RPDexter posted a great link on his blog today, and i’m reposting it here:
NY Times: The Supersizing of the School Play
i think this article accurately sums up my high-school theater experience#–while we weren’t on the same level as New Albany, we certainly had a program that was above-average (even for Off-Off Broadway standards). i think the important thing to note is the comments made in the article by the former teacher: that more kids may be getting an experience now, but it’s an inferior experience. i think that my most treasured memories of high school theater have to be two plays: Finding the Sun by Edward Albee (tough material for a high-school) and Noises Off by Michael Frayn. both plays featured small casts, excellent direction, and the attention was not on theatricality or effects but on acting and action. i learned to love the process of rehearsal in those plays. and I will always treasure that.
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I did loads of drama at school and most productions were of the type ‘everyone who auditions gets a part of some sort’. One year we got a new head of drama who directed ‘Anything Goes’ with a small cast, and that was certainly a much higher standard (and still fantastic fun). But even at the time I reckoned that wasn’t really what school plays were about, and that people who wanted higher quality could, and did, join groups outside school. (Incidentally, the new head of drama was subsequently fired for spending almost the entire year’s budget on one show…)
Oh, and I saw a fantastic student production of ‘Noises Off’ last term. They had a great cast, and it was one of the funniest plays I’ve seen.
(I’ve been following your blog for a while now, but I think this is my first comment.I found my way here through the Moxie Blog originally.)
Thanks for coming by! The school play phenomenon stretches to Great Britain? Egads! It’s a worldwide takeover by high-school drama coaches!