drama

so i was asked to direct some students in the english language drama competition. the school paid the entrance fee and i was locked in. i couldn't decide on a play for a while, especially because it had to be an english or american 20th century play, adapted to be 25-45 minutes. i was procrastinating doing anything for the play because... well because it was stressing me out. then a life-saving friend - JOSH!!! -swooped in and saved the day. he not only suggested several good play, the places where i could purchase them and their production rights online, but he has also *more than helped* me edit, adapt, and abridge the play i chose.

at first i asked my students who was interested in participating. i was told to expect about 10. there were 12 or 13, so that was about right. then i was told to expect a few of the originally interested students to drop out because of boredom, business, or other. that happened too and then i was down to about 8. it's hard to do a play for 8 unless its a play written for 8. then there was the problem of gender... there was 1 boy in the lot of them! only one boy. luckily he's the drama type and he won't bail on us, he speaks english well, has good presence, and is really smart. so we had to choose a play with mostly female characters. josh took that in mind and we eventually decided on "After the Fall" by Arthur Miller. its a play about a guy and his relatioships with the women in his life (among other things). the theme and title both have to do with the fact that 'after the fall' (in genesis 3 when adam and eve behave utterly humanly and cause creation to become fallen) the main character is not able to consider himself innocent, but is endlessly aware of his human nature. anway, the play originally contains stuff about communism, the holocaust, and several characters who just didn't make the cut ... literally.

this week is our first week of rehearsals. the first one went well, though i didn't anticipate 3 girls wanting the female lead, so we kind of had to have auditions. i am really impressed with the students since they are doing a play in their second language, which is quite a feat. they read with good intonation, decent fluency, and a grasp of emotional acting. so, i think it will go well. the performance is on march 5 and we will have rehearsals twice a week until then.

i'll keep ya posted. :)