Report on Theatre and Education University of Redlands Theatre Arts

Department

June, 2012

Note: This report covers 2009-2012, roughly the years we have been in our new facility. It is

a sampling, not exhaustive. Performing for high school audiences has been part of the department's mission

since its inception. We once sponsored a vigorous visiting program for local theatre students through Admissions. Transportation costs have taken a toll on such efforts in recent years.

Transportation is an issue in our current programming as well. Not all schools can afford to bus their students to our productions, even though arts experiences are even more important as cuts are made in schools’ arts budgets. Private schools can still afford buses, as you will note in the lists of participating schools to follow. We have also identified schools within walking distance of the university. But the trend is clear: arts programming in the schools will continue to be cut back and in many cases eliminated.

Touring is one way of circumventing these limitations. Administrators and teachers, aware of the value of arts programming, have supported such efforts in the past.

Final note: Working with K-12 school systems is labor intensive. Planning must begin early. Persistent and detailed producorial support is required. Public school personnel are over-worked and also have limited experience in arts programming. We have the expertise. We need to secure the time and labor of our faculty and staff.

Report on Theatre and Education

University of Redlands Theatre Arts Department I. Theatre for Young Audiences –K-5 Pilot program May 2012 II. Theatre for Young Audiences – High School A. The Fantasticks-high school students and the opening of the Frederick Loewe Theatre B. Target High School Outreach program 1. Macbeth 2. Our Country’s Good 3. Pe’er Gynt: an American Odyssey C. Co-producing with a local high school: Our Town D. Youth in Correctional Institutions Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen E. University of Redlands Internships in the schools III. APPENDIX : Promotional Materials and Study Guides

Theatre for Young Audiences K-5 – a pilot program May 2012

Dreams Have Feet When Poets Sleep a Celebration of Poetry for Young Audiences

Adapted and directed by Steve Shade, the production was a revue of 36 modern and classic poems and songs for children, performed and designed by U of R students enrolled in THA-260 Theatre for Young Audiences.

A student overview:

On Friday, May 18th, we put on three back to back shows for schools in the Redlands area and the response was astounding. The kids were so interactive and boisterous with the cast .

. . . . this show has made me realize the immense value and impact that children’s theatre has. It helps create a new world and a safe space for both adults and children to play in that is free of judgment and inhibition.

What I have learned is that it is so important for us as “older” people to give back and pay it forward to our youth, and to give them the benefits and gifts of art and imagination . . .

. . . we create a cyclical pattern by believing in them believing in us.

Leah Ramillano, Theatre Arts major , ’13.

Students arrive from Franklin Elementary School and Montessori for three, FREE performances .

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

9:30 AM, May 18, 2012

Number of students: 114

Montessori grades 1-5

11:00 AM. May 18, 2012

Number of students: 140

Franklin Elementary School,

grades 4 & 5

12:30 PM, May 18, 2012.

Number of students: 114

Franklin Elementary School,

grades 1 & 2

____

TOTAL 368

The “dreamers” (in pajamas) guide the students into the Frederick Loewe Black Box Theatre.

Waiting for the show to begin!

The Dreams

Scary Dreams Sweet Dreams

Wacky dreams

goodbye

Post Show thoughts . . . a parent

My kids really loved the play [Dreams Have Feet ]. All weekend they were exchanging lines from different poem-acts and then they'd remember how much it made them laugh. . . and then they'd start laughing again. Ben, age 10, was particularly impressed with how a poem could be brought to life through acting, costume and staging. Rebekah, age 7, liked how much it made her laugh. It was a great experience for them.

Karen Derris

Virginia C. Hunsaker Distinguished Teaching Chair

a student costume designer . . . Theater does so much more than

entertain. It also teaches teamwork, collaboration and the idea of a common goal.

I cannot explain to you the extreme joy I felt when I heard the audience laugh and ooh and ah when a new character (and a new costume) emerged.

I hope that a program like this becomes a regular one because it gave not only a new experience for our actors but also for the designers like myself to return to the roots and let our imaginations run wild!

Cambria Chichi Theatre Arts/ Business Administration

Double major ’13

two actors’ perspectives . . .

Performing for the kids reminded me how magical a production can be.

Each grade gave feedback I only wish half of an adult audience would give. Children are by far the best audience.

Olivia Spirz Theatre Arts ’13 Children are the rawest form of audience

out there . . . there were no biases and the kids would just yell out exactly what they felt. The experience really kept you on your toes because children are a lot less forgiving than adults. This a must do experience for all actors.

Anthony Randall Theatre Arts ’12

a physics/theatre major sees the big picture . . .

This experience was unlike any other I have had at the University of Redlands. The show was not only fun and interesting to be a part of, but it also was really well received by students and members of the larger community.

Theatre for Young Audiences is a great program for the University because it can also serve as an outreach program, allowing children to experience the arts up-close and personal. I cannot put into works how meaningful this experience was to me and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Amanda Nussbaum

Theatre Arts /Physics Major ‘13

II. Theatre for Young Audiences – High School

The Fantasticks Fall 2009 the opening of the Frederick Loewe Theatre. Invited dress preview for Grove High School.

Target High School Outreach

program

Macbeth 2009

Our Country’s Good 2010 Pe’er Gynt: an American Odyssey 2011

Macbeth Fall 2009

Reduced price student matinee including talkback with cast and creative team.

Grove High School 18 Redlands High School 25 Redlands East Valley High School 50 St. Lucy’s High School, Glendale , 100

Production provided a Teacher's

Guide to the production with classroom exercises (written and performative) for before and after the performance and a wealth of pertinent literary, theatrical and historical background.

Our Country’s Good Fall 2010

Reduced price student matinee including talkback with cast and creative team.

Grove High School 6 Redlands High School 15 Redlands East Valley High School 20 St. Lucy’s High School, Glendale 50 San Bernardino Valley College

Production provided a Teacher's Guide to the production with classroom exercises (written and performative) for before and after the performance and a wealth of pertinent literary, theatrical and historical background. [see support materials ]

Pe’er Gynt: an American Odyssey 2011

Reduced price student matinee including talkback with cast and creative team.

Citrus Valley High School 13 Grove High School 36 Redlands High School 22 Redlands East Valley High School 13

Production provided a Teacher's Guide

to the production with classroom exercises (written and performative) for before and after the performance and a wealth of pertinent literary, theatrical and historical background. [see support materials]

Our Town Spring 2011

High school, middle school students and community members worked onstage and

offstage with University of Redlands students and faculty on this unique

production of Our Town.

Our Town Co-production with Redlands High School.

University of Redlands cast , designers, crew: 14 High school and middle school actors, designers, and crew (REV, RHS, and the Grove High schools as well as Cope and The Farm middle schools): 15

Performance venues: Clock Auditorium Redlands High School and Glenn Wallichs Theatre

Youth in Correctional Institutions

Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen

Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen May 2011

Developed in collaboration with the Mathematics Department at the University of Redlands; local high school math instructors and the Redlands AAUW 8th Grade Math Science Fair.

Funded in part by Redlands Zonta.

From the young incarcerated women:

“… the play showed us that you can do anything if you put your mind to it and it showed what does happen in real life in high school.”

“… I know you didn’t have to come out here to do

the play and I really appreciated that you did. I learned about telling the truth…”

“… what I learned from the play was that it is

better to tell the truth than to lie and hide…” “The play about the girls and math was good. I

laughed a lot… I liked that there was a gay crush in the play. That is a controversial issue and that’s what I liked about it.”

“This play was hilarious and fun to watch. The

suspense was amazing… It gives the audience a lot to relate to and to think about…”

From University of Redlands students:

I was really nervous about juvenile hall, especially after the speech the Officer Rabadi gave us. I’m thinking to myself ok, pepper spray, knives, code yellow, code green, code fuchsia, whatever codes she named and, of all characters, I get to play this little-miss-priss white cheerleader, a character I’ m so sure they can relate to. But ironically they were such an amazing audience. I looked at their faces, some barely older than twelve. I liked seeing them laugh, they laughed despite their circumstances. No movies, no beach or mall, no dinners their mom cooked. And I realized what theatre for social change was all about. For that moment you connect with a group of people that you may have not had anything in common with. In fact I . . . may have for the first time felt really passionate about something that was not about getting the most prominent job and being successful.

I remember the first day of our class rolling my eyes at the game bippity-bippity-bop, and then at Grove

Middle School here I am actually facilitating it and having a great time connecting with these kids through a simple game. I realized that I have always had a passion for connecting with people but I lost it through the hustle and bustle of classes and exams.

I really enjoyed the talks about women in the STEM fields and how women are considered the minority. Living in my Redlands bubble where ten of the twelve mathematic graduates are women, I didn’t realize I was not the norm [unlike at research universities where men dominate] It made me feel proud. I want to represent more women in the field.

U of R Theatre Arts Students Interning in the Schools

Redlands Students teaching in the schools

Lauren Eis interned as Costume Design Assistant on Our Country’s Good. Dan Stong (Theatre Arts ’11)and Jeff Groff (Theatre Arts ’11) taught a Wednesday

Workshop Acting class at Grove High School (once per week for 2 trimesters) to grades 9-12.

Sydney Higbee (Theatre Arts ’12) served as Stage Management mentor/advisor for the

Grove High School production of Importance of Being Earnest. Kelly Odor (Theatre Arts/Creative Writing ’12)taught a short series of drama classes at

Grove High School , in which she applied her experience with acting performance and theatre for social change to middle school students. She incorporated this work into the research for her Capstone project and wrote a bit about it in her annotated bibliography.

All of these students were able to apply theory to practice through some additional

learning/teaching opportunities.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

Study Guides for High School Teachers, Macbeth and Our Country’s Good.

PDQ, Spring/Summer 2011. Includes “Social Change through Theatre: Brought to the Central Valley Juvenile Detention and Assessment Center by University of Redlands Students,” by Susanne Pastuschek. Published by the San Bernardino County Probation Department.