For those of you using my plays and are not sure what direction you or your school will be going in the near future, below are some ideas for you to possibly move forward with.
As we all know, this has been a trying time for everyone in the theatre arts arena… but what’s the worst, is that this is hard on the kids. I’d hate to see the kids not get a chance to strut their stuff, especially for those in graduation years. So, some ideas… please feel free to do any or all of the following: (I allow this anyway with no issues, but I just want to reiterate to help you get some solutions)
- Go Live with your show and perform to a remote audience! Let them watch from the comfort of their homes! IG or FB can do this. Maybe Skype?!
- Record and share your file on YouTube. (Remember not to make it public. Set it as “Unlisted”, where you can share a link! (Don’t want any kids out in the public domain, unless you have permission))
- Do an outdoor performance and allow your audience to spread out! (Think Globe since many of my plays are Shakespeare!)
- Do multiple shows for small audiences (my plays are only about 15-25 minutes, so you could do 2 shows in an hour!)
- Combine #’s 3&4 and perform outside different houses (think backyard Shakespeare! Small, intimate, and picnics!)
- Postpone your performance. I hate to do this, but many may not have a choice.
- Make like 800 TikTok videos of your show and go viral. (Thank you Don Zolidis for letting me borrow this great idea!)
- Do dramatic readings/readers theatre online via Skype, Google hangouts, or Zoom. My plays are only 15 to 25 minutes, so they could be a quick fun hour and a half readers theater class.
- Have them make their characters and do a performance in Minecraft. I believe there is already a globe theater built out there that you can use!
- Stop action with Legos or clay. Then voice over the characters.
Regardless of what you do, let us all know and make sure your kids get that opportunity to show off their talents! Drama is a critical resource for these kids, and we don’t want to see it taken away!
