Nilaja Sun Visit by Yann Burrett

Nilaja Sun visit – Yann Burrett

There are too few people who are lucky enough to be doing something they absolutely love as a living.  Nilaja Sun seems to be one of the lucky few, as my classmates and I were fortunate enough to discover when she came to talk to us about her piece “No Child...”

Nilaja began her talk in character, slipping immediately into the character of the Custodian and delivering the opening monolog from the play.  This is because “I think everyone here has probably had a long day, so I wanted to give you a moment to find your heart space, to stop having to live in your head for a moment and just be in your heart.”

To me at least, the evening focused on the ideas of joy, of “heart”, of emotional expression and of honesty.  Nilaja is a wonderfully engaging speaker, and as we looked at the world through her lens we discovered a place where it the power of enabling people to understand and express themselves is paramount.  Through this talk, teenagers were not troubled youth or delinquents, but human beings struggling to find their place in a wider world.  “I just want them to have a chance to express their goodness”, she explained.

Not just adolescents – teachers were explained too.  A lot of emphasis was placed on recognizing the work teachers do and on how much energy it takes to lead a classroom of thirty students all day.  Even teachers were encouraged to examine this aspect of themselves. Nilaja explained that she wanted to give teachers permission to breathe and laugh at themselves and their classrooms.

The evening was a wonderful mix of entertainment and advocacy.  It was one where we were encouraged to see theatre as an inherent human activity, as an important factor in development and as more than just something to offer if there's a surplus in the school budget.  

Another Perspective by Avram Mlotek

Another Perspective by Avram Mlotek

As a rabbinical student, my days are usually spent interacting with sacred texts.  The goal then becomes to translate these texts into real life so that they feel relevant and meaningful.  As someone who grew up in a family immersed in Yiddish culture, I believe the arts in general can be a powerful tool in helping this translation process.  In the same breath, however, I believe the arts deserve their own time and space in educational settings so to foster creativity, collaboration and open mindedness.  

As a current teacher and tutor, I hope to create learning environments that bridge the worlds of learning traditional Jewish texts with dynamic ways of accessing them, while also leave time for creative play.  In studying the weekly Torah portion, students will engage with source sheets and study guide questions, but we'll also use theater exercises and improvisational games to dive deeper into the material at hand.  We'll play with tableau in capturing a moment from the parasha, the Torah portion, that particularly resonates with a student or student pair.  We'll use guided imagery to imagine what specific moments in history might have looked like or felt like.  We'll experience holidays as they come up, as students play with storytelling, each student sharing a sentence of the holiday's background.  Theater tools can bring any subject matter to life and Jewish education is no different.

Designated time for creative play is just as important.  It allows the artist within the student to emerge, and live freely.  Class might begin with a warm up, aiming to bring students into the work they'll later engage in.  Class might end with free time to write creatively.  I've found making the time and space for this type of learning in the classroom setting to be crucially important especially because it gives voice to those students who learn in different ways.  

A teacher's toolbox should includes the panorama of the arts - music, dance, visual art, fiction, poetry, theater, film and the like.  As a rabbi in training who teaches in a variety of settings, this is the "stuff" that helps makes the classroom space come alive.  I'm grateful to CUNY's program in Educational Theatre for helping me further appreciate this and provide me with the support and training necessary to be able to transform the classroom into this type of magical learning space.

Balancing Process and Product By Martha Hearn

Balancing Process and Product
Martha Hearn

“Let’s do that again!”

Those were the first words I uttered after my first performance in a major role. I was in 6^th grade, and I could not have felt more alive.

That rush and sense of accomplishment from theatre has never left me. Whether I’m performing, directing, or writing, nothing compares to the feeling of putting your work in front of an audience. This magnifies when working with young people because I get to watch them through the lens of my gangly 12 year old self, experiencing that exhilaration for the very first time.

Before I began my graduate school journey at City College of New York this past September, my greatest teacher fantasies focused on those moments. Watching my students high five and hug after they completed their first performance. Listening to them relive the best moments from the show. Begging me for one more performance and desperately inquiring about the next auditions. These dreams of youthful joy are supported in my Theatre for Young Audiences class. Discussing techniques for creating work with students heightens my ideals even more. Imagine the delight on those future students’ faces when the performance was something they also created together! The pride, the ensemble, the wonder! I’ve always believed that  creating work in theatre builds confidence and empowers students to be leaders and innovators in the world of theatre and beyond.

But in my Drama in Education class, a whole new door of educational theatre was opened. Process drama. Creative dramatics. Teacher in role. No audience was mentioned. No culminating performance was referenced. What was this product-free world? How were my students going to win theatre competitions with this listless drama for drama sake?

But as Prof. Sobha Kavanakudiyil guides us deeper into this world, my mind travels even farther into the past, beyond sixth grade all the way to Kindergarten. I remember pretending to be babies with my best friend, committing to the point of drinking out of bottles. I remember dedicating ourselves to the idea of being identical twins, even practicing our handwriting to look the same. Truly method creative dramatics. The satisfaction of that make believe, even without anyone watching, instilled something inside of me even more profound than that exhilaration that would come years later. It created confidence and imagination. It built a personality able to lead others and solve problems creatively. And yet, before Drama in Education I’d never considered these moments to be a part of my theatrical education because they took place outside of a classroom.

Imagine if a teacher had been there to guide my entire class through these new stories and worlds within our minds.

I was lucky to have parents and other adults in my life that supported my theatrical flights of fantasy. But not every child has those people in their lives. That is why we need drama teachers in schools that aren’t there to just put them up on stage to perform but help them develop their creative energy and storytelling abilities within a safe environment and community of their peers.

I am grateful to the Educational Theatre program for opening my eyes to this balance between process and product. My development as an educator has been altered for the better. I wasn’t expecting to have an epiphany that would change my educational philosophy so drastically within the first few months of starting this program. But I’m beginning to see that my path of learning is going to be quite different than what I expected.

My visions of exhilaration and post-performance joy haven’t disappeared. They’ve expanded in a way I never imagined, and that is truly exhilarating.

Fable Talk by Lisanne Ware

Hello Old Friend Theatre….

CCNY Educational Theatre performs “Fable Talk”

By:  Lisanne Ware

“I don't know why I'm frightened

I know my way around here

The cardboard trees, the painted seas, the sound here...

Yes, a world to rediscover

But I 'm not in any hurry

And I need a moment

           

             The whispered conversations in overcrowded hallways

So much to say not just today but always...

We'll have early morning madness

We'll have magic in the making

Yes, everything's as if we never said goodbye

Yes, everything's as if we never said goodbye...

We taught the world new ways to dream!”

-Sunset Boulevard

On Saturday morning of October 27^th I set out on mass transit earlier than I have been up on a Saturday in a long time to perform “Fable Talk” with CCNY Educational Theatre. “Fable Talk” is an adaptation of “The Tortoise and the Hare” written and directed by the talented Mollie Lief.  I had the honor of playing a German psychiatrist lion named Dr. Moral, Emily Evans plays Olympic gold medalist Hare Hoppings, Rob Dunn is the adorable Shel Tortestein, Kat DeLapp plays a lively talk show host named Polly Panda, and Wendy Rojas gives the play by plays as commentator Fantastic Mr. Fox.

 I was shaking as I reviewed my script on the subway.  Though I have performed many times, this time felt extra special as it has been years since I put on my artist hat that I tried to give up.  For me personally however, the life long artist that was sparked in me many years ago in my childhood is a flame that cannot be quenched.  I couldn’t help but smile at the thought that this performance has the potential to spark that same flame in the children watching our performance.  I was humming the above-mentioned song as I made my way to the performance and said to myself “I am enough, I am an artist”.   I’ve never said goodbye to my artistry or my love of theatre and music because I was lucky enough to see live performances and had teachers who integrated the arts into curriculums.  Passing this along to future generations is my passion and the passion of all of us at CCNY Educational Theatre.

Our first performance took place outdoors for the Hamilton Heights Parent Association.  We arrived to an audience of many small children dressed for Halloween.   Some gawked at us with wide eyes of anticipation, while others clung to their parents not quite sure if they were going to like this “thing” taking place.  I was nervous with anticipation as well. This was my first performance in nearly 2 years.  As the show progressed, I felt very lucky to be a part of this amazing and talented group.  Since starting in my first semester at CCNY, everyone in the Educational Theatre Department has made me feel safe and at home.  Today was no different.  The warmth of support radiated off of all of us and the sense that we were all in this together for the kids was palpable.  The audience of little ones laughed and clapped and all around had a great time. (As did the adoring parents)  We were able to shake hands and speak with some of the children after the show.  Most of the children I spoke to had naturally gone into role as the character they were costumed in for Halloween.  I shook hands with and then got eaten by a tiny shark, helped a spunky little spider girl unravel the “web” tied to her candy bag, and was put under some sort of spell by a miniature witch.  I’m not exactly sure what all those tiny beautiful minds got out of the show, but I am positive they experienced something.  That is the beauty of art!  Whatever they took away is with them for always now, even if it just simply inspired them to play!

Our second performance was very different from the first.  We performed at a local Help USA Homeless Shelter.  I immediately noticed how animated the children in the audience were and how excited and grateful many of the parents were.  We set up in the lobby with just a couple of chairs and our bare bones costumes and the magic of the theatre began!  I specifically noticed a very small child in a stroller in the front row who was smiling and literally trying to dance his way out of his stroller!  Though he couldn’t have been more than two years old, he was experiencing so much.  After working through the nerves at the first show, the cast was excited to do it again.  I thought about how ironic it was that I felt so at home there with my new Educational Theatre family, yet we were performing for an audience struggling to find a place called home.  I hope we made them feel a sense of home that day through the arts.  Home is where the heart is and it was evident that the hearts of those children were bursting with pride as Emily in role as Hare Hoppings pointed to each and every one of them declaring they were winners!

Overall, the day was a success and so much fun that I didn’t want it to end!  I feel lucky and excited for what is to come in my time with CCNY Educational Theatre.  Working with everyone for the first time on that Saturday morning was inspiring and exciting.  I hope we inspired the kids watching.  I am so glad to be a part of this group and this program, I’m so glad the artist inside me never said goodbye.

Stephen Belber Visits - Eric Hoffman

Stephen Belber Visits - Eric Hoffman

It is a desire to teach young people how to be more decent that unites the educators in the City College of New York educational theatre graduate program.  “Decency”, or what we also call “non-cognitive skills” or “social skills” or “character”  (the field of education is still struggling to place a label on this important concept), is essential for young people to grow up to be productive, kind, happy and engaged citizens.  This is the goal of all caregivers and educators, but educational theatre is uniquely positioned to help young people develop a moral compass and identify the role they play in their community.  Through roleplaying, young people are given opportunities to recognize the choices they have and, on stage, experience the consequences of those choices.  It’s not that theatre education teaches young people to be heroes.  It simply gives them the skills like patience, curiosity, gratitude and focus that allow decent people to work hard, communicate and engage with their families, communities and careers.  When faced with adversity, people with these skills make better choices than those who don’t.

On October 9th, my classmates and I were lucky enough to participate in a dialogue with Stephen Belber, one of the core ensemble members of the Tectonic Theatre Project, which created the profoundly moving and significant play The Laramie Project.  The Laramie Project tells the story of the homophobic murder of Matthew Shepard and the reaction it caused in the community of Laramie, Wyoming and the national media.  During the lecture, Belber went into depth about the philosophy that informed Tectonic Theatre Project’s process of the creation of this piece.

In The Laramie Project, a docu-drama created from the verbatim transcripts of interviews conducted by the members of the Tectonic Theatre Project, we are introduced to residents of Laramie, Wyoming.    Many of the real people depicted in the play people struggled to save Matthew Shepard’s life, helped their community to heal and forced their community to take a hard look at itself and the consequences of its homophobia. These individuals come from different walks of life and through the journey of the play we watch them grow and evolve.  Through the play, we see how the tragedy of Matthew Shepard’s death lead them to discover compassion and bravery they did not know they had.   Belber reported on a process that helped a town become an observer of itself for the first time.

Can the lives of future Matthew Shepards be saved if people become observers when they are young?  I am not sure if a robust theatre education program in Laramie’s grade schools could have prevented this tragedy, but I do know that part of the solution to preventing this kind of hate lies in the lesson plans like the ones found in Sharon Grady’s Drama and Diversity.  Grady lays out a series of lesson plans that help young people understand and combat racism, sexism classism, abelism and homophobia.

Theatre education and plays like The Laramie Project can wake people up, give them a chance to observe the world and their lives more closely, which will help them make compassionate and brave choices that will transforms the world into a more decent place.  Stephen Belber gave our class guidance as artists and educators as we try to make a world more self aware, one classroom at a time.  

Jeremiah Drake Visits - Laurie Berich

 Jeremiah Drake Visits - Laurie Berich

On Sunday September 16^th, the Graduate program in Educational Theater hosted a workshop led by Harlem’s own Jeremiah Drake. A multi-faceted artist and educator, Jeremiah currently runs a weekly Theater of the Oppressed workshop at Riverside Church for Harlem residents. He also works with Face to Face, an organization that provides free cosmetic surgery for battered women.

            Current students and alumni gathered in the NAC ballroom for an afternoon crash-course in Theater of the Oppressed. Jeremiah began the workshop beckoning us to “come closer,” a request he noted was a trademark of August Boal himself. He spoke to us of his life, his experience as a teaching artist in the Chicago Public School System, and his belief in the effectiveness of Forum Theater.

            Jeremiah stepped into the role of Joker, the name for the facilitator of a forum theater piece. Forum Theater differs from other forms of theater through its audience participation. Those present are both spectators and actors, cleverly combined to create the title “spectactor.” The process began asking for personal stories of oppression that we have either experienced or witnessed. After four or five suggestions we took a vote to decide which story we would explore.

            The story that was chosen was about being a witness to a mother verbally abusing her young child in a restaurant while onlookers sat idly by. Graduate student Todd Woodard, who had shared the story, was asked to play himself and to cast others in the scene. As Todd pulled spectactors into the playing space, Jeremiah handed each person a prop. These were pieces chosen at random including a gladiator helmet, a telephone, a sickle, a sombrero, and a tennis racket among other things. I noted that giving people who are “non-actors” a prop was a great technique. It immediately gives them something to do in the scene, taking away from the awkwardness of the spotlight.

            After the roles were cast, we moved into some image theater work. Jeremiah prompted each spectactor to create a frozen picture of their character. Drake called out “Don’t think, just do, 3,2,1!” to those who hesitated, and “Let the image speak!” to thought-track each character. The spectactors did a full run-through of the scene. Our Joker Jeremiah checked in with Todd for the accuracy of the scene, and gave him permission to change any element for the sake of accuracy. On the second run through in Forum Theater, any spectactor is allowed to yell out “Stop!” to freeze the scene. They then take the place of the protagonist to try a different approach in dealing with the conflict.

            After a few brave but failed attempts, Jeremiah lined up the remainder of spectactors for a “lightening forum.” At a rapid pace, each spectactor had about ten seconds to try their own version of conflict resolution. When we finally came to an end, the restaurant scene was mayhem and our oppressor was in handcuffs. For the third and final run-through, Todd stepped back into his role as the protagonist to utilize the tactics of the spectactors.

            At the end of the forum, Drake told us that the most important part of the process is in the exchange of ideas. We explored the issue of public child abuse at length, so now what? Forum Theater can be used to simply raise consciousness about an issue, or it can become legislative theater that is done in an effort to create or change a law. The group settled on a law that would fine anyone caught physically or verbally abusing a child in public. Drake intended to take this idea to a senator and invited anyone and everyone to join him if they wished.

            Leaving the workshop, I was left wondering how Forum Theater could be applied with students. Children and adolescents are not always given a voice or valued in discussion, and in this way they are an oppressed population. Perhaps Forum Theater can provide the opportunity and empowerment to have their voice heard and to actively participate in shaping the world around them.

A New School Year, An Alumni's Voice - Benjamin Posner

A New School Year, An Alumni's Voice 
Benjamin Posner

So there I was staring at a class of twenty-­‐five 1st graders on their first day of school. We stood there for a few moments, waiting for the other to move. We shared a look that said “I want my mommy.” I broke the silence and said “don’t worry, it will be alright.” I’m not sure who needed more convincing, them or me? Probably me.
Being a new teacher is a lot like being a new student. You don’t know anybody. You don’t know where to go. You don’t know what to do. It takes about a week to meet the rest of the faculty and staff, a couple days to figure out where everything is, and a few years to figure out what you’re doing. Or so I’m told.
And I hope its true because right now I have no idea what I’m doing. There’s nothing quite like the pressure 25 audiences a week all demanding entertainment, and a decent education. I will say that proper planning helps to guide me through each week, as well as early bedtimes and packed lunches. A good mentor helps too and I’m extremely lucky to have one at school that is not only committed to my success but the success of the arts in education. In fact, my school has band, chorus, dance, and theatre.
I feel like a member of the Avengers. I’m the rookie with his chest puffed up, trying not to look quite so green. But I am and there’s no use hiding. Even the students know, but just like the teachers, they are kind, and understanding, and patient.
There are trying times too. Times when my plans go awry with lessons that are too difficult or too simple. There are snags in my curriculum. And many times I have looked to my mentor for help in those situations. I cannot overstate how helpful the guidance and counsel of a veteran teacher can be. Most of the teachers at my school are veterans in the system and they are all extremely forthcoming with advice.
Aside from lesson planning, curriculum development, classroom organization and decorating, there is also administrative work like benefit and union enrollment, and payroll logistics. Teaching is part of the job, but it’s not everything. Teaching is what you get to do when you finished all your other work. It’s like dessert. It’s the reward you get after getting off the phone with human resources. I value my graduate training at CCNY above any other but I wish they (or anybody) offered a class in navigating the avenues of bureaucracy at the New York City Department of Education. My advice to anyone becoming a teacher is to deal with the DOE over summer BEFORE the school year starts. It will save you time and sanity.
But I don’t let the minutia detract from the excitement of my first year. Anyway I’m far too busy to busy myself with busy work. I occupy my time with lesson planning and learning the wildly different names of about 600 students. Their personalities are also wildly different and interesting and I am amazed at their level of enthusiasm for drama. It feels like they’ve embraced me, taken me under their wings. They look at me like they know what it’s like to be the new kid in school. They say “hi” in the hallways. They bring their parents to see me. They tell me I look like Superman and smell like Batman. So I guess I’m not an Avenger after all.