Staging Shakespeare: Or Agatha Christie?!
Wednesday, April 2nd by Jen
Agatha Christie, you might ask? What on earth does Agatha Christie have to do with Shakespeare? Nothing, really…and everything if your drama troupe is currently in production with And Then There Were None! 
After the success of Much Ado last summer, a parent at our school asked if I would mind if he directed a play during the school year. Would I mind??? Good heavens, I would have to be out of my mind to be upset by an offer like that! I was especially excited for this parent in particular to make the offer - It just so happens that he minored in theater when he attended college, and has quite a bit of experience with plays! How fortunate for our little school to have such a knowledgeable person to help keep our drama program going throughout the school year!
Prior to this parent’s offer, several people asked me if I would consider running a drama program during the school year. Being the crazy person that I am, my first reaction was, “Oh my goodness…that would be AWESOME!” Then I remembered that during the summer, I don’t have any classes to teach…my kids aren’t in school themselves, so I’m not helping them with homework…which is why the summer play worked for me. As much as I would love to have been able to do drama 12 months out of the year, I knew in my heart that it just wasn’t feasible, unless I was willing to give up teaching some of my classes. So having a parent volunteer to direct a play for three months was the perfect opportunity for our drama troupe to not only keep going nearly year-round, but also to hone some other acting skills.
I read up on how to direct and act Shakespeare…not how to do theater in general, so what I learned how to do last summer will be very helpful to students in their ability to learn and understand Shakespeare, as well as be true to the text when interpreting. But what this other parent can give our students is a more well-rounded theatrical education which includes other playwrights, acting styles, methods…the list goes on! Ultimately our students will have a better understanding of the theater arts, and even if none of them pursue drama in college, they will still have gained a great deal from the experience. And by studing other playwrights, they will just end up being more well-read than they would have been otherwise.
Wait a minute…did I just say there are other playwrights besides Shakespeare!?!?
