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Hello everyone!

I hope you have been enjoying the holiday.  I am spending time with my family in Idaho, and unfortunately I don't have a strong enough internet connection to be as active as I would like on this blog.  But don't let that stop you!  Comment below and discuss away!

"It's hard to take that first step.
It sometimes takes other individuals who step up and act
before the rest of us recognize that this is an event that needs to be addressed."

- Carrie Keating



Who will be those other individuals who step up and act?

Putting Together the Pieces of the Show

Both Friday and Monday's rehearsals were dedicated to a long and tedious discussion.  The topic?
What should we include in our show?
Well, here's what we've got so far:
I'm Afraid That When I Grow Up...
Cyberbullying
Passports
America poems
Kenya
Beauty (music scene)
Oppression (dance scene)
What the World Needs Now Is (spoken word scene)
Mugger scene
bin Laden scene
racism
protests/revolution
gender and sexuality
The Next Generation

There are also a few topics that we might include later on if it fits with the rest of the show.  We will also have some transitions.  It's so exciting!

Street Art

I live on the same block as a school.  Walking home the other day, I noticed some graffiti on the school's outer wall.  It reads:
"WE ARE OUTCIDERS"
Do you think that the misspelling of "outsiders" on the wall of a school was intentional?  I found it very interesting.

Winter Break

Beaver Country Day School is on winter break, so we are not having rehearsals until after the new year.  But don't worry!  We will continue to blog and work on the show. 

Happy Holidays!

Banksy

We are currently working on creating the poster for our show.  As I was thinking of ideas and inspiration for the poster, I thought of Banksy, an infamous British street artist.  Maybe he will inspire you, too.
Check out some of Banksy's work here!

Time Person of the Year: The Protestor

Time Person of the Year: The Protester

From Tunisia to Egypt to Libya to Wall St., 2011 has been ripe with protests.  Time has chosen to honor the protester as person of the year.
In rehearsal, we have talked a lot about protests.  How are protests in other countries viewed?  How are the Occupy protesters here in the US viewed?
Does it surprise you that Time magazine has chosen to honor the protester in this way?
Is protesting the way to revolution?

Dance scene

Meg, Lexi, and Natiah are creating a dance piece to this song:

Sia's "Breathe Me" (dubstep remix version)

Rehearsal Update

An excellent update by Brooksie (cast) and Ben (assistant stage manager):

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is out light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”

—	Marianne Williamson

Workshop Photos

Today's rehearsal was focused on workshopping scenes that we have already created and tweaking them to make them more clear.  We had a wonderful discussion about the end of the war in Iraq and channeled it into our scene about the death of Osama bin Laden.

Today's Rehearsal Photos

Spoken Word

Here's a video from rehearsal where Grace and Jacqui are sharing an idea for a spoken word piece.  This piece is based off of our journal entries, "The one thing the world needs right now is..."

Rehearsal Video

Music scene

Some of the cast members are working on a mash up of these two songs for once of our scenes!

Working Hard

Here are today's rehearsal photos:

“Theatre of the Oppressed is about acting rather than talking, questioning rather than giving answers, analyzing rather than accepting.”

—	Adrian Jackson, “Translator’s Introduction to the First Edition”,Theatre of the Oppressed

Rehearsal Photos

And so we begin another week of rehearsals!  Today, the cast worked in small groups to develop scenes.  We saw a scene about cyberbullying, and another about interracial dating and how it is perceived.  More than half the cast is headed to the Stand Up conference on bullying.  We'll post an update on how it goes!

Bored? Wanna help people?

freerice.com
Answer a question and the website will donate ten grains of rice to the World Food Program!
Comment how much rice you donated and let's see how much we can get.

Therapeutic Riding

Julia brought in this article today about therapeutic riding:
Therapeutic Riding

"Horses are very sensitive animals that can pick up on emotions, feelings, and attitudes. A 1,000-pound horse won’t respond to directions, unless asked or led in the correct way. You can’t bully a horse to get what you want."


Maybe humans are much the same.

Occupy Boston Update

Some topics we are considering

“It is fundamental to Boal’s work that anyone can act…The dual meaning of the word ‘act’, to perform and to take action, is also at the heart of the work.”

—	Adrian Jackson, “Translator’s Introduction to the First Edition”,Theatre of the Oppressed

Journal Entries

Sometimes during rehearsal, we take a few minutes to write journal entries.  The words in these journal entries will later be used in the play.  Our journal topics so far have been:

I am afraid that when I grow up...

The one thing the world needs right now is...

While we right, we like to listen to inspring music.  Here is one of the songs we have used:

Video Update

Here's our stage manager, Julia, and one of the cast members talking about what we've been up to since auditions:

Some rehearsal photos

Every Friday we will share the pieces we've been working on with our technical team and see if they have any design ideas for us.  Here are a few photos from a piece we showed today called "Kenya."

Protests

Today's hot topic at rehearsal was protests.  The Occupy Boston protestors have been evicted from their camp in Dewey Square.  We discussed what the protests are about, how they are being handled, and what could be done to make it better.  Natiah sent in this picture:

Kids React to Bin Laden's Death

Our cast may be doing a scene about the death of Osama bin Laden.  This video shows kids' reactions to the event.  It is funny, poignant, and thought-provoking.

“We can’t be sure we’ll be successful.
But because we can’t be sure we won’t be,
we have to try.”

—

Habermas

Peaceful Protest

News article on protests

I'm sensing a theme here...
What do you think?  Are protestors "dangerous?"  Do you agree with how these protests are being handled?

“Although the connection between acting and action is still cloudy, there is a connection, and perhaps a deep one.”

—	Jonathan Levy

The 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011

The 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011

The cast used these images as inspiration for some of the scenes in the play.

“Should art educate, inform, organize, influence, incite to action, or should it simply be an object of pleasure?”

—	Augusto Boal

“A Victim Treats His Mugger Right” from NPR’s Story Corps

Listen to his story here!
When we are doing a play that aims to shine a light on some of the world’s injustices, it can be easy to feel very negative about the world.  It’s important to be reminded that their are good people out there and that kindness works.

“Theatre is a weapon. A very efficient weapon. For this reason one must fight for it.”

—	Augusto Boal

Bullying

Video of a bullying incident in Australia (this video contains some strong language).  We have had several discussions about bullying so far in the rehearsal process.  The cast is very passionate about putting a stop to bullying and putting a piece about it in the show.


Here's another bullying video that went viral recently.  There has been some question about it's authenticity, but I think the sentiment is what is important.

Some Background Information

A short powerpoint on Boal and Theatre of the Oppressed


The cast did some research on the form that we are working with.  This is a powerpoint used in rehearsal discussion about Boal and his forms of theatre.  It concludes with a video of the Carnegie Mellon Pre-College Boal workshop as an example of the work in practice.  We found it to be very inspiring, so shout out to CMU!

Auditions

When the students showed up for auditions on Monday afternoon, they had little idea what to expect.  I was looking for students who:

• could work as part of an ensemble
• were creative and would add to the play
• had their own opinions and a dash of passion
• mature enough to take risks and try new things

We started with quite a few movement and improvisation exercises.  Then, each auditionee got on their “soapbox” and shared something they believe in.  Here are some of the things these students care about:

• We need to stop cyber-bullying.
• gay marriage (we heard both sides of the argument)
• Pizza is not a vegetable as Congress says it is.
• Beauty is on the inside.
• We as Beaver students need to own our privilege and take the responsibility to help others less fortunate than us.
• organ donation
• recycling
• acceptance
• love and healthy, positive relationships

The second day of auditions, auditionees tested their improvisation skills in some improv games.  They also began to make and analyze tableaus (frozen pictures) of oppression and justice.  Finally, they worked as an ensemble to make and bring to life a tableau that accurately depicted what school is like.

The auditionees put a huge amount of trust in me, and I am so thankful that they showed up (both physically and mentally) and dove in head-first.  We ended up with an ensemble of 14 wonderful students, as well as an equally wonderful stage manager and assistant stage manager.

-Lindsey Hamby-Real, director

UC Davis Pepper Spray Incident

In rehearsal we talked about the Occupy protests that are happening around the country.  We discussed the UC Davis pepper spray incident (shown in the video), protestor arrests in NYC, and police and protestors fighting over a sink in the protests in our own Boston.

What Would You Do?

This is a video we discussed in rehearsal about people standing up (or not) when gay families are bashed.  Would you be brave enough to take a stand?

Welcome to our Blog!

This blog will follow 16 Beaver Country Day School students as they embark on their winter play 2012 journey.  The students have accepted the challenge of creating an original piece based on the work of Augusto Boal…and we think it’s going to rock!

Here you can follow our process.  You’ll see some of our sources for topics we are researching, what we are working on in rehearsal, and how we create our play from scratch.