Moving Forward with Resilience and Variety

Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade yesterday sparked two thoughts for me:

• how traditions are often refreshed and revived for the better
• just how resilient we can be in times of difficulty

I want to start with that last one because it sticks with me in a new way this year. It is easy to get caught up in how difficult things are in any given moment. The last eight months have certainly been awful with Covid ravaging around the globe, but let's notice how well people have been adapting and, in many cases, thriving, in this environment. I have an example specific to the parade, but let's first look at my field of educational theatre.

As you may know, school theatre programs were unceremonious and suddenly shut down in mid-March as schools and municipalities were forced to close to prevent the spread of Covid. My students and I were informed of the postponement of our production of Into the Woods just minutes before the end of the school day on opening night. Delivering that news to the cast and crew on that day was the most difficult thing I've ever done. However, those students were so incredibly resilient. We had the opportunity to get back a significant portion of our rental costs for the backdrop and costumes if we boxed them up and shipped them back THAT DAY. A significant number jumped right to the task. That act of strength in the face of heavy disappointment has allowed us to secure the rights to a bigger show at a very reasonable cost this year. We are thankful for Charles H. Stewart Backdrops, The Costumer, and MTI for their flexibility throughout all of that last year. It leaves us in a great position to do whatever possible to put up a show this spring.

I share that story to highlight how school theatre programs, as well as local and regional theatres, across the country are working extra hard to create opportunities for their students and communities to gather safely and experience the art of live theatre. Many schools are filming their shows and streaming to paying audiences (our likely process this spring). In some locations, even in my home state of New Jersey, it is possible for small, socially distanced groups to attend live performances in the theatre spaces... something that Broadway cannot allow. Yet, all this time, there is such a heavy focus on how Broadway is closed down. We are out here making theatre happen and I strongly encourage those craving live performance to support their school theatre programs and community playhouses!

There will be a lot of school theatres breaking with tradition in order to mount productions this year. As I recently told my students, the one thing we can be sure if is that we can't be sure of how anything will ultimately go. Macy's and NBC found a way to break with tradition and give us a refreshed and captivating Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade yesterday. While it was odd to see the parade without people lining the streets, and the daylight and clear weather in some segments were obvious signs that some portions were previously recorded, the result was exciting! I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of the Land Acknowledgement and Wampanoag Blessing and the inclusion of groups from some of New York City's other parades. This was a great way to liven up the event and give us something that we don't always get to see. I hope these can become regular segments of the parade and that Macy's & NBC can further explore avenues to bring in performances and groups that aren't commonly seen on television. Frankly, they could cut back on more of the pop stars and celebrities in order to do it. Maybe adopt more of a variety show type atmosphere? That's what makes shows like NBC's America's Got Talent so appealing. Where else do you "fringe" performers like spoken-word poet Brandon Leake, ventriloquist Darci Lynne Farmer, or dog shows like Olate Dogs, celebrated so publicly?

In the end, I'm grateful to have a new perspective from which to view my own work and popular entertainment in general. The holiday season is a great time to dream about new beginnings in the New Year. What great examples for me - and for all of us - to embrace as we continue to move forward throughout it all.

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Young Playwrights Guide - Conversation Series

This weekend wraps up the summer edition of the Conversations Series on the Young Playwrights Guide YouTube channel. I had such a great time connecting with the artists & teachers with whom I worked on the NJ Young Playwrights Festival. Their stories and insights are excellent resources for not only youth creators, but many of us looking to reconnect with and rekindle our passion for the art form. Please head on over to the YP Guide YouTube channel to check out the videos; please reach out to the artists interviewed, too. They are excellent people to work with!

And please remember to SUBSCRIBE!

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Grit and the Achievement Theory

This summer I read the book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Dr. Angela Duckworth. This was an enjoyable read with easy to follow concepts and relatable examples. Within the first two chapters were ideas that I see as easily adapted to the theatre classroom or after-school program. The most exciting part of the book was a later chapter that included an entire section devoted to how after-school & extra-curricular activities are the best environment for students to learn and develop perseverance. This perseverance is what Duckworth defines as "grit".

Expanding further, Duckworth defines grit as "passion and perseverance for long-term goals" ("What is Grit?"). Grit is purposeful determination aimed toward achieving higher-order goals. Grit is what Duckworth's research shows may be the greatest indicator of future student success.

What incredible supporting evidence for my experience that I learn more about how well a student will do in a theatre class, or a school production, based on their demeanor and conversation in an audition or rehearsal room. Often that tells me more than "talent". In fact, while Duckworth identifies talent as the first step toward developing grit, effort "counts twice" in that pursuit.

This is explained in Duckworth's achievement theory, which works like this:

talent x effort = skill

skill x effort = achievement

Based on this theory map, talent is the first step toward skill development, which is necessary for goal achievement. It isn't enough to have talent - one must apply their talent through effort. Further effort, bolstered by subsequently developed skills, brings achievement.

This makes a lot of sense. How many times have we theatre teachers and directors - and I would assume coaches in school and youth sports - seen a child with talent who did not realize their full potential due to a lack of effort? However, there is one slight adjustment I might make to the achievement theory above. I don't know that talent is an essential first step toward goal achievement. Perhaps "interest" is all that is needed?

Let's consider "talent" as a natural skill that gives a person a head start toward achievement. As explained by the theory, a talented person still needs to put in the effort to accomplish the end goal. However, those who lack the same "talent", but posses a strong interest in goal achievement, can still get there through effort. It may not be as easy, but it is certainly possible.

That is an important idea to keep in mind when conducting our classes and leading our productions. In fact, I envision that first level of the Achievement Theory as the classroom and the second level as the production. Skill can certainly be developed through effort in the rehearsal process, but the classroom provides time for individual instruction and for focus on specific skill development that cannot always be achieved in the rehearsal room. It is an interesting model that I am eager to bring to my high school classes. I'd be curious to hear how you view this approach and whether or not it may, or has, worked for you.

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Revise and Resubmit

"Revise and Resubmit" is not exactly the comment that a writer wants to receive after submitting a manuscript for publication. I've had my own experiences with this over the summer that I am still trying to parse out (thank you, Reviewer #2), but it helps me to remember that revision is a process of improvement. It is similar to the Stoics' reminder that "the obstacle is the way" and that every challenge, or difficulty, offers an opportunity for improvement. 

I've done a lot of curriculum writing and lesson plan revision this summer. Most of this is for the theatre classes in middle school and high school (some are new, but some is for the potential need to adapt to online learning again). This week, I have turned my attention to the TYA course that I teach for the Program in Educational Theatre. I've been teaching this class since 2014 when I inherited it from a long line of influential people in the field: Dr. Lowell Swortzell, Laurie Brooks, and Jonathan Shmidt Chapman. The course structure has evolved over time and I have continued that tradition by adapting Jonathan's syllabus and making adjustments and tweaks to the course every year since.

About two years ago, I incorporated the 25 year anniversary anthology from the New Visions/New Voices Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. New Visions/New Voices is one of three major new play development programs in the field of TYA currently in existence in the United States (along with Write Now and NYU's New Plays for Young Audiences Series). The anthology was a way to focus on current scripts while emphasizing the importance of new play development in the field. Perhaps most importantly, using the anthology reduced textbook costs for students. The NV/NV plays are serviceable and the last two classes have enjoyed them; however, one of the strongest suggestions received from the classes was a desire to delve into even more current and relevant scripts. I have made that my goal while preparing for the fall.

When constructing the syllabus, it is also important to recognize the variety of students on the class roster and their varied perspectives. The class is typically made of students from freshman to doctoral candidates, Educational Theatre majors to performance majors from Tisch, as well as students from outside the arts who are interested in exploring the world outside of their math and business majors. The students are, or plan to be, theatre praticioners, educators, and producers, or are simply interested in story from a teller and/or audience point of view. All of these perspectives inform my planning and I plan to balance the reading list with scripts that are of historical significance to the field and that are often produced in professional venues and schools. The EdTA 2020 Play Survey was helpful here. I am including some of the titles on these lists with those from the NV/NV anthology.

One text that has not changed from my first courses at both Manhattanville College and NYU is Moses Goldberg's collection titled TYA: Essays on the Theatre for Young Audiences. This is an EXCELLENT book that I could not do without!

I am excited by this changes and look forward to exploring the works with a new group of students and to seeing and hearing their reactions and insights. There are still some areas of the field that I can't quite cover in the time provided for the class. I plan to ask students to explore those topics in their midterm project and see what may come out as the most important aspect to incorporate in the revision for next year.

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Hurry Up and Wait

After a great, yet unconventional school year, I am eager to get back. This is the first summer where I know my course load and the first time that I can go into September with plans in place. Previously, I've either been hired just before school began - or with the school year already in session, left in the dark about classes until arriving at school for the first professional development day. I'm further ahead in my planning than in those situations, but I'm getting ready with such a large question mark about how exactly our hybrid school model will pan out. That is the case for every teacher in America who hasn't yet begun school - it is frustrating, but necessary.

The biggest question right now is what form the winter musical might take. Choices are limited because of the need to secure streaming rights for the performance. I do have a show in mind and am eager to start planning because it will be a big undertaking if we can perform "normally" - we have no idea if we will be able to bring an audience together in March. I know that March is months away, but I always start planning this far out.

It's the inertia that is so frustrating at this point. Planning and preparation is necessary, but I don't want to waste that precious time doing things that may be unnecessary depending upon the circumstances.

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Just Keep Swimming (or Back to School Planning)

Remote learning was challenging. That's no surprise and while each stakeholder has their own reasons why, we can all agree that it was a challenge. But from my perspective as both a teacher and a parent, it was a challenge well-received and one that - after a series of significant hiccups - went pretty well.

That's not a consensus view, I know. Plenty of people want school buildings to open up rather than struggle with the challenges of remote learning again. I miss working directly with my students and want to return, too. I'm all for a return, provided that we can do so safely. The rising numbers in my neck of the woods is troubling and hopefully we can get things under control before September. I'm also fortunate that my school district is starting a week later than most in order to finish some major construction projects at the middle school/high school complex. We are six weeks from the first day. The district is also planning very thoroughly and the plan currently under consideration is sensible and oriented toward safety for us all.

Whatever the return to school buildings (NOTE: not to "school" as some people will claim. Schools didn't close in March, the buildings did. We all continued with school even when working from home - an important distinction)... the return NOT be a return to normal. I think that under it all what we really want when talking about going back to school is a return to "normal". That leaves me in an interesting place where I am planning for something that is not quite clear, or understandable. But that's all things, isn't it? No matter how often we've experienced a certain something, or know what that something has been, it is never the same one year to the next - not even one day to the other. That idea is important to keep me from overthinking things. I'm going to plan for my classes and be more open than ever to the unknown of our hybrid classroom/remote learning model.

I'm excited to return. It's all I can think about and I'm doing my best to temper that excitement so as not to overwhelm my supervisors with questions and ideas that need to take a backseat to the pressing details of just how we all get back into the building safely.

That excitement comes from a love of my work and is further fueled by frustration. We had incredible excitement and momentum surrounding the high school winter musical and the new Theatre classes at the middle school. I know the students feel that frustration, too, and suspect that it will fuel them as it does me. Above all else, this whole experience reminds me the importance of grit and resilience and the need to just keep swimming, especially when the current gets rough.

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Theatre Design Camp

This week, I return to Monmouth County Parks to teach a newly developed "Theatre Design" camp for students in grades 6-8. I worked with the parks last year on the "Theatre Techie" camp, which had to be revamped in lieu of the current Covid-19 restrictions. It occurs to me that this will be my first time in a classroom setting with students since my school shut down on March 12th. I will also have one of my middle school students in the camp. They were in my 4th marking period class, which only met online, so while they were a student of mine for 4 weeks, tomorrow will be the first time that we meet face-to-face. Crazy!

I'm looking forward to the program as it draws from some of the design elements that I brought to my general Theatre class at the middle school this year. However, with design as the focus we can spend a LOT more time on it than we did before. We will do some text analysis, sketching, modeling, revision, and "building". The end goal is for students to create a model set out of foam core. This something that I've seen done, but have never tried on my own. I'm curious to see how it will work and look forward to creating along with the students. More to come!

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The Young Playwrights Guide

The past three months have been a whirlwind! I think we all feel that way to some degree. Now that school has closed for summer, I am feeling the slower pace of the mornings, and finding ways to approach many of the projects that had been waiting in the wings.

http://youngplaywrghtsguide.blogspot.com
@TheYPGuide

One of these projects is the newly branded Young Playwrights Guide, a retooled version of the Young Playwrights Map that I developed during my doctoral study. The map was a great tool for documenting the existence and spread of opportunities for youth writers around the world, but I found children and their parents were looking for advice, instruction, and guidance through various videos and conversations that arose at the beginnings of Covid-19 quarantine. I spent some time reflecting on those inquiries as well as my own desire to (re)connect with artists whom I haven't been able to work with, or even see, over the last year or so.

The Conversations Series was born on YouTube at the beginning of May and is now in its 8th iteration. You can check out those videos here. I have two more conversations in the works and am looking to build another program through the Guide by the end of summer.

Additionally, I am spreading out my prep work for the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. We anticipate hearing more in the next few weeks about potential returns to school in the fall. In the meantime, I will continue to take it slow and look to ramp things up again as July rolls around.

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Is it Essential?

Teaching at home (both my students and my children) has been, to put it simply, an adjustment. No major crises to report, however. Perhaps, in some ways, the fact that both my wife and I are teachers has contributed to quicker adaptation to the new normal in the time of social distancing. We are finding it not just a complicated time where common errands are now accompanied with mild anxiety and masks, but also an opportunity to reflect on everything: our well-being and work, but also on what is and isn't important to us as a family. Or, to use a phrase we hear everyone right now, the "essential".

That word "essential" is all over the news (well, last I checked... I've made it a point to stop following the news and found it refreshing). I've noticed the word used as a divisive term, but have also found it to be a lens through which to reflect on all aspects of life from work to family, Boiling down curriculum to the essential was a matter of necessity and my wife and I find our teaching all the better for it. In fact, I am eager to see how these revisions will further adapt my work to once we are able to return! Before everything was shut down in mid-March, we were a family constantly on the move - home to school to activities to extra work to other activities to family events to home, etc. With no where to go but home, there has been time each day to reflect and seek out ways to spend our time once school work is complete. For me, that time has been for reading and writing... which really means time for reflecting. It has meant time to seek out, and finally focus on, what is truly essential.

This all leads me to the work I have been doing over the last three weeks leading up to this post. Since 2015, I have managed an online resource of writing and contest opportunities for young playwrights (ages 8-18) around the world. This was a side project during my doctoral research that compiled basic information about the field of work being done that had ancillary relevancy to what eventually became the dissertation. It has been difficult to gauge who is behind the over 3,500 hits that the Young Playwrights Map has received in that time, but someone is finding their way there and using its information. About two years ago, I considered shutting down the Map, but a news article announcing that a young writer in New Jersey would have readings of her work in young playwrights festivals in Arizona and New York (both of which were listed on the site) prompted me to keep it going. It was not until social distancing that I had the time to do a proper update of the information listed, which I completed in mid-April. A conversation with a graduating senior from Niagara University (my alma mater) sparked my curiosity about the potential for the Map to do more than just be a listing of information. I have since embarked upon a series of changes that will transform the site again.

On May 1, the Young Playwrights Map will officially become the Young Playwrights Guide. I have a schedule of insights, advice, and video-recorded conversations that will soon populate the site with a renewed purpose to provide tools for young creators to embark upon, and eventually share, their works. I am so excited by this shift and it has been difficult to keep things under wraps. However, in order to maintain our new family schedule, I am beginning to roll out these changes with small updates to the existing online platforms. The Map website got a makeover this afternoon; social media platforms will follow. I'm also putting together the first few video conversations on a branded YouTube channel and will delve into the world of Instagram, too.

It is interesting (and perhaps a bit morbid) to think that if it were not for a global pandemic, I may not have the time to do the work that I have done. (And I am certainly empathetic to the opposite reality that others may face right now). Reflection is an important part of my work as an educator, artist, and researcher, but also having the time to read Ryan Holiday's The Obstacle is the Way launched me into the right mindset to re-brand the Map into the Guide. As Holiday notes in the book - and in other articles about the idea - It is a matter of how we use crisis, or failure, to reflect on what is essential to revise and to keep moving on.

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Curiosity

Persistence and curiosity may be the most important qualities we possess, yet I'm not sure they are the easiest to access. We are curious about everything as a baby, but seem to bury that away as we get older. What happens? How do we rekindle that curiosity? I try to spark it in my theatre classroom, especially at the middle school. A few students have told me that they would like to try working backstage, or performing, as a result of the class. They would never have wanted to do so before. I wonder: what specifically sparked that curiosity? What keeps us interested enough to feed that curiosity and to continue exploring?
How can that be applied elsewhere?

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Smile!

Look, I know it sounds cheesy, but the more we smile, say "hello", hold the door open for someone, or offer to help, the better off things are going to be. I try to do these things when I can and find that it often makes a difference. Just seeing another person smile can make the day that much better. This is particularly true with students and perhaps especially so in middle school. Give it a try sometime.

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Audience Engagement & Education

This is my third consecutive year teaching in the classroom (not counting the one year immediately after grad school). My journey to this work has been anything but traditional, which I think is one of the biggest benefits that I bring to the position I am in today. And not just content-wise as a theater teacher, but because of what I learned about audience engagement. My daily audience is my students; however, they're not the audience to whom I'm referring. Student engagement is important, of course, but so is engagement with the families and community outside of the school.

Audience engagement is important inside and outside the classroom

Dr. Joe Sanfelippo is the superintendent of Fall Creek School District in Wisconsin. His One Minute Walk to Work videos are a great resource for educators, but also a master class in leadership. In a recent Tweet, Dr. Sanfelippo talked about regularly connecting with parents, not just in the moments where we need them, or need to inform them. I've recently found how important that part of the job is. In the short time I have been in my current job, a number of parents have told me how much they appreciated hearing from me. Building those relationships is important for a child's education. I've taken steps this 3rd quarter to reach out to parents more often, but also emphasized the idea that Theatre is a communication between actors and audience. That skill is at the heart of my curriculum and surprisingly something in need of development in our society of advanced technology meant to bring us closer together. Just two weeks in now and already it seems as if students are creating with each other quicker and with less hesitation than in previous quarters. I hope this will lead to deeper collaboration by the end of our 10-week session.

At the high school, I hope to achieve my goal of expanding the student theatre program's social media presence will have long-term benefits. Our first gauge will be how well increased communication and engagement works with regard to ticket sales for the upcoming musical (Into the Woods - March 12, 13, 14). Perhaps from there, a link can be made to the transferable marketing skills developed in the theatre classroom.

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New Year, New Room, New Journey

In September, I began a new adventure when I was hired as the first ever Theatre teacher for a school district in suburban New Jersey. This was a unique opportunity to fulfill a dream of mine to develop a theatre education program and I could not pass it up. I am based in the middle school with an additional high school class. I am also directing the winter musical at the high school (Into the Woods - details to follow in a future post!). Now that the school year has passed the halfway mark (and done so quickly!), I've had two rotations of the quarterly class on which to reflect and make a series of changes to the curriculum. Just eight days in this has already improved the students' experience.

One thing that helped was the opening of the brand new performing arts studio, I share this space with the part-time dance teacher after we both had been bouncing around between traditional classrooms. I took the opportunity to bring the classes to the high school auditorium (the middle and high schools are attached), but that was always dependent upon the availability of the space. The new room keeps me in one place and is arranged the way I need it to be (even though it is primarily arranged for dance, which has more specific needs than a theatre class). The students and I enjoy the wide open space and the freedom that it brings - though I do miss the auditorium some times; we will return there for a future unit and the final performance project.

Panorama of Studio 205 the day before moving in

The dance teacher and I have been slowly making the room a classroom with furniture and decor. I can't wait for my storage cart to arrive this weekend and am searching for some posters and pictures for the walls. I also need to create some signs for the two mirrored walls, which are more of a distraction to self-conscious middle school students than I had imagined!

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