Plucky Pipsqueak II... This Time it's Personal!

Last year, when it came time to select a script for my acting students (at the Houghton Movement & Arts Center) to perform at the showcase, I hit a bit of a brick wall.  I scoured the internet for something in the public domain that was interesting and age appropriate but all I could find were things that were either dated and stuffy or light and cutesy.  I worried that working with a script like that would do more harm than good.  I wanted something fresh that would emphasize the individual strengths of the students in my class.  Left with no alternative, I decided to sit down at my computer and see what I could come up with. (See here for more details.)  The result was A Plucky Little Pipsqueak, a 15-minute, 4-character comedy centered on a group of students waiting at the principal’s office.  It was a fun experiment that I think/hope worked out in the end.

This time around, with a year of teaching under my belt and a mix of new and returning students, I decided to work the script-writing process into the class.  As the spring semester rolled around I began to open class asking for suggestions for a showcase piece.  It was agreed upon that we would do a sequel to Pipsqueak with the returning students reprising their roles and the new students taking on new ones.  (I have a weakness for sequels.  See this or this or this.) The students became very engaged in the brainstorming process, as we began to discuss plot points, characters and other details of the new script.  We settled on a mystery theme, fleshed out the new characters and even decided the resolution together. 

In the week that followed, I once again sat down at my computer, this time armed with my notebook filled with their suggestions and got to work.  The next week I presented them The Trophy Case, and was pleasantly surprised by their excitement upon seeing the new script.  Just as we had discussed, The Trophy Case tells the tale of 5 students accused of breaking a prized trophy and their mission to solve the crime.  As we first read it aloud, I watched their faces light up as they saw their ideas come to life on the page.  It was an incredibly rewarding experience for me, and hopefully for them too. 

One of the things I try to emphasize in class is that the art of stage craft is layered.  I think that in order to be a truly good actor you have to have an understanding and appreciation for all of the things that go into plays.  Like most things in life, the more knowledge you gather on something, the better you become at it.  It is a joy for me to watch these talented students work through The Trophy Case each week, and I can’t wait to see it up on stage at the showcase.  My hope is that their involvement in its inception will make it that much more rewarding when they finally get to do it in front of an audience.