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Gala Celebration Criteria

April 12th, 2008 by esddramafestival

1. performers speak clearly with expression.

2. Performers show an in depth understanding of their character.

3. There is a shared sense of purpose between all performers.

4. Backdrops and props are well-prepared(Preferably by the students involved.)

5. Blocking is well done - keeping in mind the sacred triangle for exceptional audience line sights.

6. The performance flows nicely and obviously has been well rehearsed.

7. Creative mediums of polished performances will be given special consideration. Different drama mediums include: Black light, shadow screen, musicals, students written performances, student-directed performances etc.

8. Timings and Voices of plays will also be considered.                                                                                                                                 

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Tentative Schedule for ESD Drama Festival 2008

February 27th, 2008 by esddramafestival

Tuesday, April 15 (Morning Session) Sterling Stratton and Julain Molnar

Tuesday, April 15 (Evening Session) Julain Molnar and Sharon Fletcher

Wednesday, April 16 (Morning Session) Corin McFadden

Wesnesday, April 16 (Evening Session) Julain Molnar and Kieran Keller

Thursday, April 17 (Morning Session) Corin McFadden

 Thursday, April 17 (Evening Session) Julain Molnar and Sharon Fletcher

 Friday, April 18 (Morning Session) Corin McFadden

Friday April 18 (Evening Session)

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Drama Resources

February 5th, 2008 by esddramafestival

It is always challenging to find the perfect play. Here are a few sites you can check on the web to purchase plays for your students. I have personally used Pioneer Drama. The other 2 listed I have not used so I can’t vouch for their delivery system. At this point in the year, I would recommend getting them shipped express post as all these companies are from the States.  I will update this list as I discover Canadian companies specializing in drama resources.

www.pioneerdrama.com

www.newplaysforchildren.com

www.stageplays.com

Here are a list of plays that have been used in the past categorized under elementary, consolidated, intermediate, and senior performers. I have added the school who performed each play so you can contact them for more information. I hope this helps.

Elementary

Forever Free - Parkdale School                                                                                                     

Phantom of the Horse Op’ry - Prince Street

It’s a Saturday - West Royalty

So Long Ago - Spring Park

A Whale of a tale - West Kent

Ally’s Adventure - West Kent

The Secret garden - Central queens

Long Distance Call - Prince Street

Matilda in Judge Judy’s Court - Central Queens

The tale of Humpty Dumpty - Eliot River

Possibilities - West Kent

It’s a Jungle out there - West Kent

Just me in the great big sea - West Royalty

Bugz - Sherwood

Inventive Minds - St. Jean’s

Dream Catcher - Spring Park

Consolidated

Courage to be - Tracadie Cross

Kids in detective Suits - St. Peter’s Consolidated

A Tale of two towns - Englewood

Tales of the tangles tresses - Vernon River Consolidated

Name that tune - Englewood

This class has 22 1/2 minutes - St. peter’s Consolidated

Red Riding Hood and the Vegetarian - Belfast Consolidated

Celebrate you and me - Cardigan Consolidated

A thousand Cranes - Morell Consolidated

Twelve Dancing Princesses - Fortune Consolidated

The true Story of the Sherry Flynn - Tracadie Cross Consolidated

Hands Together - St. Teresa’s Consolidated

Intermediate

Nicholas Nickelby - Birchwood

All’s Faire - East Wiltshire

Footloose - Queen Charlotte

With a little Help - Stonepark

The Necklace - Stonepark

The Emperor’s New Clothes - East Wiltshire

Dancing Solo - Queen Charlotte

This is a test - Queen Charlotte

Senior High

You’d think so - Bluefield

Go Ask Alice - Charlottetown Rural

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Morell Regional

Feel free to add titles that you have used or have seen that worked with any level listed above.

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Eastern School District Drama Festival Questionnaire Results

January 3rd, 2008 by esddramafestival

I feel it is important to share the results of the reflections I received in response to our October Questionnaire. I will not print names, however many good points were brought to our attention. After recording the results, I will add my thoughts from the perspective of an administrator for this festival.

1. What are we looking for in the ajudication process? How can we offer more feedback to directors and participants so they can move forward in refining their drama skills?

Blocking sessions allow you to take your students to the Centre to acclimatize themselves to the dimensions of the stage prior to their performance. The head technician is there to give you some direction and he will let you know if what you are attempting to do is possible or impossible technically. I would suggest taking a colleague who is familiar with your play to the blocking session as well. An extra set of eyes and a different perspective is always helpful. To also aid in blocking decisions, remember there is a sacred triangle on the stage that keeps your performers in easy visual range for the audience. The farther back on the stage you go, the worst the sight lines become. (the point of the triangle) I have used the diagram of the stage provided at the directors orientation sessions, (that includes the dimensions), to create the Centre space in my gym. This allowed me to tweak the blocking even before going in for our session.

We will be briefing the ajudicators prior to the event and we will mention that their ajudication can include comments on costumes, set designs, expression, creation, and blocking. In my experience, I have not received very much direction on these categories either and we do want to move our performance skills forward.  I will update any information that comes from our meetings.

A written ajudication will be provided this year. Our goal in this endeavor is to offer more feedback, as in the categories mentioned above, since there isn’t enough time to share everything at the time of the festival. Hopefully you will get suggestions that can help you take your drama production to the next level. We are also discussing the possibility of having two ajudicators to provide some clinic time with a professional.

Knowing someone cares about your performance certainly raises your personal expectations and goals.

We are trying to find more opportunities for this to occur. We will be hiring 2 ajudicator’s, offer a written ajudication and have pre-set categories that should be taken into account during the ajudication. Along with a short clinic, hopefully we will offer a more thorough evaluation.

2. How can we encourage more teachers, students, parents, and administrators to participate as spectators?

I know our school has dealt with this issue before by having lunvh upon the return of the students and having their snack before thay leave the school. We will be trying to schedule 3 plays each morning from 9:30 - 11:30. Hopefully this will help out.

3. Would a mentoring program be useful for first time directors?

We would love to offer this type of support.

I’m hoping this blog will provide some mentoring support. Many teachers felt a mentoring program was important however we didn’t get many volounteers. I am always here and I will answer your questions to the best of my ability. I will also post the names of the teachers who did offer to be a mentor as well as contact information.

4. In choosing repertoire, sometimes we choose material that is too long for the age level of our students. Do you think a time limit could be encouraged to allow more time for ajudication and possible clinician sessions?

I agree 100%. I have been stating this for a long time as you can see from comments on this blog. We need to think of appropriate material not only for our class that is presnting, but also we need to think what is appropriate for the audience members and what is appropriate in a festival setting.

As a teacher and director, I agree with the above opinions. Different classes come with different experiences and strengths. I have learned from experience that there are also other factors that need to be considered. Although my students may be able to perform a 50 minute play, I need to consider whether my targeted audience can sit through a play of 50 minutes. I also have to realize a festival is not a solo school production and I need to keep in mind the goals of the festival - to expose students to other drama productions other than their own; to provide a fulfilling culminating experience to students involved in the creation of a drama production (which must include an audience); to give our spectators a chance to learn proper theatre etiquette by attending performances… (there are so many more but that is for another blog entry)All I ask is that we broaden our scope to consider these factors as well when choosing or creating a drama production.

I wasn’t aware of this. I will look into it.

5. What do you think the criteria should be in choosing participants for the gala celebration?

I think over the years the gala celebration has received a bad rap. I believe it is important to have a gala. This is our way of showing the public, and the trustees who support the drama festival, the great work that is being done within our school district. It is part public relations but, for the schools chosen, it also offers another chance to perform their production after recieving feedback from professionals. It is disappointing when you are not invited to the gala. I know. I’ve been there, however, never give up hope. We will try to invite different schools each year.

I personally don’t tell students of the possibility of performing at the gala until after the invitation has been made. However, I do tell them about the gala so they can attend as spectators. If the invitation is made, it’s a nice surprise and reward for their hard work but it is not the sole purpose for participating in the festival. This year, you can choose to not be considered for the gala performances and that can ease some of your anxiety.

I agree that the productions that are chosen should be polished performances. I think the criteria should be developed by the organizers of the event in colloboration with the ajudicators. Would it be helpful to send out the criteria for a gala performance? It could provide a guide for those directors who want their schools to have a chance to be chosen for this event.

I agree. There will not be a second ajudication this year. In the past, the second ajudication allowed for the change over time needed back stage to move one cast off and the next cast on. This year we will be showing a short student created film on the making of their drama production, a small ensemble will be invited to play, and a short video of interviews of the partcipants of the week will be aired to offer the needed time to make the switch over.

6. Please feel free to add any comments you feel would benefit the ESD Drama Festival

We are trying to put this into place for this year. It will be our first try at this so remember it is a work in progress.

This is an interesting point. It would be neat to involve these productions in some way.

Posted in ESD Drama Festival Questionnaire results | | | 0 Comments

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