Silas is taking an *awesome* theater class at JMU. It’s taught by theater ed majors, for homeschool kids, ages 7-13 or so. Nearly all of the kids are at least 2 years older than he is, and he is so impressed with them. They are playing some theater games and also devising a play based on Shel Silverstein poems, to be performed publicly. He is LOVING it, and I’m so proud of him. I can tell from what he says about it that he’s being a good collaborator–he constantly credits other kids’ ideas and sometimes says how he added to them.
Yesterday, his teacher sent me his script, as well as some homework for him (highlight his lines, map the sequence of the scenes). It’s a pretty funny script.
For his writing assignment today, I gave him some questions to answer about his character, Dave the Stick-On Tattoo Guy:
- How did Dave get into the tattoo business?
- Describe and draw Dave’s favorite tattoo. Why does he like it?
- What is Dave’s least favorite thing about being a tattoo artist?
- What does Dave want most in life? What would be a dream come true for him?
After I hole-punched his script, I added a little gift–a list of rules for theater. There’s one for each year I’ve been directing plays.
What rules would you add for a young thespian, about to tread the boards for the first time?