Eastern School District Drama Festival

Tuesday April 14
10:00 Prince Street School “Dracula’s Favorite Son” Liz Pendergast

10:30 Tracadie Cross Consolidated “The Backwards Bully”    Erin Mac Gillivray and Michael Pendergast

11:05 Belfast Consolidated School “Beauty and the Beast”
Kelly O’Connell and Allyson MacDonald

6:00 Glen Stewart Elementary “Live from Make Believe “   Megan Stubbs-Smith

6:40 St. Peter’s Consolidated “TBA” Sheryll O’Hanley

7:10  Queen Charlotte Intermediate “Annie” Allan Pendergast

Wednesday April 15
9:45 West Royalty Elementary “The Great Kapok Tree”   Elizabeth Crawford and Bev Coles

10:25 Spring Park Elementary “Scrumdillyumptious” Jo-Ann Esseghaier

11:05 West Kent “Bugz” Dawn Gallant and Kelly Miles

11:45 Spring Park Elementary “Get in the Game”                        Maureen Diamond and Lisa Jenkins

6:00 Englewood “The Island” Peter Bevan-Baker

6:30 Morell High School “Mystery at Shady Acres”                      Lindsay Cusack and Lori Hubley

7:20 Charlottetown Rural High School “TBA” Philip Pierlot

8;15 Charlottetown Rural                   Richard Haines

Thursday April 16
10:00 St. Teresa’s Consolidated “Small but Mighty” Kirsten MacLaine

10:25Morell Consolidated “The Sneetches” Dorothy Dahn

10:55 Central Queens Elementary “Cinderetzky” Perry Neatby

11:35 Souris Regional “TBA” Maggie Haines

Friday April 17
10:00 East Wiltshire Intermediate “The Apple” Lucas Olscamp

10:40 Vernon River “Twins on the loose” Jennifer Adams

11;20 Eastern Kings Consolidated “Snow Queen” Krista Kelly-Fraser

Time really flies when you’re having fun. It’s hard to believe we are less than a month away from the Eastern School District Drama Festival 2009. We are excited to have two adjudicators at every session this year. All performing groups will have a 15 minute clinic after their performance and directors will be provided with a written adjudication. A reminder to everyone that the clinics are not optional. It is essential to the authentic learning experience we are rying to provide for you and your students. All performing groups are expected to be part of the audience for the other productions after completing their clinics. The festival will run from April 14 to April 17. Notices should be going home to your students’ families informing them of their performance time, the cost of admission, and the possibility of performing in the gala performance on April 17. I would love to give you more notice for gala participation however my hands are tied. Those groups chosen to perform will be notified by lunch time on April 17.

Admission this year is $2.00 per student and $4.00 for adults. Participants are not expected to pay.

Be very proactive in generating your audience. Talk to your staff and administrators about supporting your hard work by attending your performance session.  PArt of the curriculum we need to teach is how to behave appropriately in formal situations. This is a great opportunity for your school’s students to practice their concert etiquette. Discuss with your young actors the importance of telling their family and friends about their performance time. Encourage them to invite people to come see them perform.

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.                                                                                                                                 

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

• Westwood Primary – “Wolf Tale Blues” 9:30 a.m.
• Donagh Regional – “Who did it?” 10:05 a.m.
• Central Queens – “Magic Camp” 10:35 a.m.

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

• Glen Stewart – “The case of the bewitched Books” 6:00 p.m.
• Tracadie Cross – ” The Good O’l Hockey Game” 6:40 p.m.
• Englewood – ” Ian the Fiddler” 7:20 p.m.

Wednesday, April 16 (Morning Session) Corin McFadden

• West Royalty – “Lighten up Captain” 9:30 a.m.
• Belfast Cosolidated – ” Sam White and the Seven Knomies” 10:10 a.m.
• West Royalty – ” Snow Biz” 10:45 a.m.

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

• Morell Consolidated – “The Balloon Tree” 6:00 p.m.
• St. Peter’s Consolidated – “The Adventures of Hank” 6:40 p.m.
• Morell Regional – ” Alice in Wonderland” 7:20 p.m.

Thursday, April 17 (Morning Session) Corin McFadden

• Spring Park – “Good Morning Avonlea” 9:30 a.m.
• East Wiltshire – ” Ghost of a Chance” 10:10 a.m.
• Stonepark – ” Sam White and the Seven Knomies ” 10:50 a.m.

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

• Birchwood Intermediate – “I never saw another butterfly” 6:00 p.m.
• Charlottetown Rural – “Under Pressure” 6:40 p.m.

 Friday, April 18 (Morning Session) Corin McFadden

• St. Teresa’s – ” Take action” 10:10 a.m.
• Queen Charlotte – “We are Choosing” 10:40 a.m.

Friday April 18 (Evening Session)

• Gala Celebration – 6:30 p.m.

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.

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?

• It would be helpful to get feedback during the blocking session.

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.

• Feedback would be appreciated on costumes, set designs, expression, as well as the play writing done by the students.

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 to share with students after the ajudication. (they sometimes miss the comments made by the ajudicator in the excitement of the moment)

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.

• The ajudication process has been successful in the past-keep it positive and encouraging.

• I love listening to the ajudicator’s remarks. I think that it is important for my students to know that they are being watched and that someone cares about their performance.

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

• Constructive criticism from someone with expertise and experience. (Evaluation of personal performances, ensemble, dramatic elements, purpose and repertoire) Did the performance achieve it’s goal etc.?

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?

• Advertise – have local entertainers perform skits etc. in between student performances

• The schedule has been a deterrent in the past. Lunch times and snack times need to be taken into consideration.

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.

• Quality work is important.

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

• Yes, it is fairly overwhelming the first time you do a production.

• Meetings used to be held 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?

• This depends, some of our students can exceed our expectations. I believe the teacher can be the judge of time expectations and what is appropriate for his or her class.

• Perhaps if we ensured appropriate material instead of impsoing a time limit, it would be more effective.

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.

• Some 15 minute pieces can seem interminable; some 1 hour plays too short. The quality of the material is critical. Time limits restrict the repertoire that is available.

• I’ve done several elementary productions, the shortest being 25 minutes, the longest 45. I don’t think you can impose a time limit- both my 25 and 45 minute productions were ideal for my students.

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.

• There are already time limits that shouldn’t be changed

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 don’t think there should be a gala.

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.

• It can be upsetting for students to have a glowing review and then not be chosen to come back.

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.

• Criteria for the gala celebration should be developed by the ajudicators and might include staging and calibre of acting.

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.

• The very best plays shoudl be invited back.

• I do not feel a second ajudication is nescessary.

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

• The drama festival is an important and valuable program. It allows students to step outside their comfort zone and try something new. I hope it continues and more schools take part.

• I absolutely love participating in the Drama Festival. It has been a very rewarding experience for my students.I love everything about the festival – Rick and the boys at the centre; practising with my class; even scrounging for costumes.

• Workshopping  scene with an ajudicator would be an improvement.

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.

• Thank you for being positive and working to improve the festival. It is a wonderful experience that more should get to benefit from.

• Students are more interested in being involved with digital video and multi media type productionsthan a one time stage authentic theatre performance for a small audience. Perhaps an option is to screen student directed and produced movie productions as well.

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