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Drama and Play = LIFE

by | Mar 17, 2017

Drama and Play = LIFE
All the world’s a stage
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His act being seven ages.
—William Shakespeare

Class Play

 

Why are class plays such a powerful learning experience? The clue is in the word itself— PLAY!! Drama is a wonderful time to play with and shape attitude. It allows the kids to mold themselves into characters and have an enhanced experience of poetic speech.  It allows break the confines of self. It is the well spring to ignite the will to learn and to create. AND QUITE FRANKLY— ITS FUN. All artistic disciplines, drama prominently, exercise and differentiate the feeling-cognition of the heart to waken to new ideals and worlds of experience.

 

The word play rings with joy and is the essential “work of childhood”. The magic of our play has transformed cardboard into a ship, yarn into golden locks of hair, aluminum foil into spears and swords.

 

Thank you to all who have donated to our massive pile of cardboard!!!

 

Class work has consisted of play practice, math review and prop creation. It has been wonderful to watch how work with their hands leads to meaningful peer engagement.
Casting the play: This year I asked students to list their top three characters they were interested in performing. Some gave me five. It worked out that students were give the role of one of their choices. Of course there were still hurt feelings over not getting roles such as Odin, Hel, and Loki. Often casting characters is done with a pedagogical eye. For example, having a student play a role of a character may give them homeopathic doses of themself or the ability to be a naughty character who yells and is hated. Its fun to wear a mask every now and then and let go.