Pioneer Drama Service is proud to offer Touching Lives Through Theatre™ Grants available for the 2010-11 school year. Because believe so strongly in the power of school drama and theatre to make a difference in a student’s life, we are awarding ten grants of $500 each to qualifying middle and high schools.

We understand that a theatre program creates positive opportunities for students, giving them a place to shine. Theatre allows children to involve themselves in an experience that brings growth, maturity, teamwork and responsibility – qualities that are relevant to all aspects of life.

Each grant is intended to help create a drama experience for students in a school and must be used to stage at least one theatrical production. The grant consists of $500 credit at Pioneer Drama Service, which may be used for materials for your production(s), royalty fees, texts, DVDs and makeup. Grant funds will be awarded by November 15, 2010.

You’ve got the script. You’ve got your eager student actors. What you don’t have is money for a set. Or maybe just a little... about the amount you’d have if you commandeered the cast’s lunch money. Which of course you can’t do, since you value your job!

What you need here is a concept. Specifically, a concept that costs very few bucks. In 1971, Peter Brook did A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Royal Shakespeare in London, and his set was three white walls. Now, that’s a concept. As Brook said, “A man walks across an empty stage whilst someone else is watching him, and that is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be engaged.”

Here is a concept to help you create a set for almost nothing: have the audience draw your backdrop! Here’s how it worked for me:

When I was part of a children’s theatre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, known as the “Jack Pudding Players,” we were poor and had too little money to build a set. We went to a store and bought a 5-foot high roll of brown packing paper. Before the show started, we gave the kids in the audience crayons and markers and asked them to draw a “dark scary forest” on the first ten feet of the paper. On the next ten feet, we asked them to draw scenes of happiness and sunshine. We secured the roll upstage displaying the forest scene when needed. When the actors left the scary woods, we rolled it out further to display their happy backdrop. The kids loved it—they were invested in the show immediately, and their artwork was displayed throughout. We of course would ad-lib how beautiful and frightening the woods were, etc. They also loved seeing us change the set. Critics called us “interactive,” “original” and “down to earth.” You see, people saw a concept, not the lack of money behind it!

From this backdrop, it became quite easy to enhance the set with simple representative props since the audience already clearly identified with the location. Paper bags painted green and weighted with stones became bushes. Stepladders, chairs and small tables also can be disguised as various bits of landscape.

Of course, the drawings can be used to depict a meadow, a farm, a city—the possibilities are endless. If you don’t have the time to involve the audience, is there an art class in your school where the kids could draw the set? Each child could even make an individual drawing on a piece of construction paper that you can hang from the ceiling, tape to the back wall or even tape to a coat tree that now becomes a “stage tree.”

Likewise, if you need just a brief set change to, say, the woods, bring some kids onstage, holding their drawings of trees, potted plants or whatever and have them become the set. Just make sure you have a dependable actor or two who could handle directing these kids onstage.

Instead of worrying about your lack of money, have fun with any number of variations on this simple concept and you’ll be... all set!

Students missing rehearsals because something “better” comes up. Tears when the role goes to somebody else. Lines that don’t get learned. Disruptive behavior offstage. Angry phone calls from parents about any number of issues. A student who thinks he or she is a “star.”  The stage parents who think their kid is the next Miley Cyrus. And if that isn’t enough, sometimes you’re caught in the middle between parents and administration. 

Don’t be discouraged. Help is on the way, and it comes in the form of a contract. Yes, a contract.  A document that you write, sign and insist that the auditioning students and their parents sign as well. It is also a wonderful way to CYA, which is another way of saying Cover Your, er… Bases. 

The audition form can be your first contract with the students. This form, which should be signed by both student and parent before auditioning, should include a sentence such as: “I agree to play any part assigned to me without complaint.” Teenagers often balk at wearing costumes, or even combing their hair in a way they consider “uncool.” Cover this possibility in the audition form as well:  “The actor agrees to wear the costumes, wig, or hairstyle of the director’s choosing.”

Once you’ve cast your show, require all actors and their parents to carefully read and complete a separate cast contract you’ve written to outline their responsibilities as an actor in the show. When preparing this contract, keep it clear and straightforward. Ask yourself things like: Outside of sickness, how many rehearsals is an actor allowed to miss? Put it in the contract. If an actor misses more than that, what happens? If you feel he then agrees that the director has the right to replace that actor, put it in the contract. When is the deadline for being off book? Put it in the contract.

Unfortunately, many students are more familiar with competition than they are with cooperation, which is one of the reasons theater is so important. Nothing ruins a theater experience faster than a kid who thinks he or she is the “star” and doesn’t get the idea of ensemble. Believe it or not, even this sort of behavior can be addressed in your contract. “The actor agrees to work as part of the team. Any actor whose attitude or actions are disrespectful will be asked to leave the show.” 

Clearly stating your expectations upfront will help you keep your sanity throughout rehearsals and keep the behind the scenes “drama” to a minimum. I encourage you to have your cast contract available when students first pick up their audition forms. Though they won’t have to sign and turn it in unless they’ve been cast in a role, students should know from the get-go what you expect of cast members. Besides protecting yourself, having a contract demonstrates to first time actors and their parents that you take theatre seriously, that it’s not just fun and games. Ironically, when everyone understands the rules and you give yourself the power to enforce them, then everyone really does start having more fun!