Sunshine? Check. Lemonade? Check. Porch swing? Check.
It is indeed the first few days of summer, where all teachers and students can look back on the last school year with a heady mixture of wistful nostalgia and palpable relief. This is doubly true for Arclight Repertory Education Outreach, as the 2009-2010 school year was our first major programming year. It was an adventure every step of the way, but bringing arts education to the South Bay was well worth the occasional danger. So sit back on that porch swing, sip that lemonade, and let me regale you with the thrilling tales of our year in review.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step… and a librarian to point the way
Fresh off providing educational materials for last summer’s Shakespeare on the Square Festival, we entered into the Fall with excitement. We assembled a crack staff of teaching artists and educators and boldly took our first steps forward. Our first opportunity brought us to the newly constructed East Carnegie Branch of the San Jose Public Library on a cold, crisp October day. Over the course of a two-hour workshop, over twenty children constructed their own unique monster puppets and learned how to give them life and character through voice and movement. The monsters all made it home for Halloween and the kids had a blast.
Some strings attached…and that is just fine
The Willow Glen Branch of the San Jose Library contacted us about the possibility of a puppet workshop, similar to the one we provided for East Carnegie. We told them about a new variation to the workshop and they were interested. Focusing on marionette puppetry, the Arclight teaching artists helped the kids craft their own paper marionettes, based on famous story-book characters. Once they had made their puppets, the children learned the basics of marionette manipulation, using the traditional stick and string set-up. Big Bad Wolves chased Ugly Ducklings around the room while young puppeteers laughed.
They all became swans…
Del Roble Elementary School is an old friend to Arclight Repertory and when they contacted us and asked us to return this year for a series of acting workshops, we leapt at the opportunity. The workshops began with theatre games, getting the young actors used to the vocabulary of acting and the basic skills needed to bring their characters to life. Then, the students began to work on their scenes and monologues, taken from the famous folk-tale “The Ugly Duckling.” After polishing their character work, the students performed for a room packed full of friends, parents, and teachers. The progress of these young actors and actresses was astonishing to behold, and we’re sure that this will not be the last performance for many of these talented young people.
Need a refill on that lemonade? Cushion for the porch swing? Nope? Ok, just checking.
Scripts? We don’t need no stinking scripts!
Nothing brightens up the dark winter days like a good laugh. We had the opportunity to offer an introduction to improv acting class at the East Carnegie Library towards the end of the winter days. The class was our first general acting class at a library and we were delighted to see such a large number of adults alongside young children for the class. Improv games, comic timing, and quick thinking were the orders of the day and the time flew by for everybody involved. This great workshop actually gave us the idea for our series of adult acting classes and public speaking workshops that will be coming this year
Fate or Fault? You make the call.
One of the great, defining questions of studying Shakespearean tragedies is the role that Fate plays in determining the outcome for characters. The fundamental question of whether characters are condemned by Fate or suffer as a result of their own actions is something that scholars have argued over for years. Now, the middle school students of The Harker School can weigh in as well, having seen the Arclight assembly program, Fate or Fault. In the play, Shakespeare’s two daughters argue over whether tragedy is predestined by Fate or whether people’s actions determine the course of events as seen in Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet. The show was funny and thought-provoking and we will be returning to Fate or Fault next year, perhaps with some different tragedies to add to the argument.
A real Cinderella Story…
Our second assembly program of the year was performed at the Castro School in Mountain View in the spring. The show is called When the Shoe Fits and it is an exploration of Cinderella stories from different cultures. The talented cast brought the script to life, to the enjoyment of the audience of kindergarten, first, and second graders. When the Shoe Fits is available this coming year as well, and is a great starting point for a discussion on fairy-tales and comparative folk-lore.
So there you go. Quite a year for us here at Arclight Education. And we would not have had it any other way. The chance to work with so many different schools and libraries was something special for us, and the children we taught made this a terrific first year if programming.
And this was only the beginning. Over the next few weeks, we will be keeping you informed of some of the upcoming projects Arclight Repertory Education is developing and give you a sneak peek at some of the surprises to come. So enjoy the summer sun, and that porch swing. When you head back to school, we’ll see you there.
Mark Gelineau
Education Director
Arclight Repertory Theatre
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