Playwriting in Schools

John Newman

Description

John Newman invites teachers to take their students on a playwriting voyage in Playwriting in Schools. The book examines how students who learn to write plays and work with a professional playwright in residence empower themselves and gives instructors tools for teaching the process of playwriting in a way that makes space for the student voice. Playwriting in Schools investigates two main approaches for adult teachers and playwrights to use playwriting as a strategy for student self-expression. One approach is through the creation of fully-developed plays, written either by individual students with instruction from teachers or through interactions between a team of students and a teacher-playwright. The other approach is developing plays through collaborations among professional playwrights, teachers and student actors, crafting new plays in ways that suit the needs, interests and learning of young people. Throughout, Newman and the teachers and playwrights he features express themselves with an artistic generosity that encourages us to widen the scope of our own programmes by introducing students to the vast ocean of playwriting and play development.

Credits

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction: Navigating the Theatre Curriculum with Playwriting

Part I: The Practical Navigator – Charts, Tools, and Dynamics

Chapter 1: Phases of Playwriting

1. Preparation

2. Generation

3. Experimentation

4. Determination

5. Clarification

6. Exhibition

7. Examination

8. Production

9. Evaluation

Mapping devised theatre

Chapter 2: Generating and Workshopping Scripts

Preparing students

Grounding students in dramatic theory

Reading and analyzing plays as a class

Partnering with creative writing teachers

Introducing students to professional playwrights

Generating material

Visual image prompting

Rapid-fire prompting

Card prompting

Interviewing

Winnowing and drafting

Experimenting with possibilities

Classroom readings of initial drafts

Descriptive feedback

Variation drafts

World-building

Determining the center

Mural-making

Character tableau

Role-on-the-wall

Clarifying text

Question selection

Draft-tracking

Chapter 3: Presenting and Premiering Plays

Exhibiting scripts

Theoretical designs

Staged readings

Examining text

Written responses

Post-reading discussions

Day-after responses

In-the-moment responses

Producing new plays

Premiere productions

Actor interviews

Subsequent productions

Evaluating product and process

Chapter 4: Employing the Tarot Card Mode

The Tarot card model and exercise by Suzan Zeder

Why Tarot?

Leading the exercise

Creating the cards

Laying out the cards

Reading the cards

What the Tarot does

What the Tarot does not do

How to use the Tarot to develop plays in schools

Part II: Ports of Call – Learning Environments for Student Playwriting

Chapter 5: School Productions of Student-Written Plays

Collaborating with creative writing classes

Mentoring student directors and producers

Involving student playwrights in rehearsal

Sounding off: Teacher-advisors at East High School

Chapter 6: Developing Plays through Playwriting Contests

Developing plays through Thespian Playworks

Pre-workshop development

Collaborative casting

Role of the adult dramaturg

Role of the adult director

Theoretical designs

Publication of student-written plays

Developing plays through Young Playwrights for Change

Written feedback

Mentoring by adult playwrights

Staged readings and performances

Sounding off: Middle school playwrights

Chapter 7: Team-Playwriting with Students

Playwriting teams at Le Jardin Academy

Preparing student playwrights

Leading playwriting teams

Sounding off: Students on a playwriting team

Team-playwriting at Middleton High School

Chapter 8: Playwriting-Centered Drama Programs

Friends Academy: A community of equals

An inclusive production season

A vertical playwriting curriculum

Sounding off: Graduates of a playwriting-centered curriculum

Cleveland School of the Arts: A constellation of voices

A collaborating literature teacher

Playwriting-centered drama cohorts

Second draft strategies

A repertory of non-traditional productions

A festival of new works

Part III: Apprentice to a Playwright – Modeling Playwriting in School Residencies

Chapter 9: Preparations for a School Residency 149

Preparing for the voyage

Finding the playwright

Finding the school

Forging the agreement

Financing the venture

Manning the ship

The teacher-director

The teacher-director’s other hats

The playwright

Student actors

Student dramaturgs

Student designers

Expert student participants

Building bridges: Sharing power in play development

Chapter 10: Playwright Residencies at Highland High School

The ARK 5 Project

Development residency at Highland High School

Premiere production at Highland High School

Second production at Middleton High School

Mounting second productions

Developing novel adaptations

Developing a musical

Facilitating playwright residencies in schools

Mounting plays by the teacher-director and students

Addressing technical challenges

Employing guest directors

Reading additional plays by the guest playwright

Letting the playwright process the presentation

Acting with students to experience the text

Sounding off: Student actors in new plays

Chapter 11: Playwright Residencies at Other Secondary Schools

Playwrights In Our Schools residencies at DaVinci Academy

The residency for Escape from the Labyrinth by playwright Ric Averill

Itinerary of a school residency

The residency for Max Bush’s What Remains

Components of Playwrights In Our Schools residencies

Student preparation

Pre-residency development

Workshop exploration

Theoretical designs

Classroom visits

Mentorship of student playwrights

Informal interactions

Staged readings

Post-reading discussions

Chapter 12: Playwright Residencies and Visits at Primary Schools

Developing When She Had Wings with Lucy School students by playwright Suzan Zeder

Engaging with children in research

Discussing the script with children

Exploring design possibilities

Finding an alternate title

Involving children in rehearsal and production

Child learning in the script development of When She Had Wings

Project-based, arts integrated learning

Social skills development

Seeking clarity and dealing with ambiguity

Validating children’s perspectives

Design collaboration with children for When She Had Wings

Confronting limitations creatively

Balancing child perspectives with adult expertise

Emulating the “Wings Project” 

Playwright classroom visits for Lily Plants a Garden with the Bonderman Symposium

Epilogue: Embarking on Your Voyage of Discovery

Appendix:

Books on teaching playwriting

Books on play development

Books on devising theatre

Online resources

References

Biographies

Index

Sujets

• Teaching
• Performing Arts
• EDUCATION
• Theatre
• Creative arts
• Creative writing
• General officer
• Experiment
• Méthode expérimentale
• General
• Drama

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books
• Date de parution: 18 décembre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783209088
• Langue: English

Extrait

First published in the UK in 2019 by
Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
First published in the USA in 2019 by
Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street,
Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Copyright © 2019 Intellect Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copy-editor: MPS Technologies
Cover designer: Aleksandra Szumlas
Production manager: Matthew Floyd & Faith Newcombe
Typesetting: Contentra Technologies
Print ISBN: 978-1-78320-907-1
ePDF ISBN: 978-1-78320-909-5
ePUB ISBN: 978-1-78320-908-8
Printed and bound by 4Edge, UK.
To my wife, Jennifer, for supporting me while I support playwrights and new plays.
Contents

Credits
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Introduction: Navigating the Theatre Curriculum with Playwriting
Part I: The Practical Navigator – Charts, Tools, and Dynamics
Chapter 1: Phases of Playwriting
1. Preparation
2. Generation
3. Experimentation
4. Determination
5. Clarification
6. Exhibition
7. Examination
8. Production
9. Evaluation
Mapping devised theatre
Chapter 2: Generating and Workshopping Scripts
Preparing students
Grounding students in dramatic theory
Reading and analyzing plays as a class
Partnering with creative writing teachers
Introducing students to professional playwrights
Generating material
Visual image prompting
Rapid-fire prompting
Card prompting
Interviewing
Winnowing and drafting
Experimenting with possibilities
Classroom readings of initial drafts
Descriptive feedback
Variation drafts
World-building
Determining the center
Mural-making
Character tableau
Role-on-the-wall
Clarifying text
Question selection
Draft-tracking
Chapter 3: Presenting and Premiering Plays
Exhibiting scripts
Theoretical designs
Staged readings
Examining text
Written responses
Post-reading discussions
Day-after responses
In-the-moment responses
Producing new plays
Premiere productions
Actor interviews
Subsequent productions
Evaluating product and process
Chapter 4: Employing the Tarot Card Model
The Tarot card model and exercise by Suzan Zeder
Why Tarot?
Leading the exercise
Creating the cards
Laying out the cards
Reading the cards
What the Tarot does
What the Tarot does not do
How to use the Tarot to develop plays in schools
Part II: Ports of Call – Learning Environments for Student Playwriting
Chapter 5: School Productions of Student-Written Plays
Collaborating with creative writing classes
Mentoring student directors and producers
Involving student playwrights in rehearsal
Sounding off: Teacher-advisors at East High School
Chapter 6: Developing Plays through Playwriting Contests
Developing plays through Thespian Playworks
Pre-workshop development
Collaborative casting
Role of the adult dramaturg
Role of the adult director
Theoretical designs
Publication of student-written plays
Developing plays through Young Playwrights for Change
Written feedback
Mentoring by adult playwrights
Staged readings and performances
Sounding off: Middle school playwrights
Chapter 7: Team-Playwriting with Students
Playwriting teams at Le Jardin Academy
Preparing student playwrights
Leading playwriting teams
Sounding off: Students on a playwriting team
Team-playwriting at Middleton High School
Chapter 8: Playwriting-Centered Drama Programs
Friends Academy: A community of equals
An inclusive production season
A vertical playwriting curriculum
Sounding off: Graduates of a playwriting-centered curriculum
Cleveland School of the Arts: A constellation of voices
A collaborating literature teacher
Playwriting-centered drama cohorts
Second draft strategies
A repertory of non-traditional productions
A festival of new works
Part III: Apprentice to a Playwright – Modeling Playwriting in School Residencies
Chapter 9: Preparations for a School Residency
Preparing for the voyage
Finding the playwright
Finding the school
Forging the agreement
Financing the venture
Manning the ship
The teacher-director
The teacher-director’s other hats
The playwright
Student actors
Student dramaturgs
Student designers
Expert student participants
Building bridges: Sharing power in play development
Chapter 10: Playwright Residencies at Highland High School
The ARK 5 Project
Development residency at Highland High School
Premiere production at Highland High School
Second production at Middleton High School
Mounting second productions
Developing novel adaptations
Developing a musical
Facilitating playwright residencies in schools
Mounting plays by the teacher-director and students
Addressing technical challenges
Employing guest directors
Reading additional plays by the guest playwright
Letting the playwright process the presentation
Acting with students to experience the text
Sounding off: Student actors in new plays
Chapter 11: Playwright Residencies at Other Secondary Schools
Playwrights In Our Schools residencies at DaVinci Academy
The residency for Escape from the Labyrinth by playwright Ric Averill
Itinerary of a school residency
The residency for Max Bush’s What Remains
Components of Playwrights In Our Schools residencies
Student preparation
Pre-residency development
Workshop exploration
Theoretical designs
Classroom visits
Mentorship of student playwrights
Informal interactions
Staged readings
Post-reading discussions
Chapter 12: Playwright Residencies and Visits at Primary Schools
Developing When She Had Wings with Lucy School students by playwright Suzan Zeder
Engaging with children in research
Discussing the script with children
Exploring design possibilities
Finding an alternate title
Involving children in rehearsal and production
Child learning in the script development of When She Had Wings
Project-based, arts integrated learning
Social skills development
Seeking clarity and dealing with ambiguity
Validating children’s perspectives
Design collaboration with children for When She Had Wings
Confronting limitations creatively
Balancing child perspectives with adult expertise
Emulating the “Wings Project”
Playwright classroom visits for Lily Plants a Garden with the Bonderman Symposium
Epilogue: Embarking on Your Voyage of Discovery
Appendix: Books on teaching playwriting
Books on play development
Books on devising theatre
Online resources
References
Biographies
Index
Credits

The author and publisher wish to thank those who have generously provided permission to use their photographs and diagrams in this book.
Beth Bruner, Figures 2.5 , 3.1 , 10.1 , 10.3 , photographs of students at Highland High School
Suzan Zeder, Figures 4.1 , 4.2 , 4.3 , 4.4 , 4.5 , 4.6 , 4.7 , diagrams of the Tarot card model
Angel Huichapa, Figure 5 , photograph of students at East High School
Don Corathers, Figures 6.1 , 6.2 , photographs of students at Thespian Playworks
Johnny Knight, Figure 6.3 , photograph of the national Young Playwrights for Change winner and adult playwrights attending One Theatre World in Chicago
Robert St. John, Figures 7.1 , 7.2 , photographs of students at Le Jardin Academy
Amanda Fisk, Figures 8.1 , 8.2 , photographs of students at Friends Academy
Scott Miller, Figure 8.3 , photograph of students at Cleveland School of the Arts
Jaida Stanberry, Figure 8.4 , photograph of students at Cleveland School of the Arts
Valerie A. Hoch, Figure 10.2 , photograph of students at Middleton High School
Adam K.K. Figueira, Figure 11.2 , photograph of students at DaVinci Academy
Mindy Young, Figure 11.3 , photograph of students at Meridian School
Tamara Carroll, Figure 12.1 , photograph of student at Lucy School
Lysandra Cook, Figure 12.2 , photograph of students at Lucy School
Acknowledgments

To the Utah Valley University (UVU) Department of Theatrical Arts and the Theatre for Youth and Education (TYE) Center at UVU – thank you for providing me with travel support and research time to write this book.
To the American Alliance for Theatre and Education – thank you for allowing me to adapt parts of articles I originally published in Incite/Insight .
To Suzan Zeder and Ric Averill – thank you for contributing your narratives to Chapters 4, 11, and 12. I am especially grateful to Suzan Zeder for providing a detailed rendition of her Tarot card model and for sharing the story of how she developed her play, When She Had Wings .
To the teachers of playwriting at East High School, Le Jardin Academy, Middleton High School, Friends Academy, Cleveland School of the Arts, and DaVinci Academy – thank you for letting me observe and share your techniques for training student writers.
To the guest playwrights, host teachers, and hundreds of students who have participated in the Playwrights In Our Schools residencies – thank you for writing and developing plays that address the needs and interests of young people. I want to especially thank Sandra Fenichel Asher for her ongoing counsel and support in facilitating the program.
To the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America and the Broadway Across America Utah Education Foundation – thank you for making the Playwrights In Our Schools residencies possible.
To the students, teachers, administrators, and arts council at Highland High School in Salt Lake City, Utah – thank you for supporting the development workshops and premiere productions of more than a dozen new plays for young people. I am especially grateful to guest writers Sandra Fenichel Asher, Matt Buchanan, Drew Chappell, Doug Cooney, Elise Forier, Moses Goldberg, Tina Lear, Matt Omasta, and Alisha Faye W