programmes, posters, and photographs properly labelled in dated folders (for example: Fall 2023 – darklight). Scan copies of any physical memorabilia (photo prints, certificates, etc.) and store them in the appropriate digital folder. This way if the physical copies get damaged, you’ll have electronic backups. You can also devote way more online storage to photos and videos — rehearsal photos and videos, production photos from tech/dress rehearsals, and a video recording of the show, provided your show rights permit you to do so. Keep a digital copy of the cast list with photos so you can easily identify performers as years pass. You may also want to keep a piece of paper with your digital archive password in your physical archive storage box so that in the future others can access and add to the archive you’ve started. 3. Update your online presence.If you have a classroom website, get it updated. If your school uses social media, start using it. If your school doesn’t, get on it! Your online presence is like a web-based scrapbook documenting your theatrical endeavours in real time. Share videos and photos of your students and their work, create online events to publicise your shows, try out the latest TikTok trend with your students. Is it extra work? Yes. Can you share the same work across multiple platforms? Again, yes, just sometimes with a bit of tweaking. Every app and website attracts different viewers, and with all the algorithm changes, there’s no guarantee your audiences are actually seeing your posts. There’s nothing wrong with recycling materials. As well, most apps have “Memories” or “This day in…” or archival sections where you can repost content from past years. Use that for throwbacks and highlight the work you’ve done over the years. 4. Create a physical display unit.If you don’t already have a window display unit or a similar area to show off your students’ work, speak to your administration about allotting one to your drama department. Then freshen it up! Give it a good scrubbing and fill it with photographs, awards, show posters, props from past shows, spirit wear — anything that catches the eye and paints your drama program in a positive light. Update it seasonally or when you’re studying a new unit. Display student work such as student-created masks and props, set models, makeup designs, and rehearsal photographs (get them blown up to 5x7 or 8x10 size). Of course, be sure to display any awards or trophies your shows have received. You can get creative too. Perhaps you can get a mannequin or dressmaker’s dummy and display a costume designed by a student or worn in a show. Make friends with a talented sewer and have them make your show shirts into a banner or quilt and display that on the wall. Mount cast photos on the centre of a large board and have the students write their autographs around the outside. (That might be worth money on eBay someday!) Above all, have fun, be creative, and take pride in the work you and your drama students have done. You deserve it!

Show programs (also known as playbills) are the easiest way to share important production information with the audience. Programs are a method of acknowledging all the hard work done by the cast and crew to bring the production to life. They also make a nice souvenir for audience members after the show. Programs should be visually appealing, easy to read, and succinct, while including all the necessary personnel information and proper credits. Programs can be as simple as a one-page flyer or as elaborate as a fully illustrated booklet. Programs can also be themed towards the production – for example, a production of Newsies might want to make their program look like a newspaper, while a production of Treasure Island might make their program look like a pirate’s treasure map – or in a completely different medium entirely, such as a display board, or even a digital program that patrons can access on their cell phones. There are online resources for creating and printing programs, such as Playbillder, but teachers and students can also create a simple program themselves by using a computer program such as Word or Publisher. Exercise:In this exercise, students will create a traditional printed program for their actual upcoming production or class performance, or they can create a program for a fictitious production. The program will be printed and submitted on a minimum of one standard sheet of 8.5” x 11” paper, folded in half (front cover, inside left cover, inside right cover, back cover). Additional pages are optional. The cover and any images or photographs should be in colour. Spelling and grammar definitely count! What to include: • Show title and graphic (for the cover) • Show dates and times • Location of performance • Production credits (playwright/book writer, lyricist, composer, and any other important credits that were indicated when you purchased the rights to the show – these credits cannot be omitted!) • Director’s note and/or brief summary of the show • Cast list with actors’ names and role(s) • There are many different ways of crediting the performers! • Alphabetical by actor’s last name • In order of appearance • In order of speaking • In groups (for example: “Kansas,” “Munchkinland,” “Forest,” “Oz” in The Wizard of Oz) • Size of role (I try not to use this ordering method if I can help it, as it encourages a “leads are more important than the ensemble” mindset.) • Whatever order you choose for crediting the performers, be sure to indicate this order underneath the “Cast” title, for ease of understanding. • Crew list, including all artistic staff members (producer, director, musical director, choreographer), stage management team members, assistants, designers, operators, band/orchestra members, and additional crew members • Special thanks to anyone who assisted with the production (such as rental sources, dramaturgical assistance, people or companies who donated items or services, financial sponsors, etc.) Optional (include at least two): • Cast and crew headshots and biographies • Scene and/or song breakdown • Principal’s message • Advertising spaces or “good luck/break a leg” messages from friends and family (can be sold as a fundraiser) • Additional photographs (cast, crew, performance photos) • Blank page for autographs • Advertising for an upcoming production or special event

Our next casting challenge is the exact opposite of our last post. What happens when you have fewer actors than named parts in the script? This can be a great acting challenge for students, as it will entail some of them taking on multiple roles in the same show. But it can get quite busy and complicated trying to keep their various character tracks and costume changes straight! Here are some suggestions for casting a show with fewer actors than named roles: • Search for creative doubling opportunities. See what characters could logically be played by one person. • Look for characters who only appear in Act One vs. Act Two. • Look for characters that only appear in one scene and then don’t come back. • Combine a group of similar roles into one role. For example, if your show has a big group of servants, all the servant roles become one single “Servant.” • Reassign lines to other characters , if it can be done and still make sense. For example, I directed a show where we had three “bad guys” and one of the three actors dropped out of the show two weeks before the show opened. We weren’t able to get a replacement, so we took that actor’s lines and dispersed them between the two remaining “bad guys.” (Don’t forget–you must always get permission from the playwright before making changes to the script!) • Creative quick-changes. Can students change costumes to become another character? Oftentimes a hat or jacket can make a big difference. But even without a costume change, this is a great chance for students to focus on really changing physicalities, voices, and mannerisms between characters! Two examples of this are the musical The Toxic Avenger and the play The 39 Steps, where casts of five and four actors (respectively) play a huge multitude of parts, often in the same scene! In The Toxic Avenger, there is even a song where one actress who plays two different roles sings a duet between those two characters–at the same time! • Consider cross-gender casting. Nine times out of ten you will have more girls than boys auditioning for shows. If you have an overabundance of girls, can a female actor play any of the roles? (Be sure to decide whether or not the girl will be playing a boy role as a boy, or if the character will be changed into a female– i.e. Simon becomes Simone, etc.) ExerciseThe following exercise challenges students to cast a show using their classmates, and then forces students to figure out how to recast the show when their classmates are taken away! Have each student complete this exercise individually. 1. Select a play or musical that the class will use for the basis of this exercise. (If you are already studying a particular production in class, so much the better.) If possible, select a play or musical with approximately the same number of named roles as there are students in the class. 2. Individually, students will cast the play using the dramatis personae (character list) in the script. They will also use their knowledge of the play itself and their classmates’ skills and dramatic ability. Students should include themselves on their cast list. 3. Once students have completed their lists, the teacher will put each student’s name on a slip of paper, and put the slips into a hat. The teacher will then draw out 25% of the slips of paper. For example, for a class of 20 students, five names will be drawn. These students now cannot be cast in the show. 4. Students must go back to their lists and create a second list, recasting their show without those five students in the mix. How will they reassign roles? 5. Students will note the reasons for their recasting choices below their second list. For example: “Jamie will now play the roles of both Ms. Carling and Miss Jones, because Ms. Carling only appears in Act 1 and Miss Jones only appears in Act 2.” 6. Then, after students have recast their show with one quarter fewer actors, the teacher will draw out 25% more names (going back to our first example, in the class of 20, now only ten names will be remaining). Now these students also cannot be cast in the show. 7. Students will go back to their second list and create a third list, recasting the show with only half the number of actors they originally had. Again, they must note the reasons for the recasting below their third list. 8. Students can get as creative as they wish for doubling and ensuring all the roles are covered. Depending on which students’ names get pulled out of the hat, you may end up with too many students of one gender–perhaps “Lord Smythe” becomes “Lady Smythe,” or perhaps a girl just ends up playing a male role. Maybe one student has a scene where he performs all the characters by himself, or perhaps another student plays every single “one-off” role themselves, with a multitude of quick-changes! The students’ intended casting will end up very different than what they originally intended. But as they say, “the show must go on!” 9. Once students have completed all three lists (including creative solutions for casting challenges), they will complete a reflection and submit all four pieces for evaluation.

Creating a rehearsal schedule can be a daunting task, but it is absolutely necessary for your production. Staff and students (both actors and crew members) must know the schedule expectations, so they can accommodate the production into their schedules. Having a clearly laid-out rehearsal schedule ahead of time will ease headaches and reduce conflict clashes, smoothing the overall process. For the purpose of this blog post, I assume that you (the teacher/director) are creating a rehearsal schedule for an extracurricular production and will be rehearsing solely outside of school hours. However, you can also adapt these guidelines to an in-class production. When I am creating a rehearsal schedule, I like to start from the performance week and work backwards. Once you have decided when the show will run and how many performances will occur, calculate how many hours you feel you and your students will need to get the show on its feet. This will differ from director to director and show to show. If you have directed shows in the past, go back over your schedule and count up how many hours you used to mount each show. Did you feel adequately prepared, or rushed? From there, determine how many times per week you will be rehearsing, and for how many hours per rehearsal. Would it be more useful to rehearse for two hours, three times a week, or for three hours, twice a week? If you are starting early and have four or more months until show time, you might want to start with rehearsals twice a week and then increase the number closer to performance time. But if you have fewer weeks to prepare, you’ll need to rehearse more frequently. Once you’ve determined the number and frequency of rehearsals, you’ll need to schedule your technical and dress rehearsals. Technical rehearsal (or “tech rehearsal,” for short) is where the technicians, stage management, and actors get to work together for the first time with lights, sound effects, microphones, and special effects all together in the theatre, rather than in a rehearsal space. The dress rehearsal is exactly what it sounds like: running the show with lights, sound, costumes, props, hair and makeup–it’s one last chance to rehearse everything before an audience comes in. These rehearsals are longer than regular rehearsals (usually 5-6 hours each) and often stressful, but absolutely necessary for your performance to be a success. Continue to work backwards. Your last few rehearsals before tech and dress should be devoted to show run-throughs. Some can focus on just Act One or Act Two, but you should aim to have a minimum of two full run-throughs of the entire show for timing purposes. If your show is a musical, you will also want to include a sitzprobe rehearsal. Sitzprobe is a German word meaning “seated rehearsal.” This is where the band/orchestra and cast play and sing through the musical together for the first time, without any staging or production elements. A sitzprobe is beneficial for the actors so they’ll know how the music truly sounds and how their vocals blend with the music (or get drowned out by the band!). It’s also beneficial for the band, so they get familiar with the cast and know the tempos and volume level they need to play at. Better to work out band/vocal problems now before tech rehearsal. Next on the backwards rehearsal schedule is costume fittings and costume runs. Students will need time to be fitted for costumes, have a costume parade (so the director can see and approve the costumes), and rehearse in their costumes (so they know if they have any problems, like an impossibly fast change or restricted movement due to the costume). Note: Be sure to be adding props and furniture throughout rehearsals, so actors can practice entering, exiting, and interacting with these items. It’s much easier to integrate them throughout the rehearsal process than to try and add everything during tech and dress. Moving back to the beginning of your rehearsal schedule, your first few weeks of rehearsals will be devoted to an initial read-through, cast bonding exercises, establishing blocking, developing characters and relationships, and for musicals, learning music and choreography. Allot time in your schedule to visit every scene at least twice: once to approach the scene and create the initial blocking, and then a second time to review, adjust, and add nuances and depth. You will want to leave some rehearsals near the middle of your schedule as “TBA” or “TBD” (“to be announced/determined”), so you have some wiggle room in case you need to revisit some scenes or work ahead. Making a rehearsal schedule is not an exact science. You’ll need to adjust as you go along. It takes practice! Every show, cast, and rehearsal process will be different. Be as prepared as possible, but always leave yourself room for flexibility!

A class showcase is a great way to share and celebrate what your class has learned in drama class. It gives your students the opportunity to demonstrate the skills they have acquired and put those skills into practice. It also gives your students the chance to take steps towards the role of producer, and mount a show on a smaller scale rather than a full-on production. Putting on a class showcase involves a collaborative style, with students contributing ideas and acts to perform in a variety-show style of production. A good length for a class showcase is 1 hour or less. This provides each student with enough time to share something, without the event lasting too long. Here are a few things to think about during your planning stages: 1. Determine the purpose of the showcase.Is this a final project for the class? Is participation mandatory or voluntary? Will the performances be graded or will marks be given simply for participating? Will the showcase act as a fundraiser for the drama department, school, or a particular charity? Identify the purpose, so that everyone is on the same page. 2. Decide who will participate in the showcase.Will this be a single class project, or will all the different drama classes participate? Will you allow non-drama students to participate? • From this, will all the students participate onstage, or will students participate in backstage capacities? At the very least, you will need: a stage manager to run the showcase, sound and lighting operators, and a front of house team. Will those students also be required to perform? • How much involvement will you, the teacher, have? Will you coordinate the showcase or will only students coordinate the production? Will you or students assign and/or direct the acts? • How will you introduce the acts? Will you have an MC to present each act, or will you create a written program describing the action (or both)? Will you or your students complete these tasks? 3. What will your students present at the showcase?• Will students present a selection of pieces in small groups, like a variety show, or will the class create a full-group production? Will there be a theme to the showcase? Who will decide the theme? • Will your showcase focus on all students presenting the same style of theatre (improv, mime, tableau, monologues, etc.)? Or will each small group present a different style? 4. When will you present the showcase?Mid-semester? At the end of the semester? Year-end? Will you hold it during class time? At a school assembly? At night? On a weekend? Further to that, who will attend the showcase? Is this going to be a private performance during class, or will you sell tickets to the public? 5. How much time will be devoted to planning and rehearsing acts?Will you give students class time to plan or rehearse, or will you expect them to do that on their own time? Once you’ve created the outline for the showcase, it’s now time to figure out the logistics of the performance. How many students you have will determine what you are able to present. With an hour-long program, if you have 30 students, each student would get two minutes or less to perform an individual piece (which includes transitions, so it would be closer to one minute each). It’s generally easier to have students perform in small groups. Will you let your students choose their own groups, or will you assign them to their groups? If some students really want to perform on their own (say, a monologue), how will you incorporate that into the showcase? These questions are meant to help you shape your showcase and get your students on the right track. Once groups are selected and topics are determined, it’s time to plan the show order and rehearse. Students will need to come up with a logical order for the acts, so they flow nicely and keep the pace of the show going. It’s especially important to time the acts, so you don’t run over time and so that there is variety between longer and shorter pieces. Be sure to include time for transitions–students need to have time to enter and exit, change sets/tech (if needed), and if you have an MC, they will need a moment to introduce each act. So much of creating a showcase comes down to careful planning. This may seem like a lot of work, but the more students map out in advance, the easier the showcase will be when it comes to actually performing it!

So, your school is mounting a production this year? Fantastic! Mounting a school production is a wonderful learning opportunity for students and staff alike. It’s also a big challenge. Teachers: Before auditions are scheduled and sets start to take shape, here are five things to consider when selecting the show that your school will produce. 1. What type of show will you be doing?Musicals are pretty much guaranteed crowd-pleasers (which means lots of ticket sales), but producing a musical has a very different set of needs than a play does. Musicals require additional staff (a musical director and choreographer, at the minimum). If your show doesn’t have backing tracks, you’ll also need musicians (paid or volunteer). Musicals also tend to be more expensive to purchase rights, royalties, and scripts/scores for, and extra rehearsals will be needed for teaching harmonies and dance numbers. Also consider your students – do they actually want to sing and dance, or would they rather focus on really juicy acting roles? 2. How many students will be participating in the production, and how many roles are available (especially male vs. female)?Theatrical pieces are extremely varied in the number of roles available, and are generally not written with twenty equal leading roles. Are you expected to take on every kid that auditions, or will some kids not make the cut? Or, is the whole school participating and you’ll need to figure out what roles each grade level will perform? In that case, you’ll most likely need to produce a musical with an expandable ensemble. Will you have enough boys to fill the male roles (a lack of boys is an unfortunate tendency in youth theatre)? If not, will girls play the male roles? And if so, will they play them as men or will you change those roles to female? (And will the author of the play approve of/allow that change to be made?) 3. What is your budget?Do you have the funds to produce a big Broadway blockbuster, or are you running on a shoestring budget? (Perhaps you’re expected to produce said big Broadway blockbuster WITH that shoestring budget!) Costs to consider include purchasing the rights to the show, buying scripts, paying staff, budgeting for costumes/sets/tech/etc.), renting a venue (if necessary)…The list goes on and on. 4. What are the needs of the show and are they feasible for your performance space?Does your school have its own specific theatre space, or do you need to rent a performance venue? Does your show have crazy costume requirements, such as 30 matching sequined dresses, or period-appropriate military uniforms? Does your show require special effects (fake blood, stage combat weapons, a fog or haze machine, etc.)? If you are producing a show like Peter Pan or Mary Poppins, will your actors actually fly? (And if so, will you need to purchase extra insurance?) Does the script call for scenes to occur in front of a curtain (assuming you have a proscenium arch), when you have only a black box theatre? If you can’t accommodate a specific need, do you have a creative solution in place? 5. Do you have to get approval of someone (the principal, school board, parent council) before acquiring the rights to the show?You might want to challenge your students with shows like The Laramie Project, Juvie, Rent, or Spring Awakening, but will “non-theatre people” approve and/or allow your students to work on that material? Even the most seemingly innocent theatrical pieces have had complaints lodged against them for a myriad of reasons. If the show you’ve selected causes concerns, are you able to give a strong case addressing these concerns? Do you have a written document that answers questions? This may or may not be a reason to do or not to do a show – it’s just something to think about.

The “show circle” is one of my go-to theatre techniques, no matter whether I’m teaching a drama class or directing a production. Whenever it’s time for class or rehearsal to start, the first words out of my mouth are, “OK everybody, circle up!” I also use this technique to end class or rehearsal. What is a show circle?It’s as simple as it sounds – everyone in the room comes together in a circle. Sounds simple, right? Depending on the situation, all students can either sit or stand in the show circle, but the key word here is EVERYONE. The show circle brings the full group of students and teacher together as equals in the classroom, with a common goal (a great drama class!) and ready to learn together. Think of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. The show circle encourages a sense of teamwork and camaraderie among the group, and every member of the class is necessary to make the circle truly whole. The show circle is a fantastic way to create community in the drama classroom. First, it creates a sense of familiarity. Students know that once the show circle is called, it’s time to begin. By creating this ritual every day with students, they know it’s time to transition into “drama class brain” and start ancticipating the lesson at hand. Second, it’s a multi-purpose technique. You can use show circles at the beginning of class to: • Check in with students and see how they’re feeling • Explain the lesson for the day • Begin many different warmup or improv games (for brainstorming ideas) • Create a makeshift “theatre in the round” playing space. Show circles can also be used at the end of class to: • Check back in with students and reflect on that day’s lesson • To assign homework • To impart any final words of wisdom to the class. Show circles are especially useful if your students are doing a performance (whether that be in class or as an extracurricular production). Before the performance, gather the full group together. This can be done onstage or backstage. Assemble everyone in a circle. Start with various vocal warmups, like tongue twisters, scales, humming, and sighing. Once students are warmed up vocally, have everyone hold hands, link arms, or stand together shoulder to shoulder so they can be physically linked to each other. Lead the group in a breathing exercise where everyone breathes in together, then out together. Repeat as much as you’d like. Once everyone is breathing together in sync, pump your students up with words of encouragement. Remind them that while they are performing together, they are a team, and they need to think like a team so they can succeed as a team. Your class might have a cheer or chant that they use to get themselves energized for the performance – this is definitely the place to use it! The most important thing to remember and respect about the show circle is that it’s a place of positivity. Show circles are not the place to critique or give notes – leave that for a different time in the class, or give notes individually or in a rubric. The show circle is a place for raising energy, getting focused, sharing thoughts and feelings, and coming together. Drama classes are very collaborative in nature, so creating a safe space like the show circle (where students can come together as a team) is invaluable.