Over the course of the fall semester, our eldest Lower Schoolers have created their very own plays inspired by a story from home. At the start of this endeavor, Sarah Bellantoni, Chapin’s Head of LS Arts and Integration and LS Drama teacher, instructed each Class 3 student to learn a special story by interviewing a family member. These interviews would become the basis for their theatrical productions.
This project was intertwined with Class 3’s character unit in reading. Having recently finished “Year of the Dog” by Grace Lin, the girls discovered how authors use actions, body language and words to convey their character’s emotions or feelings and also considered how characters change and grow across a story. While preparing the girls for their interviews, Ms. Bellantoni instructed her students to ask specific questions that related to themes in "Year of the Dog."
After conducting their interviews, the students listened to audio recordings of their conversations and selected “golden moments” to turn into scripted scenes. As a class, they discussed what makes a script different from a book and what that would look like in their pieces. They learned about writing dialogue and how to convey their story through the characters rather than descriptive language. To help reinforce the difference between scripts and novels, Ms. Bellantoni asked them to include their stage directions as dialogue.
After this discussion, Ms. Bellantoni distributed packets with steps to guide the girls. These packets helped them define various aspects of their scenes, like characters, location and props, while also structuring the narrative around one main event. Dividing the class into groups of three provided another set of parameters for the students to work within.
As each girl wrote her scene, she knew she and two other group members would perform it. Not only did this help the students write a manageable scene, but it gave them buddies to work through any creative difficulties they might encounter. As the project progressed, the groups became closely-knit casts and excitement built for their performance day.
After writing their scripts it was time to choose their sets and props! Opening the set “shop,” Ms. Bellantoni set out chairs and wooden boxes for the girls. Each student could select three items for their scene and use their creativity to imply additional furniture or depict a set of boxes as a horse and carriage, for example. If in need, the students could request a few more specific props from Chapin’s collection, or that something be brought in from home. One group requested a snake, another pretend dollar bills and one group asked for tennis racquets and a backpack.
Class 3 let their imaginations soar as they moved into the blocking stage of their project. Each scene called for distinct characters — which were in no short supply. Each scene, their own and those of their group members, received the same level of enthusiasm and zest.
Finally, the day they had all waited for arrived. Section by section, Class 3 students had their turns to “share” with their classmates. Each small group took to the stage in the Black Box Theater, where they had been creating their scenes throughout the fall, and performed for their Drama class cohort. With pride and an abundance of enthusiasm each scene came to life, their audiences sitting with rapt attention. They laughed at all the right times, and occasionally called out a burning question when the spirit moved them.
Through their imaginations and this exploration of scenework, the girls performed confidently and with great passion. Brava, Ms. Bellantoni, for leading your classes in their thoroughly entertaining writing and directing debuts!
