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Looking back, and toward the future
Well, the year is winding down to a close (for Road Company). We have about one week of touring left in the Fall, and I thought that now would be a good time for some musings on the past, and maybe a little bit on the future. Since we started this whole thing in August, we’ve had three weeks of rehearsals, eight weeks of performances, two of which were on extended tour in eastern Washington, 2-4 shows a day, several hundred children per performance…I won’t bother doing the math, but I think it’s fair to say that we’ve probably touched a few lives in the last few months.
Something Different
Today is Halloween, and the Road Company has the day off! We just got back from our second "week" in the Spokane area (we really were only there two days). It was week of New Girl and Alexander shows, and we performed for some unusual ages. We performed New Girl for 5th graders twice, which always feels a little disconcerting afterwards when I realize how young they are and how old we really look! Not that the one year makes that much of a difference, but they're just so. . . short. But what really made me nervous was performing Alexander for 8th graders (usually 6th is the oldest grade). But to my relief they were polite and seemed interested in the show.
I never knew I knew
When people ask me what my job is like, I usually tell them about the shows we perform, the characters I play in them, and the kids we meet along the way. The truth is, however, that maybe a third of our time in road company is spent acting or leading conversations with kids. The other two-thirds are made up of loading and unloading, setting up and tearing down, driving all over Western Washington (and sometimes more exotic places like Coeur d'Alene!), and a lot of Road Co bonding. Along the way, I have learned a lot of things I never knew I never knew. These include:
Seeing (or at least hearing about) some results...
This week we performed 2 shows at an elementary school in Everett. When we finished our last show and were tearing down our equipment, the principal came over to thank us. He told us that a student at the school hadn't been able to attend the first assembly with his class because he was actually in the principal's office due to a recent bullying incident he had been involved with. After his teacher saw Alexander and the Dragon, she requested that he could view the following assembly with another class because she thought it would be beneficial for him to see. The principal said that afterwards he approached his teacher and said, "I'm really glad I saw that. Now I understand what I've been doing."
Finding Purpose
When you’re on stage, your audience is like a single living being. There are individuals of course. But the crowd is “live” or “dead” or any of a dozen other things. This is even more true when you’re performing for children. You either “have them” or you don’t. There’s no middle ground where they’re just being polite.
Recognize, Refuse... Reflect?
My favorite response during one of this week's performances of Alexander and the Dragon came during the part of the talk back when we ask the kids about the three Rs. (The three R's of bullying prevention: Recognize, Refuse, Report). Now, we often get other R words during this section. Usually, it's "respect." But this time, I heard a kid in the kindergarten section call out "reflect!"
Q&A with the kids
It was our first week of early mornings and on Friday we experienced our first “full-day”. It was a little taste of what’s to come in the next few months before the holidays.
As most of you know we talk to the students after our shows – we ask them questions that reinforce concepts depicted in the play.
……
(After a Road Company performance of Alexander and the Dragon)
First performance of the year!
10 September 2008
Today we had our first show! It was so fun to see which parts of Camp Super Friend got laughs (and even some “oohs” and “aahs”) from the K-4th grade students at Blakely Elementary. I kept stealing glances at the kids (the nice thing about performing in school gyms where the audience is in full light) to see their reactions to the hilarious things Adrienne, Solomon, Laura, and Peter do in the show. They laughed like crazy at my favorite part, when Adrienne (as Una) responds to a comment about how cool she is by fanning her underarms and saying, “actually, I’m feeling a little warm.”
Surprising things about bullying
5 September 2008
Today went to the Committee for Children office in downtown Seattle to learn more about their bullying prevention and social skills curriculum, “Steps to Respect “and “Second Step.” After talking for a few hours with Mia, who writes the curriculum, I had a much better sense of what it is that we’re really trying to accomplish with the road company, and why it’s important. I also realized that there was a lot I didn’t know about bullying.
The New Road Company!
2 September 2008
For the last week and a half the brand new and totally awesome Road Company 2008-2009 has been hard at work rehearsing the three shows we will tackle this year. Joining the ranks of returners Laura Bannister, Solomon Davis, and Adrienne Littleton are new additions Jeannie Sibbett and Peter Nolte (of the Nolte family fame). We have 2 new shows this year, Alexander and the Dragon, and New Girl, (both about bullying prevention) which will accompany our much beloved Camp Super Friend on the road changing lives...and Yakima...and Spokane...and most other cities in Washington. So far rehearsals have gone very well. We have made a good deal of progress on the shows as well as gotten to know each other better. While the process is intense (we have 3 shows to perfect in the course of 3 weeks) we are having fun along the way. That’s all for now - I gotta go learn my lines.
