Rainy Thursday

Other than the rain, it was just fine (and honestly I didn't even mind that). We made our way to a school in our neck of the woods. We did three shows and a workshop. The shows were uproarious and fun. Sometimes, it's tough getting kids who will be willing to go onstage and do something. Sure, they'll be thrilled to be picked, but once all those eyes are upon them or you ask them to actually DO the crazy characters they themselves help create, they can fall inside their little shells. Hey, at least they had the guts to go up there. I wouldn't have done that in the first grade (or would I...?).

There's was also the challenge of the workshop. We start by getting everyone to tell me what they think are needed to create a play. They give great ideas and practically spell out my presentation and then some. It was really impressive, actually. Then we go into settings. Idea abound. Our characters get fleshed out. The main character is Jake, a very lonely hunter out in the Germane Forest of Dreams (I couldn't help wondering, did this kid get this from somewhere? I never heard of a suggestion that was so specific. Anyways, it was a rather beautiful description). Our main character had the very strange habit of attacking strangers that came across his path by turning into a tiger and throwing his spear at him. After some debate, I compromised on Jake wanting to find someone he could stand for company. However, it became a bit frayed after that. Part of it was a conflicting big want we were never able to agree upon and then once we had some sort of a bigging fleshed out I would ask "what's next"...to which I got variations of "to get what Jake wants". I was slightly over time for the workshop, but was just starting to make some progress. Hopefully they'll be able to work the rest out. It's all part of the teacher learning process. There will be some adjustments for next time.

-This had one of my favorite plays to date. Here's my Play of the Day:
Once upon a time, a girl named Hamburger Buns lost her dog Spanky in an abandoned amusement park. While making her way through the dark and rusty ruins, she runs across Squeaky (myself) , a creepy old clown, who refuses to help Hamburger and instead runs away. Undeterred, she first makes her way into a house of mirrors. Nothing. Then she makes here way into a evil clown house, but is jumped by a band of evil clowns. So what does she do? She turns around scares them away. Finally, she tries her luck in the House of Hampsters. And there is Squeaky, his a sore bitten nose from Spanky, Hamburger's dog. The long lost two finally reunite and, just to make sure the point is struck home, had the dog bite its clown thief on the nose one more time. The end.

-Ben

P.S.-The google group is still being a bit tricky. I'll keep you up to date, but it looks like direct email is the best way to go for now. Until next time...