Education, center stage: Fourth Grade Theater Project
By CK Wolfson
Published: January 29, 2009
Dress rehearsal, the first one for Patricia Herr's fourth graders from the Edgartown school, and they filled the lobby of the Vineyard Playhouse like confetti, a commotion of motion and sounds that fluttered into the cluttered dressing room and drifted backstage. The children were preparing for their production of "The Loot of Me Booty," the play they presented this past weekend as part of the Fourth Grade Theater Project.
Photo by Ralph Stewart
Beginning in 1994, the project - the inspiration of Playhouse artistic director MJ Bruder Munafo and Galen Film's Georgia Morris - serves as an educational and creative collaboration between the Vineyard Playhouse and Martha's Vineyard's elementary schools' language arts curriculum.
And it's a perfect match. In all classes, students are given responsibility for every part of the process, everything from choosing sound effects to making costumes, from acting in the performance to selling the tickets - lessons in literature, writing, math, public speaking, and more.
Photo by Ralph Stewart
Ms. Herr describes the differences she observes between the classroom experience - teaching character and plot development - and having children participate in a hands-on experience. "You see things in some of the kids you did not suspect," she says appreciatively. For some of them, it's the first time they've performed.
"I also like that they work in teams that develop their different talents," Ms. Herr continues. "Every part of it is important. Kids read the script, and are asked: 'What would you need for costumes? For sound effects?' and everything gets listed on a chart. They learn to take direction."
Plays originate and are plotted by students, and then guided through the various components with help from Vineyard Playhouse staffers. Based on the collaboration, the scripts are written by co-directors Ms. Munafo and Kate Hancock.
Last Wednesday, in a small area behind the stage, Geneva Monks coached the stage crew - Amelia Durawa, Cesar Bueno, Kyle Boyd, and Donald O'Shaughnessy - on the details of the production. She told them that the cardboard cannon balls go center stage forward, and then reminded them to dress in dark clothing - "Remember, if you can see [the audience], they can see you."
Photo by Bridget Mello
Each direction was countered with multiple questions: What can I do? Which way is stage right? What does "strike" mean? And every question was coupled with a patient answer.
"Just be careful," Ms. Monks cautioned. "We don't want anyone to get hurt."
In a similar exercise, the Playhouse's Brian Ditchfield gathered Jared Rebard and Jermaine Mendez into the cramped space of the box office, and in a manner so easy it becomes contagious, he explained the responsibilities of the operation: selling tickets, handling money, learning the register, dealing with the public.
Just witnessing the process was like being in the midst of a force of tangible energy and enthusiasm. What Ms. Herr's class experienced was duplicated for another Edgartown class, two Tisbury and West Tisbury classes, one charter school class (they alternate participating with Chilmark school), and three classes from Oak Bluffs.
Photo by Ralph Stewart
The Fourth Grade Theater Project presents original short plays at The Vineyard Playhouse in Vineyard Haven on four Saturdays from Jan. 24 through Feb. 14, at 3 pm and 7 pm. Tickets for the Saturday shows are $6 adults and $4 children at the box office on the day of the performance.
January 31, Tisbury school presents two contemporary plays set in Tisbury: "Flowerin' Sweets: A Twisted Family Riddle," Veronika VandeGeer's class; and "In the Fog," Pam Herman's class.
February 7, Oak Bluffs school presents three plays set in Oak Bluffs: "Secrets of Cecilia," Jeri Brown's class; "Racing Through the Centuries," Sheila Muldaur's class; and "The Race That Changed Everything," Jamie Langley's class.
February 14, West Tisbury school presents plays about families set in West Tisbury: "A Whale of a Tale," Mary Boyd's class; and "A Peculiar Bunch," Rebecca Solway's class.
