Not that long ago I was planning my “12 Days of Christmas Knits” for my other blog, when the idea struck that clearly I needed to commemorate the 12 days of Christmas with Shakespearean plays, and an idea of how scenes could be staged, given my passion for the Otago University Sheilah Winn Festival of Shakespeare. If you would like a freebie, here is a … Continue reading The 12 Plays of Christmas – Day 1 – “Love’s Labour’s Lost”
This year we participated in the Write for Rights event from Amnesty International. Our aim was to help highlight the issues surrounding illegal timber poaching in Madagascar and the wrongful imprisonment of Clovis. So we wrote and performed a play, loosely connected to Dr Seuss’s “The Lorax”, using elements of Brecht and Commedia in performance. Here is the play live: Continue reading Amnesty International – Write for Rights – I speak for the trees
Obviously we all know that the tech crew are the unsung heroes of the theatre. They work long hours behind the scenes, thanklessly, often to be disregarded by the cast in the wings. However, it is these guys that are the heart and soul of a team. Actors have one job- to do their character well. The tech team always have the whole cast, and … Continue reading The importance of your Backstage Tech Crew
As some of you know, I am a teacher……. and director. Crazy. Planning is well part of my day to day life, whether I like it or not. I spent ages trying to find a cute planner for work. And then I spent even longer trying to find something that actually functioned. Then I gave up. I bought a large A5 planner from Kikki K, … Continue reading Teacher Planner Inserts
When dealing with Epic Theatre and Brecht, Verfremdungseffeckt or the distancing effect becomes an interesting point to make. Basically the whole concept is about connecting to the message rather than connecting to the character. This site here has an awesome description of Verfremdungseffeckt. Here is a video of my students experimenting with “The Visions of Simone Machard” using Verfremdungseffeckt in an Epic style. Continue reading Verfremdungseffeckt in practise
When teaching (and learning) it is so helpful to have a swag of resources or ideas…. something there to help spark pure genius. Personally, I love Pinterest. Everyone should have one. While wandering about the internets, I simply pin really good or interesting ideas. This board here is a general board of drama teaching and learning ideas. Follow along if you have Pinterest. Drama and … Continue reading All those fantastic Theatre ideas
Beyond Theatre 