FAQ

Question:

These (school play performances) would be ideal but unfortunately we have no assembly where we can put on these kind of activities. The classroom is okay but the impact is greatly lessened. These small schools without assemblies means you cannot gather the students and lay down the law collectively. This fact alone affects many of the behavioral issues in these same small schools. Is there anything we can do?

Answer:

We have faced this same situation of space in many, many instances, and perhaps our perspective might be of use to you.

To begin with, our approach to doing plays is that they require no more than "two boards and a passion." I know most of us have been trained to believe theatre belongs on a big Broadway stage, or in an auditorium, on a prescenium stage, fully produced with all the trimmings. Anything less is "decreasing the effectiveness of the product." But our experience has, in many instances been exactly the opposite.

Many plays, especially at the school level, are much more suited to small venues, and get lost in an auditorium-sized space. Much of the good off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway theater work I have seen was done in theaters with sometimes no more than 30-50 seats. If fact, the intimacy that was present by having the performers right on top of the audience would have been totally lost in a big space. Our own touring assembly of the Odyssey, which we take to schools all around the area, has its best performances in the round, with no more than 30-60 students at a time in the audience. Much of the dynamic of the performance is lost when we have to use even mid-sized auditoriums and have to play in prescenium staging. Even some musicals, like "The Fantasticks" are at their best in intimate settings.

In addition to the quality of performance for some plays, we have come to believe that a real quality experience for students comes about much more powerfully when they start with small audience venues. Auditorium plays, whereas they are certainly glitzy, fun, and give the performers a good boost in self-esteem, often lack the solid dramatic values. Actors (especially very young ones) have to concentrate so much on projection, both vocal and movement, that they cannot focus on the reality of their acting or characterization. So the whole understanding of what that character really experiences, what they feel emotionally, and why they make the choices they do gets lost in such a big space. I am firmly convinced now that young actors should start with small space venues, and really learn the potency of acting as to how it affects the performer and audience before moving to a big arena. And the performance, albeit a different experience from a big stage, can be just as moving and powerful; sometimes more so.

As to your specific situation, we would have to look at it to see what you might be able to do, of course. But in general, we have been able to do theatre in all sorts of spaces. Classrooms can be great, with the tables and chairs adjusted (or even stacked or put out in the hall) to create an open playing space, and with one class at a time as the audience, sometimes even sitting on the floor. Sometimes this requires more than one performance of a play to allow more than one class a chance to see it, too, but this, I find, is an asset to the performers. By the time they reach the second show, their confidence is growing and they are able to reach much farther with each performance. So we always encourage more than one show when doing a residence with a school.

In addition, some of the most unlikely spaces have become school "theaters" for us, with the frequent advantage of immediately alerting the audience to expect the unexpected, to be prepared for something out of the ordinary. Libraries, cafeterias, teachers lounges, school lobbies, basements, playgrounds, even the main office, all have been spots we have found to perform in schools, with great success. Even a hallway can become a stage! Wherever there is some space, we have done theatre.

Another advantage of the small space for theater is better education of the audience. Good audience behavior, as your letter suggested, is difficult to instill, but even more especially in a large space. But as the students get used to watching theater in a small venue, they will understand the necessity of proper behavior and their affect on the performance of their responses, and be able to do so in an intimate setting under the watchful eye of their teacher-- something which you pointed out is difficult in larger spaces.

I am a firm believer that schools should do theater in the classroom, spontaneously, and not limit their experience with theatre just to the school play, rehearsed for four months and put on in a big auditorium. The learning experience is much more powerful, in terms of a real understanding of the art form. And done in this fashion, theater is more informal, quick and easy, and takes much less stress and preparation than a full stage show, and can contribute significantly to students' understanding of any kind of curriculum.