Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The 2008/09 Drama Season - Tentative Schedule
Fall: Six Characters in Search of an Author by Pirandello
Winter: Two Original One Acts: Schoolyard by Emily Platt & TBA
Spring: Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco
This is not etched in stone but this is what I'm thinking at the moment based on a number of things that have been discussed, staging issues, etc:
Many have expressed an interest in Six Characters... because of the challenge it will present to us as artist and performers, and I think this is true. Keep in mind: this will be a very challenging piece for the actors, even though it will be less demanding in terms of set/tech. The line demands for the Father, Director, and Step-Daughter will exceed any play we have done before, and it will take someone who is willing to commit to the work to be able to pull it off. I believe we have people in our group who are capable of this, and who will be willing to step up to the challenge, so this does not worry me, though I just want to put it out there that it WILL be a lot of work.
Another reason to do Six Characters in the fall, and Rhino in the spring (versus the reverse) is that the Rhino script is going to take some adapting in order to make it work for us. The fourth scene, between Berenger and Dudard (excuse me if I'm spelling these wrong) needs to be reduced and even some of the earlier scenes probably needs some light internal editing.
Why I'm leaning towards Rhino over Skin: I feel Rhino is both a light play and says something, and like Sarah said it has a lot of potential for staging - though it has a lot of challenges as well - a lot of difficult questions remain, such as what is the "dust" that is constantly being kicked up by the rhinos? How do you DO that on stage? And the mass production of Rhino heads is a real staging challenge - but that could be a lot of fun and it could possibly involve the visual art department, and working with masks would be a fun challenge for us. And what about those trumpeting sounds we're constantly hearing? How are they achieved? Etc.
As for the winter slot - I would like to do Schoolyard by Emily Platt, but that still leaves a second play opening. Schoolyard is a much lighter piece, a lot of fun, and we could pair it with something equally light or with more depth, depending on what is out there. And this is an opportunity for a student to direct.
Keeping in mind we will still have a 10 Minute Play festival in March and a 24 Hour Play Festival in April, these are my at the moment feelings concerning the season, based on what people have said, trying to honor both camps which believe we should do light and heavy (or light and dark) plays, and also basing some of the decision on who has expressed an interest to do the fall/spring play.
Comments?
Winter: Two Original One Acts: Schoolyard by Emily Platt & TBA
Spring: Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco
This is not etched in stone but this is what I'm thinking at the moment based on a number of things that have been discussed, staging issues, etc:
Many have expressed an interest in Six Characters... because of the challenge it will present to us as artist and performers, and I think this is true. Keep in mind: this will be a very challenging piece for the actors, even though it will be less demanding in terms of set/tech. The line demands for the Father, Director, and Step-Daughter will exceed any play we have done before, and it will take someone who is willing to commit to the work to be able to pull it off. I believe we have people in our group who are capable of this, and who will be willing to step up to the challenge, so this does not worry me, though I just want to put it out there that it WILL be a lot of work.
Another reason to do Six Characters in the fall, and Rhino in the spring (versus the reverse) is that the Rhino script is going to take some adapting in order to make it work for us. The fourth scene, between Berenger and Dudard (excuse me if I'm spelling these wrong) needs to be reduced and even some of the earlier scenes probably needs some light internal editing.
Why I'm leaning towards Rhino over Skin: I feel Rhino is both a light play and says something, and like Sarah said it has a lot of potential for staging - though it has a lot of challenges as well - a lot of difficult questions remain, such as what is the "dust" that is constantly being kicked up by the rhinos? How do you DO that on stage? And the mass production of Rhino heads is a real staging challenge - but that could be a lot of fun and it could possibly involve the visual art department, and working with masks would be a fun challenge for us. And what about those trumpeting sounds we're constantly hearing? How are they achieved? Etc.
As for the winter slot - I would like to do Schoolyard by Emily Platt, but that still leaves a second play opening. Schoolyard is a much lighter piece, a lot of fun, and we could pair it with something equally light or with more depth, depending on what is out there. And this is an opportunity for a student to direct.
Keeping in mind we will still have a 10 Minute Play festival in March and a 24 Hour Play Festival in April, these are my at the moment feelings concerning the season, based on what people have said, trying to honor both camps which believe we should do light and heavy (or light and dark) plays, and also basing some of the decision on who has expressed an interest to do the fall/spring play.
Comments?
Monday, August 18, 2008
FINAL DELIBERATION ON PLAY SELECTION:
This is your space for your final comments, deliberations, on the selection of plays for the 2008/09 season of Nokomis Drama.
The plays being discussed are:
Six Characters in Search of an Author,
The Skin of Our Teeth, &
Rhinoceros.
As stated before, please keep your discussion / comments civil, respect each other's opinions, and realize that not everyone feels the same. Ultimately I will be making the final decision as to which play we do for the fall and beyond, but I will try to take as much as I can into consideration.
Thank you. -Mihalik
The plays being discussed are:
Six Characters in Search of an Author,
The Skin of Our Teeth, &
Rhinoceros.
As stated before, please keep your discussion / comments civil, respect each other's opinions, and realize that not everyone feels the same. Ultimately I will be making the final decision as to which play we do for the fall and beyond, but I will try to take as much as I can into consideration.
Thank you. -Mihalik
Friday, August 15, 2008
NEXT DRAMA MEETING: Monday, August 18th
We will decide on the fall play (hopefully) and read one more, TBA.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Six Characters v. Skin of Our Teeth
You've read the plays, you've thought about them, now is the time to post your opinions, both positive and negative. To be honest, I'm on the fence and will gladly direct either one. All I ask is that you:
a.) be frank about your own thoughts/opinions
b.) respect each other's thoughts/opinions.
The hope is to have a constructive conversation and to arrive at a decision together. Let's think of this as an open discussion and see where it takes us.
I am, by the way, very happy and excited to be spending another year with you all.
-Mihalik
a.) be frank about your own thoughts/opinions
b.) respect each other's thoughts/opinions.
The hope is to have a constructive conversation and to arrive at a decision together. Let's think of this as an open discussion and see where it takes us.
I am, by the way, very happy and excited to be spending another year with you all.
-Mihalik
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
FIRST DRAMA MEETING O' THE YEAR!
So pass the word on to all interested parties...
We'll be having our first meeting of the year on Wednesday and Thursday, August 13th and 14th on the Nokomis stage - (presumably, if it isn't being waxed or on fire or something...) - to talk about what we want to accomplish in the coming season and read some plays for possible production.
Plays we'll be reading:
SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR
THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH.
See you there.
We'll be having our first meeting of the year on Wednesday and Thursday, August 13th and 14th on the Nokomis stage - (presumably, if it isn't being waxed or on fire or something...) - to talk about what we want to accomplish in the coming season and read some plays for possible production.
Plays we'll be reading:
SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR
THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH.
See you there.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Another Possible Script (Spring Play?) found by Sarah M. Please comment...
If there is interest in this, I will order a reading copy. So please comment:
 |
| By Tim Kelly Cast: Flexible cast of 30 (roughly 15M, 15F), doubling possible Set: Three simple sets Time: About 2 hours |
| Synopsis: The cheapest airline in world history is Go Bananas Airline, so wretched that even the Bermuda Triangle rejects its planes. The first act introduces us to a bevy of lovely stewardesses whose boss, Smiling Jack Pott, is using the flight as their "final exam." A movie producer will do almost anything to stop his leading lady from boarding the flight, and the incredible Dragbottom family is concerned that someone has been making bombs in their cellar. Toss into this unlikely group of people a guy who thinks he's Superman, an eccentric billionaire, a rock star, hijackers, incense-selling mystics and a dancer with three feet. Then it's "all aboard" for these and a large assortment of additional oddball characters for an insane flight through a terrible storm. No radar, no navigator and the pilot sold his compass at a garage sale thinking it was an egg timer. The control tower is bedlam, but eventually the flying tin can is brought safely to solid ground, except for the movie star who lands via parachute in a chicken farm. About the author: Tim Kelly's first stage play, Widow's Walk, was published in the 1960's, at the same time his A Darker Flower opened at New York's Pocket Theatre, The Trunk and All That Jazz at Boston's Image Theatre, and Die Blum in Germany. Since then, he has kept up a steady flow of amazingly diverse work ... having well over 300 plays currently in print—and in continuous production. |
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH
The Skin of Our Teeth is a play by Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Act one is an amalgam of early 20th century New Jersey and the dawn of the Ice Age. The father is inventing things such as the lever, the wheel, the alphabet, and multiplication tables. The family (the Antrobuses) and the entire north-eastern U.S. face extinction by a wall of ice moving southward from Canada. The story is introduced by a narrator and further expanded by the family maid, Sabina. There are unsettling parallels between the members of the Antrobus family and various characters from the Bible. In addition, time is compressed and scrambled to such an extent that the refugees who arrive at the Antrobus house seeking food and fire include the Old Testament judge Moses, the ancient Greek poet Homer, and women who are identified as Muses.
For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Skin_of_Our_Teeth
Act one is an amalgam of early 20th century New Jersey and the dawn of the Ice Age. The father is inventing things such as the lever, the wheel, the alphabet, and multiplication tables. The family (the Antrobuses) and the entire north-eastern U.S. face extinction by a wall of ice moving southward from Canada. The story is introduced by a narrator and further expanded by the family maid, Sabina. There are unsettling parallels between the members of the Antrobus family and various characters from the Bible. In addition, time is compressed and scrambled to such an extent that the refugees who arrive at the Antrobus house seeking food and fire include the Old Testament judge Moses, the ancient Greek poet Homer, and women who are identified as Muses.
For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Skin_of_Our_Teeth
Friday, July 4, 2008
SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR
I've started my read of this play and I'm pretty excited about its potential for our Fall play. I read about a theater program that adapted the language and references to work with their program and to be/sound more modern. It would be a lot of fun to work on this one and there's room for improv., etc.
Six Characters in Search of an Author (Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore) is the most famous and celebrated play by the Italian writer Luigi Pirandello.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Characters_in_Search_of_an_Author
The play begins with an acting company reluctantly preparing to rehearse a play, incidentally one of Pirandello's own, Mixing It Up (Il Gioco delle Parti). As the rehearsal is about to begin the play is unexpectedly interrupted by the arrival of six strange people. The Manager of the play, furious at the interruption, demands an explanation. The Father reveals themselves as unfinished characters in search of an author to finish their story. The Manager initially believes them to be mad, but as they begin to argue amongst themselves and reveal details of their story he begins to listen. While he isn't an author, the Manager agrees to stage their story despite the disbelief amongst the jeering actors.
Six Characters in Search of an Author (Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore) is the most famous and celebrated play by the Italian writer Luigi Pirandello.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Characters_in_Search_of_an_Author
The play begins with an acting company reluctantly preparing to rehearse a play, incidentally one of Pirandello's own, Mixing It Up (Il Gioco delle Parti). As the rehearsal is about to begin the play is unexpectedly interrupted by the arrival of six strange people. The Manager of the play, furious at the interruption, demands an explanation. The Father reveals themselves as unfinished characters in search of an author to finish their story. The Manager initially believes them to be mad, but as they begin to argue amongst themselves and reveal details of their story he begins to listen. While he isn't an author, the Manager agrees to stage their story despite the disbelief amongst the jeering actors.
RHINOCEROS by Eugene Ionesco
I've been considering a play called Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco since our first year together, and I was excited to see a high school in Florida had done quite well with it. The play IS two and a half hours long, 3 acts, although it is something that could be cut for time. There are a lot of parts and its funny, weird, original, and about conformity.
Read about the past production of The Paladin Players
http://www.fott.org/Rhino/Rhinoceros.html
Read about the play on wikipedia at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros_(play)
Read about the past production of The Paladin Players
http://www.fott.org/Rhino/Rhinoceros.html
Read about the play on wikipedia at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros_(play)
Friday, June 27, 2008
High School Drama Programs
Hey, y'all!
In searching for possible plays for next season, I stumbled upon an interesting website. If you'd like to see what other high school drama programs are doing across the country, check out this link:
http://home.onemain.com/~highschooltheatre/index.html
I'll be posting a list of possible plays soon. I'm trying to find plays with a lot of roles that are still serious (or if they're comic, they're at least well-written and established), and which have a lot to say.
Another goal is to put together a Nokomis Drama website for next year. Just a thought, but we do some neat stuff that I think we should have on display for the rest of the world to see.
-Mihalik
In searching for possible plays for next season, I stumbled upon an interesting website. If you'd like to see what other high school drama programs are doing across the country, check out this link:
http://home.onemain.com/~highschooltheatre/index.html
I'll be posting a list of possible plays soon. I'm trying to find plays with a lot of roles that are still serious (or if they're comic, they're at least well-written and established), and which have a lot to say.
Another goal is to put together a Nokomis Drama website for next year. Just a thought, but we do some neat stuff that I think we should have on display for the rest of the world to see.
-Mihalik
Thursday, June 26, 2008
So Keep Reading...
A handful of good suggestions right from the start.
So that's your assignment for the summer - to read (yes, read!) a few good plays! - and let the rest of us know about them.
How to find the plays: you can use Google or Amazon, you can check them out at the library, or next time you go to the Borders, you can swing by the "Drama" section. In fact, a play is just short enough that you can read it in an hour or so (or two) while having a coffee at the store and then stick it back on the shelf.
So go out and read a few good plays if you can, report back on this blog, and maybe you'll be the one who finds our play for the fall!
So that's your assignment for the summer - to read (yes, read!) a few good plays! - and let the rest of us know about them.
How to find the plays: you can use Google or Amazon, you can check them out at the library, or next time you go to the Borders, you can swing by the "Drama" section. In fact, a play is just short enough that you can read it in an hour or so (or two) while having a coffee at the store and then stick it back on the shelf.
So go out and read a few good plays if you can, report back on this blog, and maybe you'll be the one who finds our play for the fall!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Welcome to Nokomis Drama's Blog!
Hello everyone! The purpose of this blog is to make information about current and upcoming drama meetings and events more accessible including, hopefully, rehearsal calendars, production dates, and so on!
As we move towards the fall of 2008, I would like to ask all Nokomis Drama students to help me in finding our first play of the season. The parameters of the search are:
1. plays with large casts,
2. a variable of male and female roles,
3. and which will fit the space of our stage (though as most of you know, we have been very successful in using the stage in new and interesting ways) and the "space" of our audience.
Please post comments about plays you have read here. Happy hunting!
As we move towards the fall of 2008, I would like to ask all Nokomis Drama students to help me in finding our first play of the season. The parameters of the search are:
1. plays with large casts,
2. a variable of male and female roles,
3. and which will fit the space of our stage (though as most of you know, we have been very successful in using the stage in new and interesting ways) and the "space" of our audience.
Please post comments about plays you have read here. Happy hunting!
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