Two Very Different Dramatic Productions on a Friday...

So, yesterday afternoon my kids' school presented a very funny and wonderful production along with Trickster Theatre Company.  The company works by coming into the school for a week and working in all the classes to prepare a short (2-3 minute) play with the kids.  Each class has a theme or topic and the kids brainstorm and make up little plays.  Mid week, the school calls in parent volunteers to pull costumes from Trickster's "Bins of Costumes" to support the plays (I was there!).  They have tech rehearsals on Thursday and on Friday afternoon parents are invited to come and watch all the plays put together.  It was wonderful.  I laughed so hard due to intense cuteness as well as real funny stuff.  It was fabulous to see all the kids participating.  As a former drama educator I could see the principles applies and as a parent I was so happy to hear my kids come home all week long talking excitedly about what they were doing. I was so glad that the Parent Council at our school committed the funds to bring something like this in.  I hope that it becomes an ongoing thing as I certainly felt it was exceptionally valuable.

Last night I then returned to my old stomping grounds (and hopefully future stomping grounds) to check out the 2nd Year BFAs final year presentation of a new adaptation of The Seagull by Jason Chinn. I have been looking forward to seeing this class onstage all year.  I was in Drama 257 with Kabriel Lilly and Nikki Hulowski last year and directed Kabriel in New Works, so I was very excited for them when they got in the program and was very pleased to see them onstage. It was clear to me that the program has been good for them and it was nice to see how much they have grown over the course of the school year. I also have a fondness for The Seagull. Chinn's script managed to retain the original flavour and tone of the play while striving to bring it up to modern day.  It is one of those plays you constantly have to work at 'getting', but every time i read it or see it, I think I am closer. In any case, I enjoyed the production.  I think there are exciting things with this class and I am interested to watch them grow over the next two years.

It made for a nice afternoon and evening of theatre - even though both events were miles apart in form and content.  Who knows, maybe someday some of those elementary kids will be in a BFA program?

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