APR
23

Let’s Pause and Take a Breath

Has is really only been six weeks since life was normal?  Since we went out to dinner and a movie on a Saturday night?  Hung out with friends?  Taught school...  at school?

We’re thinking of you and hoping you’re doing well (and staying well!), coping with this new reality that’s been thrust upon us.  The past month and a half have been sad for all of us, especially witnessing all the canceled performances and upcoming uncertainties about summer programs.

But in all this, there are also bright spots.  Even though we are sheltering in place, the theatre community is connected like never before, with an astonishing plethora of new ideas, of new teaching methods, of new forms of theatre taking shape.  Theatre teachers in particular are extraordinary.  With a whole new world suddenly thrown at you, you rise to the challenge and adapt.  You accept what is and move forward in the best way possible, even if it is less than ideal.

We at Pioneer Drama have been inspired and energized by your creativity and innovation, and we thank you for pushing to make us work harder to meet your needs.

Every time a teacher breathes a sigh of relief and gratitude when we point them towards PDFs of nearly 40 free monologues in the Monologue Mania! issues of our newsletter, we feel good that we can offer that kind of support.  Just today, one teacher told us, “The free monologues were really cool!  My kids used them for audition material for next year already.”

Beyond monologues, you asked for more, so we polished up our collection of Royalty-Free Skits, realizing that these PDFs with unlimited distribution and performance rights would be an ideal tool for teachers to utilize with distance learning.

As you became more proficient with Zoom and Google Hangouts, you were ready to experiment with longer scenes, so some of our favorite playwrights created Virtual Scene Collection #1, four brand new 5- to 10-minute scenes written specifically to be both rehearsed and performed remotely.

“If they’re in, I’m in!”  enthusiastically shared one teacher whose students want her to direct them during the summer so they can delight in putting on one last performance together.  But what if group gatherings are still limited?  So we have created virtual theatre scripts-entire plays like Virtual Complaint Department and Lemonade that are designed specifically for Zoom-style rehearsals and performances.

For all this performance material, you also asked for “seat work” projects to give the kids, so we created a downloadable version of our Class Act Reproducibles, chock-full of theatre-themed games and puzzles.

Yet there are still so many disappointed kids, especially the graduating eighth graders and high school seniors, who don’t get that final performance.  They inspired us to create Playwright Connect, where directors who have had to cancel a play performance can contact us about putting them in direct touch with the playwright of that play.

The world has changed so quickly, it’s hard to recall that practically none of this existed at the beginning of March.  And the whirlwind will continue!  Monologue Mania! will wrap up tomorrow with our final installment of monologues, but next week brings us Virtual Scene Collection #2, plus another virtual theatre script called Left to Our Own Devices.

So for today, let’s just pause.  Pause and take a breath.  Take in the quiet for just a moment and think what you can do to take care of yourself after all you’ve given, and continue to give, to others.  And then we’ll ask, What else can we be doing for you?

Our motto is Touching Lives Through Theatre...  Together.  We share your passion for teaching theatre, and we desire nothing more than to work in partnership with you to make it happen.  So please, get in touch with us if you have thoughts, ideas, suggestions, or requests to pass along.  And please find Pioneer Drama on Facebook and request to become a member of our Production Photos, Tips, and Advice group.  By joining together as a community, we can all become stronger and better.

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for your Herculean efforts to continue to teach theatre at this trying time.  You are remarkable and deserve a standing ovation!