| Today is one of my favorite days of the year. As writer in residence at Summit School in Winston-Salem, NC, one of my jobs is to write a play for the third grade to perform each year. Starting early in the school year I am bombarded with questions every time I see a group of third graders—"What is our play about?" they all want to know. Today they found out.
I wrote the new play, Little Miss Gingerbread back in October/November and have been honing it since then. In this effort my wife, Janice, who is also the director, has been indispensable. We like to introduce the third graders to their play by reading it aloud to them and this morning was that first reading. Before today, only Janice and I had ever laid eyes (or ears) on Little Miss Gingerbread.
For the reading the entire third grade (50+ students) gathered in our screening room while eight faculty members split up the roles. The reading started at 8:45, so we had to wake up the kids and keep their interest. Little Miss Gingerbread seems to have done both. Once the kids (and the adults) started to laugh, I knew I had written a play they were going to enjoy performing. The kids sat still, listened, laughed, and applauded when it was all over—all leading to a huge sigh of relief from the playwright.
Not only is the reading a good way to introduce the kids to the story and the characters (especially since they will be auditioning in the next few days) but it also serves to get lots of teachers involved and excited about the project. The students see their teachers reading the play, and they know that those teachers will support them throughout the project.
In three months what was just a group of unrehearsed teachers doing a read-through will become a full-blown production in the theatre with costumes, sets, lights, and well-rehearsed third graders singing, dancing, and acting away. Watching students perform a new play in front of an audience for the first time . . . that's a pretty good day too! |
