Volume 1 Number 23


Hi Folks,

There was only one submission of materials up to August 15.  Therefore the only book to be given away will be sent to Tracy Veale-Chan of Western Australia.  Congratulations Tracy and thanks very much for sharing your work with the broader community of Drama educators.   Tracy's program of work using Reader's Theatre to explore the significance of story telling can be found in the Lessons section... [more]

Have you recently looked at the Drama Education website?   There are constantly new additions and amendments being made - Tracy's unit of work is only one example.  The Book section has been completely overhauled and is now a far more useful resource.   

 

Discussion List Issues

We had a little incident this week where I (probably a little over enthusiatically) pounced on a respondent for the way a request was made.  I'm certainly no "mailing list nazi" as most of your know (although I will admit to frequent excursions to curmudgeonly) and I tend to think I am fairly generous with the offerings I make on the list.  I do have one pet peeve in lists and that is when people new to a list do not take the time to find out the nature of the mailing list (there is a substantial archive of the last year or so of posts at the Yahoo!Groups pages for this list) and then barge into the list with no clear indication of what it is they are after and most annoyingly without introducing themselves.  I was taught its polite when meeting new people to let them know who you are.  Its NO DIFFERENT in a mailing list.  To neglect a proper introduction and then start asking for help is in my mind akin to gatecrashing a party and drinking someone else's beer.  OK, I'm over it now...

I'd like to see more people offering assistance to each other - I don't have the time to research every request that comes via the list - there are around 300 subscribers at any given time - how about taking time to answer at least one request for assistance every month or so... that way I might be able to get some sleep!!  ;-)

LESSON/ACTIVITY IDEA

A few years ago I helped the students at my school establish SHY (Seen and Heard Youth) Inc.

SHY is a a fully incorporated and constituted body.  Meaning that it has legal status as an entity and is able to trade as a not-for-profit arts body.  We keep membership open to present and former students, staff and families.  In this way SHY serves as a wonderful bridge between school and the broader community as well as maintaining an "alumni" function.   It does take some effort but I try to ensure that the board is comprised primarily of past and present students.  In this way it is really representative of the membership and the aims of the organisation.  It is a challenge sometimes as young people are often not as settled in their life paths - so we have set up communications systems to try to ensure we all stay in touch.

Since we got it started SHY has had regular entries in the Independent Theatre Association YouthFest.   Each year we've entered we have made an impact and been formally recognised as producing quality performances.  I am regularly asked by other people, including teachers, who are working with kids for these festivals where I find the material they work with.  Until now I have kept "schtum" on the matter - but the secret is not too hard to work out.  The simple answer is that I collect hundreds of scripts every year - especially short one-act pieces with small casts.  I read and remember pieces that might be suitable.  I seldom consider the age suitability of the plays - SHY exists to provide significant arts opportunities for the students and members.   In the Book Recommendations below I have listed a few of the collections of short plays that I use.   

Sometimes when I have several senior students who have joined SHY we are able to combine the festival preparations with course work. As students are required to present a scripted performance as part of their Drama Studies we will sometimes choose pieces that will be suitable for assessment as well as for the One-Act festival.   The motivational aspects of this are tremendous and it also means that we often have the chance to work everyday on a piece.

My big tip here is that students are capable of taking on very challenging pieces and are not fazed by "language and adult themes" - and interestingly enough, I have never had a parent even raise the issue in relation to performances for festivals.  Needless to say we are often seen as pushing the limits by festival goers and adjudicators... 

We are hoping that in the near future we will be in a position to stage "Nevermore" a piece written by one of the original student members of SHY.  And we have plans to start creating issue-based theatre performances that we can take to other schools.

RECOMMENDED WEBSITES

Canberra Youth Theatre is the longest established youth theatre in Australia with a high profile and an unequalled reputation in theatre creation. For the past 29 years, the company has been a feature of Canberra's Arts industry, contributing to Canberra's cultural climate and development by meeting the needs of the region's young people in the field of performing arts and satisfying to appetites of a range of audiences.

It is evident through the problems that teachers are having in inspiring children into learning academic skills, that children need expressive outlets to help them encounter everyday life. Basic social skills based on speaking and listening, respect and understanding, thinking as an individual and being confident are all major attributes needed to progress in life. 

Drama is a pro-active way of helping children and young people to develop their personal skills and further their future prospects in whatever field they choose to follow.  This website aims to give information on groups and events across the country (and beyond) that look to use young people's creative minds in a productive way.

Welcome to Scottish Youth Theatre - Scotland's national theatre for & by young people. We've been operating theatre arts courses since 1977, and now have a wide and varied program of workshops, courses/projects, events and performances all around the country, all year round.

PROFESSIONAL NEWS

13th - 17th April 2004
University of Canterbury

This innovative, international Conference sets out to provide an important forum for drama educators, researchers and practitioners to come together and consider drama practice in relation to recent brain research and thinking for learning. This Conference will be of interest to not only drama educators but to all educators with an interest in actively developing a pedagogical and aesthetic understanding of drama.

The School of Languages, Literatures and Arts at The Queen's University of Belfast is organising an international conference on clowns to be held from 4th - 6th September 2003. The conference will be multidisciplinary in scope and aims to bring together academics, theorists and practitioners. It is anticipated that proceedings will be published.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Plays in One Act 
by Daniel Halpern (Preface) 

Truly a publishing event, this outstanding and unique collection of modern one-act plays and monologues features writers both young and old, foreign and American. From acknowledged American masters to new, lesser-known voices, Plays in One Act is a dazzling collection sure to be a standard reference for anyone interested in contemporary drama.

 

 

Take Ten : New 10-Minute Plays
by Eric Lane (Editor), Nina Shengold (Editor), N. Sheilgold

A ten-minute play is a streak of theatrical lightning. It doesn't last long, but its power can stand your hair on end. This splendid anthology contains enough wattage to light up a small city. For in its pages, thirty-two of our finest playwrights hone their skills on a form that has been called the haiku of the American stage. The plays that Nina Shengold and Eric Lane have collected in this volume range from monologues to an eight-character farce. Eminently producible, ideally suited for the classroom and audition, Take Ten is a marvelous resource for teachers and students of drama, as well as a stimulating read for lovers of the theatre. Contributors include: John Augustine, Cathy Celesia, Laura Cunningham, Joe Pintauro, Mary Sue Price, Megan Terry, Jose Rivera, Romulus Linney, David Mamet, Jane Martin, David Ives, and many others.

Plays for Actresses
by Eric Lane (Editor), Nina Shengold (Editor), N. Sheilgold

The seven full-length and ten one-act selections in "Plays for Actresses" range in tone from the unabashed theatricality of Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize-winning "Three Tall Women" to the blistering black comedy of Laura Cunningham's "Beautiful Bodies". 

Gather any group of actresses, from students to stars, and someone will inevitably ask, "Where are all the great roles for women?" The roles are right here, in this unprecedented and magnificently diverse collection of plays with all-female casts, each of which represents the answer to any actress's prayer. The seven full-length and ten one-act selections In Plays for Actresses range in tone from the unabashed theatricality of Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize-winning Three Tall Women to the blistering black comedy of Laura Cunningham's Beautiful Bodies. Their characters include uprooted Japanese war brides, outrageously liberated Shakespearean heroines, an avenging African American housewife, and nuns who double as Catholic schoolgirls. Whether you're looking for a script to produce, a scene for acting class, or a new audition speech, this book will provide you with a wealth of juicy, challenging female roles - even as it introduces you to some of the finest playwrights at work today.

ALSO AVAILABLE 

eBOOKS - Can be downloaded immediately - A full listing of available eBooks.

Kim Flintoff

Copyright © September, 2004