Over the past few days students in Acting II have been experimenting with the ideas of commedia dell’arte and the connection it has to comedy produced today. For their current project students are being asked to create and perform a short sketch utilizing at least three elements of  commedia. So far they have come up with some pretty intriguing ideas- corruption in sports, infantile behavior among politicians, the universal fear of flying, and the facade of family loyalty.  In true commedia fashion they are creating outlines for their scenarios and will soon embark on the task of using improvisation to bring the pieces to their feet.

Leadership is something educators hold dear. We are constantly thinking about how to encourage it in our classes. In seventh grade theatre, leadership happens  many different times throughout any given class period. In fact, we start each class with a warm-up led by a student. Their charge is simple, yet deceptively complex: lead a five minute exercise that engages the whole class  and utilizes four main theatre words: focus, imagination, physicality, and voice. Sometimes students choose games that I know, other times I am learning them for the first time along with our students. Regardless, it is not difficult to turn the classroom over to my students. They are eager to take the reigns and do so with gusto.

Last Tuesday a student taught “The Martha Game” to her peers. She started by explaining how the game works. Students begin the game in a line facing the playing space. One player at a time steps into the playing space and strikes a pose. He or she announces who they are and what they are doing. The next player must follow suit, adding to the picture already established.  This continues until all players have added to the picture. The pace is fast and lends itself to spontaneity- not to mention that it hits all the elements of the theatre needed in a strong warm up. Our leader decided to add an additional collaborative component to the game for our second round- the person who follows you now announces who you are and what you are doing. This addition utilized one of my favorite elements of the theatre- Follow the Follower. This might sound like an oxymoron, but it’s a key element in theatre-making. There is no singular leader. We each follow each other, building on what has come before, similar to the improv. mantra “Yes, and…” In making this adjustment to the game, our teacher for the morning encouraged us to learn from each other and see the importance in the exchange of ideas. It was a perfect way to start the day.

You might wonder why nearly 20 students are sporting evening wear on a cold, rainy Thursday in October. If you look across campus you might spot someone in a suit (equipped with a bow tie) or a fancy black dress. Why? The answer: opening night of All My Sons. In keeping with theatre tradition, cast and crew dress up on this important day.

At last count we have 10 seats left for tonight’s performance. We will host the 11th grade who are studying the play in their English classes. They’ve been using a study guide created by the dramturge for All My Sons, Nick Dalzell ’15.  We’re curious and excited to see what they think of the show.

Are you coming to opening night? What are your thoughts on the show? Let us know in the comments below!

Director’s note: The cast and crew started tech week today and we began the morning with a hair tutorial. Resident costume designer Ilene Goldstein explained not only how to do the hair but also the cultural importance of each curl, part, and pin.

The Williston Theatre presents “All My Sons” from October 23-October 25, 2014. Read more and reserve your tickets online.

All My Sons was originally produced on Broadway in 1947. People sitting in the audience were, in some way, like the characters in the play- struggling to make sense of the post-war era, readjusting to societal roles, and attempting to define new ones. Joe Keller and his wife Kate could very well have been their neighbors and Chris Keller could have been a buddy they fought in the war with.  The world of Miller’s play was their world.

That was nearly 70 years ago.  The world of the Kellers is as unfamiliar to a contemporary audience as the turn of the 19th century was for Generation X. Doing All My Sons in 2014 requires deep inquiry into the historical context of the play, otherwise the actors would not understand the driving forces behind the characters. It would be all too easy to simply label them good or bad. The result would be a production that dictated to the audience what to think- a dangerous trap. Miller’s work is best when there is subtlety, ambiguity, and unanswered questions.  Luckily, it took very little coercing to convince Peter Gunn, Williston’s veteran US History teacher, to visit with the cast and share his expertise.

Mr. Gunn began by putting the American Identity, and by association the American Dream (a paramount theme for Miller which is front and center in All My Sons) in context of the status anxiety associated with the Puritan Ethic.   Mr. Gunn continued by discussing three American Identities: the Washingtonian (focus on the civic), the Hamiltonian (focus on the economic) and the identity espoused by Emmerson and Thoreau (focus on the self). It was at this moment in the presentation that the actor’s heads began nodding vigorously as if they were figuring out which identity most impacted their character. Mr. Gunn then took us through an analyses of the American Identity through the decades of the mid 20th century- the ’20’s, ’30’s and 40’s. This was a critical exploration- our young performers began to connect their character’s lives with each decade and could see how they made an imprint on the character’s sense of self. This historical context allowed the world of the play to come to life. The characters were no longer two-dimensional, but real people connected to us through a shared American history. We ended with a lively and passionate Q&A.

After our conversation with Mr. Gunn, the actors felt much more rooted and connected to their roles. He later said, “The questions these actors asked show their desire to empathize fully with their character.  In addition, they developed a deeper understanding of the historical context of the events portrayed in the play.  Together a sense of empathy and an understanding of historical context will allow these dedicated artists to honor their responsibility to Arthur Miller and to produce a more vibrant and vital interpretation of this play.” I also noted after our work with Mr. Gunn that the characters’ objectives (the primary desire that drives each character) were more clear and well-defined, the actors were more confident in their body language, and their ability to connect with one another onstage was striking. In essence, they were finding the humanity in each character.

The Williston Theatre presents “All My Sons” from October 23-October 25, 2014. Read more and reserve your tickets online.

Rehearsals are already underway for our first production of the year, Arthur Miller’s classic All My Sons. Bringing the show to life will be challenging. The piece is incredibly rich, demanding, and complex- another reason to start early.

The play revolves around Joe Keller and his family. During World War II Keller and his neighbor, Herbert Deever, ran a machine shop that made airplane parts for military planes. Deever went to jail for sending defective parts out of the shop, causing the deaths of dozens of American soldiers. Keller was exonerated and built a life for himself and his family. These parallel stories pick up early one August morning when a storm takes out the tree dedicated to Joe’s oldest son who was reported missing in action during the war. This symbolic event, along with Keller’s youngest son’s proposal to Ann Deever and the return of a bitter George Deever, sets the wheels in motion for the action of the play that ultimately unearths devastating truths long-buried by Keller and his wife.

The cast sat down last Thursday for our read through of the play. A read through is when the cast and production team get together to hear the cast read the play out loud for the first time. Typically there is lots of stumbling over new words and questions about the plot and various relationships in the story.  However, last Thursday there was already dynamic energy between our actors and their passion for the play and characters was palpable. With that much excitement at the read through one can only guess where the rehearsal process will take us.