27
Turn Your Hard Work Into a Distance Learning Opportunity!
Okay, virtual show of hands. How many of you were this close to your production date, only to have shows canceled at the last moment? Judging by the calls we’ve received in the weeks since the forced break, it seems there’s been quite a few!
It’s also probably safe to say there’s a lot of frustration over all the “lost” time rehearsing, memorizing, and sweating under the stage lights night after night. Nobody wants all those hours of work to be for naught!
We share your frustration! After all, our mission is Touching Lives Through Theatre... Together™ and that can be tough to do when we’re all forced to stay so far apart.
Thankfully, theatre folk are resourceful folk. And this week we heard of one particularly great idea from a teacher who was set to direct a production of Pioneer Drama’s The Girl with the Golden Locks and wound up creating a distance learning opportunity instead.
Fourth-grade teacher Megan Rodgers at Brookfield Elementary School, in Ohio, said they were preparing to do their fifth Brian D. Taylor show and were set to open this week.
“Unfortunately, it’s looking like our production isn’t going to happen,” Megan said. “So to help my cast and crew cope, we’ve been doing a ‘virtual greenroom’ where we reflect on our production and try to process all of this.”
Megan prompted her students with this assignment:
“YOU are Brian D. Taylor’s new writing assistant. If you could change any of the characters or add characters to create new plots, what would you do? Would you change who plays the characters? ... Let your creative juices flow!”
The responses were great! Some students suggested having “bit” characters take on greater roles. Others suggested happier endings for all. And the actor playing the villain suggested the villain should win! (Now why didn’t we ever think of that?)
Perhaps the best suggestion of all? “I would add an extra scene of early Big Papa and Agents Red and White as kids, showing how they met, with maybe their mom in the scene also.” We agree! Because who doesn’t love a good origin story?
It just goes to prove that the show really does go on, so long as you hold dear those elements that matter most in theatre, such as creativity, camaraderie, improvisation, drama, comedy, and innovation.
Speaking of innovation... What about you? What are you and your students doing to make the most out of all those rehearsal hours? And what have you done to stay engaged with theatre, virtually?
If you haven’t already, check out our new Monologue Mania! series, where we’ve been offering some of our favorite monologues for students to perform and digitally share.
Besides monologues, Pioneer Drama has lots of other ways to keep kids engaged in theatre. Subscribe to our newsletter for FREE E-VIEW offers, and keep an eye open for upcoming monologue and playwriting contests for teachers and students.
Even as a world health emergency keeps us apart, Pioneer Drama remains committed to Touching Lives Through Theatre... Together™.
