THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CHILDREN’S THEATER IN A TEACHER-TRAINING INSTITUTION

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" Ac bepfanbd3fl^«.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CHILDREN’S THEATER IN A TEACHER TRAINING INSTITUTION

r-

BERYL MEEK

Submitted In p a r t ia l f u lf illm e n t o f the requirem ents fo r th e degree o f Doctor o f Education in th e School o f Education o f New York U n iv ersity

1942

JAN^9

I

1942

PLEASE NOTE:

Some pages may have indistinct print. Fi lmed as r e c e i v e d .

U n i v e r s i t y M i c r o f i l m s , A Xerox Education Company

ACKNOWLEDCafflNTS

In th e development o f th e C h ild ren 's Theater a t th e S ta te Normal School a t Oneonta, New York, I am g r e a tly indebted to many p eo p le.

The

stu d en ts in th e c la s s e s in Dramatic Art have aided me by t h e ir in t e r e s t and enthusiasm as w e ll as by t h e ir work in th e a c tin g and producing o f p la y s .

I w ish to exp ress my sin c e r e thanks t o M iss Iren e P o s t h ill fo r

her work in sta g e d esign and co n stru ctio n , fo r w ithout her a s s is ta n c e th e p la y s could not have been produced as s u c c e s s f u lly .

I a ls o wish to

express my a p p recia tio n to Dr. Charles W, Hunt, P r in c ip a l o f th e S ta te No'Tmol School, to Dr. A lbert E. F i t z e l l e , D irecto r o f T raining,

and to

th e S t a f f o f th e P ercy I . Bugbee School fo r t h e ir in t e r e s t and co op eration . To th e members o f my committee, Dr. W alter Barnes, P ro fesso r Roy M itc h e ll and Dr. Ambrose L. S u hrie, I wish to exp ress my deep a p p reciation fo r th e in t e r e s t th ey have shown in th e p r o je c t p resented and fo r th e a s s is ta n c e they have g iv en in the preparation and r e v is io n o f t h is m anuscript.

A78245 ii

PREFACE

The id ea o f a th e a te r fo r ch ild ren ia not new.

For many years ch ild ren

have enjoyed p la y s and puppet shows designed fo r t h e ir s p e c ia l p lea su re, y et th e id ea o f org a n izin g such a th e a te r as a part o f t h e ir r e c r e a tio n a l ex p eri­ ences in th e development o f ap p recia tio n has not been given wide con sid era­ t io n .

This i s p a r tic u la r ly tru e in our teach er-p rep arin g in s t it u t io n s where

th e development and education o f young ch ild ren i s o f great in t e r e s t and importance.

I t i s th e hope o f th e w r ite r th a t more o f th e s e sch o o ls w i l l

r e a liz e the v a lu e s o f such th e a te r s and develop them a cco rd in g ly . I t i s th e purpose o f t h i s report to d escrib e the means by which such a th e a te r has been e s ta b lis h e d a t th e S ta te Normal School a t Oneonta, New York, to in clu d e th e s p e c if ic tech n iq u es used in the p r o je c t and to attem pt an ev a lu a tio n o f i t s outcomes. C hildren’ s Theater i s a term which i s o ften used to cover any type o f performance which i s g iv en by and fo r ch ild r en .

I t should be understood

th a t th e term "Children’ s Theater" i s used throughout t h is rep ort in a lim ite d se n se .

I t denotes a th ea ter fo r ch ild ren in which p la y s are acted

and d ir e c te d by a d u lts fo r c h ild au d ien ces.

In t h i s rep ort no a tte n tio n

w i l l be given to th e numerous groups and o rg a n iz a tio n s throughout the country which are u sin g c h ild a cto rs in t h e ir productions nor to th o se whose purpose i s th e tr a in in g o f ch ild ren fo r th e a c tin g p r o fe s s io n .

Types o f C hildren*s Theaters The purpose o f such th e a te r s i s se t fo r th by Carl Carmer^ in an a r t i c l e w ritten fo r th e Theater A r ts .Magazine, in which he d escrib es th ree ty p es o f c h ild r e n 's th e a t e r s .

They are divided according t o th e ir

s p e c if i c aims and purposes: 1.

A th ea ter which has fo r i t s aim the fu rth erin g o f education by

means o f fo s t e r in g an in t e r e s t in the drama.

The dramatic im pulse i s here

used as a means o f ed u cation . 2.

A th ea ter which has fo r i t s aim the development o f c h ild audiences

o f e s t h e t ic a p p recia tio n , fo r example, th e sounds of words, g r a c e fu l move­ ments and the r e c o g n itio n o f th e dramatic q u a lit ie s o f t r a d it io n a l m aster­ p ie c e s .

Such an aim would in clu d e th e development o f the c r e a tiv e impulse

in d esign and encourage ch ild ren to reco g n ize in the production o f the play such fundamental p r in c ip le s o f com positions as balance, rhythm, movement and co n tr a st, 3.

A th ea ter which would s t r iv e to give i t s audience such immediate

enjoyment and p lea su re as sim ila r adult audiences might r e c e iv e from atten d ­ in g a good play and th u s e s t a b lis h and m aintain standards o f t a s t e fo r la t e r ad u lt ap p recia tio n . The f i r s t two ty p es o f th e a te r s are composed c h ie f ly o f groups con­ nected w ith sch o o ls which use

th e drama as an ed u cational to o l and o fte n

th e ch ild ren them selves a s a c t o r s .

1.

Carl Carmer, C hildren’ s T heater, Theater Arts Magazine, IS: pp. 41020 (May, 1 931), i l l u s .

iv

The th ir d type o f th ea ter i s th e type which th e w riter i s in te r e ste d in d eveloping in a teach er-p rep arin g i n s t it u t io n .

The re c r e a tio n o f c h il­

dren i s a s ig n if ic a n t fa c to r in th e ir growth and development.

A th ea ter

which g iv e s immediate enjoyment and p rovid es good entertainm ent at the c h ild ’ s own l e v e l i s an important co n trib u tio n t o the l i f e o f any community. This typ e o f entertainm ent exp reasly fo r c h ild r en has been c h ie f ly developed through the e f f o r t s o f amateur groups who have used the th ea ter as an avocation fo r s e l f ex p ressio n .

These amateur groups are made up o f men and

women, o ften w ith con sid era b le knowledge o f dram atic tech n iq u e, who are in te r e ste d in p roviding ch ild ren w ith s u ita b le p la y s . connected w ith L i t t l e Theater groups.

They are u su a lly

Seldom do th e s e groups devote t h e ir

e n tir e season ’ s tim e t o such p la y s, but th ey do o ften in clu d e a s p e c ia l play fo r ch ild ren in t h e ir season al programs. Pasadena Community P layhouse.

Such a group i s at th e

Their Christmas P la y i s an annual enjoyment

fo r th e ch ild ren o f th a t community.

Throughout the country many such

groups produce o cc a sio n a l p la y s fo r ch ild ren . School O rganizations Many c o lle g e and u n iv e r s ity dramatic clubs have lik e w is e presented o cca sio n a l p lays fo r c h ild a u d ien ces.

The p la y e r s group at Chapel H i ll,

North C arolina, has w r itte n and produced some d e lig h t f u l f o lk p la y s fo r ch ild ren .

S everal teach er-p rep arin g c o lle g e s have founded campus th e a te r s

w ith c h ild a c to r s , such as th e ch ild ren ’ s th e a te r a t th e Colorado S ta te C ollege o f Education a t G reeley, Colorado.1 But th ese th e a te r s have not been u n iv e r s a lly nor

1.

even w id ely included in such in s t it u t io n s .

Grace Bruckner, The C hildren’s Theater in th e Junior High Sohool, (Unpublished M aster’s T h e s is ), Colorado S ta te C ollege o f Educa^ t io n , G reeley, Colorado. v

In a study r e la t in g to th e n eed s and ty p e s o f dram atics in tea ch er preparing In stitu tio n s'* ’ M iss Helmera found th a t th e teach er-p reparin g o o lle g e was not w holly unaware o f th e v a lu es o f dramatic tr a in in g fo r p r o sp e c tiv e tea ch er s, s in c e a p p recia tio n o f lit e r a t u r e nay be developed through co n ta ct w ith dramatic li t e r a t u r e .

The author goes on t o p o in t out

th a t th e se standards o f ap p recia tio n are o fte n ca rried home and p aren ts have become in te r e s te d in p la y s and oth er forms o f li t e r a t u r e .

Thus th e

p aren ts are enoouraged to demand b e tte r standards in community e n te r ta in ­ ment.

,

Values o f C hildren’ s Theaters S in ce most teach er-p reparin g c o lle g e s o f f e r dramatic co u rses o f some form in t h e ir c u r r ic u la ,

i t would seem th a t th ey might u t i l i z e th e se

dramatic cou rses by in te g r a tin g them w ith c h ild r e n ’ s th e a te r s t o promote b e tte r community c o n ta c ts and to develop b e tte r standards in community en tertainm ent.

Another important v alu e t o be noted in th e development o f

a c h ild r e n ’ s th ea ter i s th e value o f p a r t ic ip a t io n . th e student who i s a c tin g and d ir e c tin g the p la y s .

This i s r e a liz e d by Training in th e funda­

m en tals o f dramatic a r t i s a valu ab le aid to th e te a c h e r . has been la id upon th e p e r s o n a lity o f th e tea ch er.

Much emphasis

A p le a s in g , f l e x i b l e ,

w ell-m odulated v o ic e and a w e ll-p o ise d g r a c e fu l body are a s s e t s in person­ a l i t y developm ent.

T raining in dram atic a r t emphasizes th e s e q u a lit ie s in

th e a cto r-stu d en t*

Thus th e student who has had t h i s tr a in in g comes to

1,

Evelyn E, Helm era, Dramatics fo r E n g lish Teachers. (Unpublished M a ster's T h e s is ), S ta te Teachers C o lle g e , Upper M o n tcla ir, New J e r se y .

vi

ap p reciate th e s e a s s e t s and s t r iv e s to ach ieve then*

Any student who has

had o p p o rtu n ities t o p a r tic ip a te in th e a c tin g o f p la y s must have achieved some measure o f v o ic e c o n tro l

and p o is e .

The a b i l i t y to fa c e an audience

w ith p o ise and to remain "in ch a ra cter” i s an a s s e t in tea ch in g . The e f f e c t o f a c tiv e p a r tic ip a tio n on a p p recia tio n has been w id ely d iscu sse d .

I t i s reason ab le to b e lie v e th a t even a s l i g h t degree o f s k i l l

in any given a r t form makes fo r a keen a p p recia tio n o f f in e execution in th a t a r t.

T his may be ap p lied to a c tin g .

The student who has a c t iv e ly

p a r tic ip a te d in the production o f p la y s has a keener sen se o f ap p reciation fo r th e work o f advanced p r o fe s s io n a l groups on sta g e and scree n .

We not

on ly "learn by doing" but we a ls o le a rn to a p p reciate what oth ers have done. I t would seem a d v isa b le fo r sch o o ls th a t are engaged in th e prepara­ tio n o f tea ch ers to make p r o v isio n fo r the production o f p la y s fo r and on th e l e v e l

o f th e c h ild 's a p p recia tio n .

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE ..................................................... Types o f C hildren’ s Theaters School O rganization s, . . Values o f C hildren’ s Theaters

V

ii

ACKhOWLciDGECENTS

...............................

ii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLE .

x

SURVEY OF THE FIELD OF CHILDREN'S THEATERS. . . . Drama League o f A m e r ic a ............................... .... C h ild ren 's P la y s a t the Goodman Theater . . . Northwestern U n iv e r s ity C hild ren 's Theater . Emerson C ollege C h ild ren 's Theater .................. The Clare Tree Ivlajor P l a y e r s ............................... Junior Programs o f New Y o r k ...................... The Junior League .........................................................

1 2

table of contents

PREPARATORY WORK.................................................................. Preparatory Work E xten sive ................................... The A cting Group ................................................ Stage Equipment ..................................................... Financing the P la y s ............................................ The A u d i e n c e ......................................................... OUTLINE OF PROJECT .............................................................. Suggested Outcomes ............................................ Personnel F actors ......................................................... Personnel O rganization ............................................ Audiences ........................................................................... P h y sica l Equipment............................... .... Auditorium .............................................................. Stage ........................................................................... L igh tin g Equipment ............................................ Workroom .................................................................. General O utline o f Course in R ela tio n to Time Allotm ent ...........................................................................

3 4 4 5 5 5 8

11 11 12

13 13 16 16 17 17 18 18 18 18 19 19 20

Page

CHAPTER

IV

o

PROCEDURES IN FUNDAMENTALS OF ACTING........................................ In tro d u ctio n or Prelim inary S tep s . . . . . . . . . P r o je c t Defined ...................... ........................................................... . • • Purpose . . Elementary P r in c ip le s o f A c t i n g ...................... . . . . . Fundamentals o f C h a r a c te r iz a tio n .......................... L is t o f Characters Presented by Students in C lass Pantomime B u ilt Around C h a ra cteriza tio n s Pre­ sented' in C l a s s ............................................................. . C a s t i n g ............................................................................... R e h e a r s a ls ............................................................................... C o n fe r e n c e ................................... . .

22 22 22 22 23 23 25

V

PROCEDURES IN PLAY PRODUCTION..................................................... Production S t a f f ..................................................................... . Scenery and L i g h t i n g .................................................................. Wardrobe ....................................................................... . . . . . Back Stage O r g a n i z a t io n .......................................................... P u b lic it y ............................................................................................. House M anagem ent....................................................

32 32 32 33 35 36 37

VI

PROCEDURES IN STAGE CRAFT.............................................................. M a k e -u p . . Costuming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I l l u s t r a t i v e O u tlin e fo r One C lass Lecture . . . S ta g ecra ft ............................................................. I l l u s t r a t i v e O utline o f L ectures . . . . . . . . Student D irected P l a y s ..............................

39 39 40 41 43 43 46

VII

NOTES ON 'THE STAGE PRODUCTIONS OF THE CHILDREN'S THEATER P la y S ta n d a r d s ................................................................. P la y s Produced by C h ild ren 's T h e a t e r ............................... The Emperor's New C l o t h e s ............................................ D avid 's Adventures .............................................................. A lic e in W o n d e r la n d ....................................... A l a d d i n .............................................................................. . C in d e r e l la ................................................

48 48 49 50 53 59 62 68

VIII

EVALUATION OF THE PROJECT.................................................................. A d m in is tr a tio n ............................................................................... Teaching S t a f f o f the Normal School . . . . . . . . Teachers in th e F ield . . . . . . .................................... C h ild ren 's Opinion ................................................. . . . . . Student O p i n i o n ................................... D ir e c to r 's O b s e r v a t i o n s ........................................... C o n c l u s i o n s .......................... S u g g e s t i o n s ....................................................................................

76 76 76 81 84 85 86 87 88

ANNOTATED READING LIST OF PLAYS PRESENTED 1939-41 at STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, ONEONTA, NEW YORK......................

89

BIBLIOGRAPHY

93

.................................................................

25 27 28 30

LIST O F ILUJSTfiATIGNS AND TABLE

I llu s t r a t io n s

Page

David *a Adventures - Act I

.............................................

57

Davidt s Adventures - Act I I ...........................................................

57

David’ s Adventures - Act I I ...........................................................

58

A lic e in Wonderland - Act I ....................................................

.

63

A lic e in Wonderland- Act I ............................................................

63

Aladdin - Scene 1 ......................................................................

69

..................................................................

70

...........................................................................

74

C in d erella - Act I I I ...........................................................................

75

Response from Teachers in th e H e ld on Yalue o f C hildren’ s Theater..... ..........................................................................

83

Aladdin - Scene 5 C in d erella - Act I

tabtve i

..

x

CHAPTER

I

SURVEY OF THE FIELD OF CHILDREN'S THEATERS *■

S in ce t h is study i s lim ite d to th e development o f a th ea ter in which ad u lt a cto rs p la y fo r audiences o f c h ild r e n , th e ou tstanding c o n trib u tio n s to t h i s movement should be n o ted . U nlik e th e r i s e o f th e a te r s fo r ch ild r en in R ussia^, in I t a l y , 2 and in th e Scandinavian c o u n tr ie s ,3 th e c h ild r e n ’ s th e a te r movement in th e U nited S ta te s has developed through th e e f f o r t s o f amateur groups.

The s o c ia l

settlem en t groups were th e e a r l ie s t promoters o f t h i s cause in th e U nited S ta te s,

As ea r ly a s 1892, sim p le productions o f nursery s t o r ie s were pre­

sen ted by ju v e n ile p la y s fo r c h ild a u d ien ces.

The f i r s t c h ild r e n 's th e a te r

o f s ig n ific a n c e was founded by A lic e Minee H e ils a t th e E ducational A llia n c e in New York C ity in 1903.

I t was c a lle d the C h ild ren 's Educational Theater

and was d ire cted by Hama Sheridan Fry.

C hildren’ s p la y s o f a h igh standard

were produced by t h is group, whose programs included: "The Fairy Ring", "Snow White”, "The L i t t l e P r in c e ss," " L it t le Lord Fauntleroy," "The P rin ce and th e Pauper," and "The Tempest".

The a c to r s were th e oh ild ren and a d u lts o f th e

neighborhood d ir e c te d by s o c ia l settlem en t p erso n n el, who encouraged them to

1. 2. 3.

C hild Theater in the S o v ie t Union, School A rts Magazine, (February, 1 9 3 4 ), pp. 372-375. L. C im atti, C h ild ren 's Theater in I t a ly , In te rn a tio n a l Review o f E ducation. School Teacher in Denmark, e t c . , In te r n a tio n a l Review o f E ducation.

z

c r e a te th e ir own in te r p r e ta tio n s .

The p la y s f i t t e d in to th e gen eral

s o c ia liz in g and in t e l le c t u a l program o f the settlem en t group.

Often th e

foreign -h orn parents became so in te r e s te d in th e performance o f t h e ir c h i l ­ dren th a t they made e f f o r t s to acquaint them selves w ith each play b efo re coming to see i t produced.

No p ain s were spared to bring about a gen eral

a p p recia tio n o f th e p la y s .

Sometimes they went so fa r as t o have a le c t u r ­

er e x p la in th e p la y s in th e language spoken by th e p aren ts o f the c h ild r e n . This th ea ter la s te d s ix y e a r s, and i t was a source o f enjoyment fo r th ose ch ild ren and a d u lts who were p r iv ile g e d to p a r tic ip a te in i t and enjoy it.

Other settlem en t houses were quiek to se e th e v alu e o f such an in s t it u ­

tio n and to use i t in t h e ir ed u ca tio n a l programs.

S o c ia l se ttlem en t houses

l i k e B i l l House in Chicago and C hristadora and Neighborhood House in New York City^ have made o u tsta n d in g use o f c h ild r e n 's th e a t e r s .

They have been

so u rces o f beauty and means o f stim u la tin g c r e a t iv it y in neighborhoods f i l l e d w ith th e u g lin e s s and squalor o f f a c t o r ie s and slum s. Drama League o f America One o f the pion eer o rg a n iza tio n s in th e f i e l d o f the th e a te r f o r c h i l ­ dren was th e Drama League o f America founded in 1910.^ o f Mrs. A.

Under the guidance

Starr Best much was done to stim u la te in t e r e s t in p la y s s u ita b le

fo r c h ild r e n .

The Junior Department, under th e d ir e c tio n o f Cora Mel F a tten ,

e s ta b lis h e d c h ild r e n 's lea g u es in numerous c i t i e s and produced pageants and p la y s fo r th e c h ild audience.

An important co n trib u tio n made by t h i s s o c ie t y

was th e com pilation and d is tr ib u tio n o f l i s t s o f p la y s s u ita b le fo r

1. 2.

ff. Ward. Theater fo r C hildren. New York: Drama League B u lle tin . September, 1920.

Appleton Century, 1939.

3

c h ild r e n 's use along w ith h in ts to aid in t h e ir p rod u ction .

These l i s t s

and production a id s were made a v a ila b le to in te r e ste d p eo p le. The Drama League a ls o published c o lle c t io n s o f c h ild r e n 's p la y s .

This

group d eserves mnoh c r e d it fo r stim u la tin g in t e r e s t in c h ild r e n 's th e a te r s as w e ll as fo r th e advice which th ey made a v a ila b le fo r in exp erien ced d ir e c to r s . A d ir e c t outgrowth o f t h is in t e r e s t was th e e x te n siv e r e c rea tio n program conducted on th e M unicipal P ie r in Chicago (1917-1927) under the d ir e c tio n o f Bertha l i e s .

Here were produced p la y s and pageants which con trib u ted to th e

entertainm ent o f th e p u b lic .

These p rod u ction s a ls o provided o u t le t s for the

c r e a tiv e dramatic im pulses o f ch ild ren o f immigrant f a m ilie s . One o f the most ou tstan d in g names connected w ith the work o f the Drama League i s th a t o f Constance D'Aroy Mackay. o f p la y s f o r c h ild r e n .

She i s one o f the e a r l i e s t w riter s

When the Drama League was endeavoring to stim u la te

in t e r e s t in such w r itin g s , Mrs. Mackay con trib u ted many p la y s o f h igh lit e r a r y and p o e tic q u a lity .

She began w r itin g at a tim e when th ere was a dearth o f

good m a teria l and her com positions have become c l a s s ic s among c h ild r e n 's p la y s. Such p la y s as "The S ilv e r Thread," (1 9 0 9 ), and "The F ir s t N oel," (1912) have been played hundreds o f tim es'an d have enriched th e experience o f many young au d ien ces.

To th e Drama League goes the c r e d it fo r being the f i r s t organiza­

t io n a c t iv e ly to promote th e growth o f the c h ild r e n 's th e a te r . C h ild ren 's P la y s a t the Goodman Theater In 1925 th e Goodman Theater in Chicago began p resen tin g weekly programs fo r c h ild a u d ien ces,1 a a e r ie s o f which has been given in th e w in ter months o f each year fo r something l i k e s ix te e n y e a r s .

1.

Ward, 0 ]£* c it .i p. 22.

The p la y s are given by a

company and te c h n ic a l s t a f f o f th e young a d u lts o f th e School o f the Theater and are a reg u la r p art o f t h e ir p r o fe s s io n a l work in the sch o o l. The sea so n a l schedule c o n s is t s o f four or f iv e p rod u ctio n s, each continu­ in g fo r s e v e r a l perform ances. Northwestern U n iv ersity C hildren1s Theater Another ou tstan d in g group i n the production o f p la y s fo r c h ild r en i s the one organized by the School o f Speech a t Northwestern U n iv ersity a t Evanston, I l l i n o i s .

This group was organized in 1925.

In 1927, the Board

o f Education and th e Parent-Teacher A sso c ia tio n o f th e p u b lic sch o o ls became j o in t sponsors w ith Northwestern U n iv e r s ity . a community i n s t i t u t i o n .

The c h ild r e n 's th e a te r became

The schedule fo r th e season c o n s is t s o f four p la y s ,

each o f which i s produced a t l e a s t four tim es in th e p u b lic sch o o l auditorium s. There are a d d itio n a l performances on th e campus o f th e u n iv e r s it y .

The c a s ts

fo r th ese p la y s are made up o f the stu d en ts in th e School o f Speech, o f towns­ people who are in t e r e s t e d , and o f the c h ild r en who are s e le c t e d from the C reative Drama c la s s e s in th e p u b lic s c h o o ls .

The te c h n ic a l s t a f f i s composed

o f stud en ts in s ta g e c r a ft cou rses a t th e u n iv e r s it y . The c h ild r e n 's th ea ter a t Northwestern U n iv e r sity has made many sp len d id p rod u ction s.

One o f i t s fou n d ers, Miss W inifred Ward, i s a n a tio n a l a u th o rity

in the f i e l d o f th e c h ild r e n 18 th e a te r . Emerson C o lleg e C h ild ren 's Theater Another b eginning by a p r o fe s s io n a l sch o o l o f speech and a c tin g was made a t Emerson C o lleg e in B o sto n .1

1.

The stu d en ts o f Emerson C ollege not only a cted

S . Chipman, S tory Books Came to L ife in a C h ild ren 's T h eater. Boston: Emerson C o lle g e , Drama Magazine. (A p r il, 1 9 3 1 ), pp. 3 1-27.

5

In and produced c h ild r e n 's p la y s but a ls o wrote p la y s . given each sea so n .

Performances were

The d ir e c to r s at Emerson encouraged th e w r itin g o f

o r ig in a l s c r ip t s as w e ll a s the production o f c h ild r e n 's c l a s s io s . th e ir most popular p la y s were:

Among

"The Blue B ird," "Pinocohio," "Snow W hite,”

" L ittle Madoap's Journey," "The Wicked W itch,” "The Land o f Oz,” and "Raggedy Ann and Andy". The com p etition o f c h ild r e n 's film s proved to o strong fo r th e Emerson e n te r p r ise and th e c o lle g e i s no lon ger able t o p resen t p la y s in a reg u la r season al program. The Clare Tree Major P la y ers A s u c c e s s fu l con trib u tor from the p r o fe s s io n a l f i e l d i s Mrs. Clare Tree M ajor.1

In 1921 she e sta b lis h e d a Saturday morning th e a te r in New York C ity .

From t h i s in n ovation have grown s e v e r a l to u rin g companies p resen tin g p la y s in sch o o ls through th e Eastern part o f the country.

The a cto rs are young pro­

f e s s io n a ls managed and d irected by Mrs. Major h e r s e lf . arranges many o f th e p la y s .

She w r ite s and

She p r e se n ts such p la y s as "Hans Brinker,"

"Rip Van W inkle,” " C in d erella," and "Aladdin."

A g rea t d ea l o f in t e r e s t in

th e c h ild r e n 's th e a te r has been aroused in communities through the work of th ese p la y e r s.

Many p u b lic and p r iv a te sch o o ls have arrangements by which

se v e r a l p la y s are p resented by th e d iffe r e n t groups throughout the sch o o l y ea r. Junior Programs o f New York Another and more recen t co n trib u tio n from the p r o fe s s io n a l f i e l d con­ s i s t s o f an o rg a n iza tio n known as The Junior Programs o f New York.

1.

Clare Tree Major, C hildren’ s T heater. (O ctober, 1 9 3 4 ), pp. 4 5 -4 7 ,

This

New York S ta te Education. 22

6

e n te r p r ise sends out tou rin g companies t o many c i t i e s and sm aller communi­ t i e s about the country to p resen t programs fo r c h ild au d ien ces.

The perform­

ances have been e x c e lle n t in q u a lity and among th e p la y s i s one, "The Reward o f th e Sun-God,” which i s an adaptation o f an Indian leg en d .

Other e n te r ta in ­

ments included th e op eras, "The Bumble Bee P rin ce," and "Hansel and G retel" and th e b a lle t," P in o c c h io ."

"The Enperor's C hest” was performed more r e c e n tly .

The Junior League The Junior League throughout the U nited S ta te s has a lso id e n t if ie d i t s e l f w ith the production o f c h ild r e n 's p la y s and i s now the lea d in g o rg a n iza tio n in th e f i e l d .

In 1921, th e Chicago Junior League sponsored a performance o f

"Alice in Wonderland", arranged by A lic e G erstenberg.

The production was

r ec eiv ed w ith so much enthusiasm th a t th e id ea waa taken up by lea g u es in variou s c i t i e s .

Since then Junior Leagues in the United S ta te s , Mexico, Canada

and Hawaii have put on hundreds o f perform ances.

In 1939 one hundred and f i f t y

League u n its produced p la y s fo r audiences o f u n d er-p riv ileg ed ch ild r e n . There i s no s in g le p o lic y r e g u la tin g th e number o f p la y s produced by th e variou s le a g u e s.

The C h ild ren 's Theater Department, lo c a te d

in New York

C ity , com piles and d is t r ib u t e s l i s t s o f s u ita b le p la y s fo r variou s age l e v e l s . These m anuscripts are loaned to leagu e members.

M anuscripts a ls o may be

borrowed by any one and arrangements may be made fo r p u b lic performances by non-members. Women in th e Junior League o fte n w rite t h e ir own p la y s and th e su ccess­ f u l s c r ip t s are f i l e d f o r fu tu re use a t th e th ea ter headquarters. members are u su a lly t h e ir own a cto rs and producers.

The

Sometimes, a s in th e

7

case o f th e ''Blue B i r d , c o s t u m e s and scenery are shipped from one league o rgan ization to another fo r use in sev era l p resen ta tio n s* The p lays are u su a lly put on e ith e r w ith no adm ission charge or w ith a very sm all f e e , as l i t t l e a s f iv e cen ts from such ch ild ren as can pay* Every year thousands o f u n d erp rivileged boys and g i r l s in variou s p a rts o f th e country are reached by th e se en tertain m en ts. There i s undoubtedly a widespread in t e r e s t in th e c h ild r e n 's th eater* There i s lik e w ise a grea t need fo r mare o rg a n iza tio n s t o promote i t .

The

l o g i c a l groups, because o f t h e ir r e la tio n s h ip s and in t e r e s t in ch ild r en , would be th e tea ch ers c o lle g e s .

They are admirably f i t t e d to assume th e

r e s p o n s ib ilit y o f providing good dramatic entertainm ent on the c h il d ' s le v e l o f ap p recia tio n . Tor a l l th e s e a c t i v i t i e s the f i e l d i s sc a r c e ly developed at a l l . P r o fe ss io n a l sch o o ls o f speech and a ctin g are few and fa r a p a rt.

Organiza­

t io n s li k e the Clare Tree Major p la y ers and the Junior Programs Company m iss many communities and appear a l l too seldom, and on ly la r g er cen ters have the Junior League and the Drama League o f America. The teach er tr a in in g c o lle g e s can produce th e p ia y s d ir e c t ly and reach te n s o f thousands o f ch ild r en who would oth erw ise be denied t h is type o f in s tr u c tio n and en tertainm ent.

They can t r a in tea ch ers to e s t a b lis h c h ild r e n 's

th e a te r s in is o la te d c e n tr a l sch o o ls and in n eg lected communities, and th ey can spread the id ea o f the c h ild r e n 's th ea ter throughout every s t a t e in th e nation*

1.

H. Adamoska, Junior League C h ild ren 's T h eater. 1931), p . 37.

Drama, SI (A p r il,

CHAPTER I I PREPARATORY WORK

The S ta te Normal School a t Oneonta, New York, has seemed to be an e x c e lle n t p la ce In which to develop a c h ild r e n 's th e a te r .

The author o f

t h is r e p o rt, who i s th e d ir e c to r o f p lays in th e Normal S ch ool, has been lon g in te r e ste d in e s t a b lis h in g such an in s t it u t io n . There i s a la c k o f s u ita b le dramatic entertainm ent fo r the ch ild ren o f th e c i t y and o f th e surrounding ru ra l area s.

In f a c t , th e o n ly dramatic

entertainm ent which may be experienced by the ch ild ren i s th a t o ffe r e d by the motion p ic tu r e s .

The p r in c ip a l o f th e Normal School and th e d ir e c to r

o f tr a in in g are sym pathetic toward the id ea o f a c h ild r e n 's th e a te r which should be sponsored by th e sc h o o l.

Such an in s t it u t io n should a ffo rd means

o f p resen tin g good p la y s fo r c h ild au d ien ces, o f f e r o p p o rtu n ities fo r dramat­ ic art exp erien ce fo r th e stu d e n ts, and strengthen and in cr ea se community r e la t io n s , i t was thou ght. The c h ild r e n 's th e a te r a t the S ta te Normal School had i t s beginning se v e r a l years b efore i t ev en tu a lly emerged as a p r o je c t.

Prom 1929 to 1935

th ere was an e le c t iv e course in Dramatic A rt, but in 1936 th e course became a required part o f the curriculum and has remained so . in g , sta g in g and d ir e c tin g o f p la y s were s tr e s s e d .

The elem ents o f a c t­

During th e se ea rly years

th e m ateria l used in t h i s course was s e le c te d from c l a s s ic and modern dramas.

g

The course became popular with Summer S essio n stu d en ts, raany o f them tea ch ers in s e r v ic e , who were g r e a tly in te r e s te d in secu rin g m a teria l fo r c h ild r e n 's p la y s .

G radually, owing to t h is demand, the m a teria l in the

course was expanded to in clu d e i l l u s t r a t i v e m a teria l from c h ild r e n 's c l a s s i c s which could be used d ir e c t ly or adapted fo r use in dramatic form. The stu d en ts in reg u la r s e s sio n were in te r e s te d a lso in le a rn in g to use dramatic m a teria l fo r o h ild re n . p lays on th e elem entary school

They began to p resen t short classroom

l e v e l as part o f t h e ir course requirem ents.

In order to t e s t th e v a lu e o f th e s e p la y s , i t became n ecessa ry to have an audience, s in c e a p la y i s not a p la y u n t il i t has been p la y ed . I t th erefo re became th e p r a c tic e when a p lay was p a r tic u la r ly w e ll done to in v it e sm all groups o f oh ild ren from the campus sch ool as g u e s ts.

Some­

tim es the ch ild ren came over to th e improvised classroom th e a te r , a t other tim es th ese p la y s were taken to th e ir own assembly sta g e .

These f i r s t p lays

were o h ie f ly o f the type which c h ild a c to r s might a ls o perform and were used to i l l u s t r a t e the typ e o f p lays which th e stu d en ts might u se w ith th e ir own p u p ils in t h e ir fu tu r e work as elem entary sch ool te a c h e r s.

Such p la y s pro­

v id e in s u f f ic ie n t m a te r ia l fo r a course in Dramatic Art on the c o lle g e l e v e l . They do not make adequate demands upon the stu d e n t's a c tin g a b i l i t y . are too lim ite d and too th in .

They

The problem was to fin d th e best way to combine

the s e le c t io n and ev a lu a tio n o f good dramatic m a teria l fo r ch ild ren w ith s u f f ic ie n t exp erien ce in th e a ctin g and producing o f p la y s on the student le v e l.

The study o f th e m a teria ls in volved included much more than th e mere

b ib lio g r a p h ic a l a sp e c ts o f th e cou rse.

I t included a stud y o f th e in te r p la y

o f im agination and r e a lis m in th e c h ild and of the li t e r a r y and th e a t r ic v a lu es which might meet h is needs and hold h is in t e r e s t .

A r e -e v a lu a tio n from the

p o in t o f view o f th e c h ild o f the r e l a t iv e importance o f s e t t in g , costume and

10

d ia lo g u e, and an a p p raisal o f such fa c to r s a s in d o c tr in a tio n , im aginative escape and empathy found a p la ce in th e d is c u s s io n s .

The s k i l l s in volved

in a c tin g and producing p la y s drew h e a v ily on th e a v a ila b le time o f th e cou rse.

The combination o f theory and p r a c tic e was secured through th e

p resen ta tio n o f lon ger p la y s sim ple enough in p lo t fo r the ch ild audience to ap p reciate and enjoy and at th e same tim e d i f f i c u l t enough in ch aracter­ iz a tio n to ch allen ge the stu d en ts in t h e ir p r e se n ta tio n .

M eeting th e se

o b je c tiv e s meant a type o f p la y beyond th e a b i l i t y o f th e average c h ild actor or u n sk ille d d ir e c to r .

Thus the id ea o f e s t a b lis h in g a th ea ter fo r

ch ild au d iences, in which th e p la y ers and producers were a d u lts, seemed a s a tis fa c to r y answer to

the problem.

This plan has sev era l d e f in it e v a lu e s . For th e stud en t i t b u ild s a knowledge o f c h ild r e n 's p la y s, o f f e r s op p o rtu n ities fo r a c tin g and s ta g in g that are ch a llen g in g to t h e ir a b i l i t y and fu rn ish es m a teria l in th e adapting o f s e le c t io n s fo r sta g e p r e se n ta tio n , such as c u ttin g and arranging s c r ip t s .

Many o f th ese stu d en ts are n e ith e r

e s p e c ia lly in te r e s te d nor ta le n te d in a c tin g , but a l l could act some o f th e minor p a rts in th ese p la y s.

As a r u le th e character demands o f a r o le in a

c h ild r e n 's p la y are not too great fo r an i n t e l lig e n t student to m eet.

For

th o se stu d en ts in te r e ste d in d esig n , s ta g e c r a ft and costume o ffe r e x c e lle n t o p p o rtu n ities fo r th e ir c r e a tiv e work.

Other stud en ts have experience in

making th e n ecessary arrangements fo r th e handling o f the audience o f children* For th e ch ild ren in th e audience i t fu rn ish es o p p o rtu n ities to see good p lays worthy o f th e ir a p p recia tio n , i t stim u la tes t h e ir own dramatic e f f o r t s , and i t develops th e power o f dramatic c r it ic is m .

11

The d ir e c to r found th e stu d en ts in th ese

c la s s e s most eager to

cooperate in th e production o f more elaborate p la y s fo r ch ild r en .

The

tea ch ers o f the campus sch ool were eq u a lly d esiro u s o f having t h e ir c h i l ­ dren see p la y s to o d i f f i c u l t fo r th e ch ild ren them selves to produce.

3o

from th e id ea o f p resen tin g very sim ple p la y s b efore a sm all group o f c h ild r en , the c h ild r e n ’ s th e a te r emerged as a p r o je c t fo r p resen tin g fin is h e d p la y s o f a more ela b o ra te type to la rg e audiences o f sch ool ch ild ren o f the community. Preparatory Work E xten sive As in a l l such v en tu res, th e su ccess o f a c h ild r e n ’ s th ea ter depends upon c a r e fu l p lan n in g.

The outcomes r e s t upon th e i n i t i a l p rep aration .

Even

though such planning consumes a la r g e amount o f p reciou s hours o f d ir e c tio n , th e time i s w e ll sp en t. There are th ree p a r tic ip a tin g groups in any th ea ter p r o je c t: the a c to r s, the te c h n ic ia n s, and th e audience.

Each o f th e se w i l l be given c a r e fu l con­

s id e r a tio n . The A cting Group In the i n i t i a l s e t-u p , September 1939, th e a cto rs and the members o f the producing s t a f f were made up e n t ir e ly of stu d en ts from the c la s s e s in Dramatic Art in th e Normal S ch ool. sem ester.

These c la s s e s met four tim es a week fo r one

There were two s e c tio n s o f each c l a s s , averaging tw en ty -fiv e

stu d en ts to a s e c t io n .

The course was given both sem esters so th a t the

stu d en ts in the fo u r" sec tio n s made a t o t a l o f one hundred stu d en ts p a r tic ip a t­ in g in t h is p ro ject during the sch o o l year.

In such a la r g e group o f c o lle g e

men and women th ere are many who have s lig h t in t e r e s t and d isp la y l i t t l e a b i l i t y in a c tin g .

I t i s th erefo re part o f th e i n i t i a l p lanning to prepare

12

work fo r th e se stu d en ts who are req u ired to take th e cou rse.

In l i g h t o f

exp erience w ith e a r lie r c la s s e s one must make in advance a very general and f le x i b le p la n , d ecid in g on the typ es o f p la y s to be used but d elaying s p e c if ic s e le c t io n o f th e productions to

be o ffe r e d u n t il th e c la s s e s meet

and the t a le n t a v a ila b le can be ap p raised.

As soon as the c la s s e s are formed,

one must s t a r t to round a more d e f in it e program Into shape w ith th e a s s i s t ­ ance o f th e le a d e rsh ip developed among th e stu d en ts th em selves. Stage Equipment The stage equipment a t the S ta te Normal School i s f a i r l y t y p ic a l o f most sch ool auditorium s.

I t s auditorium s e a ts s i x hundred p eo p le.

The sta g e

measures f if t y - f o u r by f i f t e e n f e e t , w ith a proscenium arch f i f t e e n f e e t high and fo rty -tw o f e e t wide.

There are most inadequate arrangements fo r the

s to r in g o f scenery and p ro p erties o f f s ta g e . m ately f i f t y square f e e t .

The scen e dock area i s approxi­

The sta g e i s equipped w ith a standard draw cu rtain

and w ith cyclorama drapes o f b lack p lu sh . sta g e cu rta in o f tan sa teen .

There i s a v a ila b le another sim ila r

A standard s e t o f f l a t s i s a ls o inoluded in our

equipment; various u n its are b u ilt to supplement i t when req u ired .

Our stage

a ls o has p ro v isio n fo r f ly in g a lim ite d number o f sm all p ie c e s o f scen ery. The switohboard i s equipped w ith dimmers fo r f o o t li g h t s and borders.

One o f

th e fe a tu r e s o f th e sta g e which adapts i t s e l f w e ll to th e inform al atmosphere o f c h ild r e n ’ s p la y s i s th e broad f l i g h t o f ste p s which le a d s from th e fro n t o f the stage to th e f lo o r o f th e auditorium and extends th e e n tir e width o f th e s ta g e .

The sch o o l costume room i s equipped w ith f a c i l i t i e s fo r c u ttin g ,

sewing and p r e ssin g costumes. b in a tio n o f o ld and new. fo r dyeing f a b r ic s .

The costumes fo r each play are u su a lly a com­

The f a c i l i t i e s o f th e a r ts and c r a fta rooms are used

13

The c la s s e s have the use o f th e stage fo r r e h e a r sa ls and performan ces.

{ i

i

Financing the P la y s

!

To meet th e coat o f producing th e p la y s the th e a te r i s financed by a co n trib u tio n from the Student Fees Assessm ent, to whioh each student con­ t r ib u t e s .

A d ress reh ea r sa l performance o f each p lay at a regu lar student

assem bly period i s arranged f o r .

In such a way th e c h ild r e n ’ s th ea ter o f f e r s

four f u l l le n g th assem bly programs during each year in return f o r the stu d e n t’ s investm ent.

In t h is manner th e extra performances fo r th e ch ild ren

are fin a n ced . The Audience The importance o f the audience was noted in i n i t i a l p lan n in g.

F ir s t i t

was decided to lim it the age o f th e audience t o from nine to th ir te e n y ea rs. Children s i x to e ig h t fin d i t d i f f i c u l t to s i t through an hour or more o f p la y in g , and i t was f e l t th at i f p ro v isio n was to be made fo r th e e n te r ta in ­ ment o f th ese younger c h ild r e n , i t should be provided in a separate dramatic fe a tu r e .

As no adm ission oharges were to be made, i t was planned to have

adm ission by t ic k e t and to lim it the d is tr ib u tio n o f t ic k e t s to th o se sch o o ls in the c i t y and in surrounding ru ra l areas which alread y had esta b lish e d p r o fe s s io n a l co n ta cts w ith th e Normal School in t h e ir stud en t teaoh in g a ssig n ­ m ents. In order to become acquainted gradually w ith our type o f audience and to e s t a b lis h o u r se lv e s, i t was decided to

lim it the audience fo r the f i r s t la r g e

production to ch ild ren o f th e caucus sch o o l. V III were to be in v it e d .

The ch ild ren from Grades IV to

I t was planned a ls o t o produce a s e r ie s o f shorter

and sim pler p la y s which might be put on a t the sohool anWbprium o f th e variou s

;

14

sch o o ls In th e community to acquaint th e s t a f f s o f th e se sch o o ls w ith our work and t o stim u la te in t e r e s t among th e ch ild ren fo r the coming major pro­ d u ctio n s.

The fo llo w in g q u estion n aire was sen t to th e heads o f th o se

sch o o ls in which the Normal School had placed p r a c tic e tea ch in g stu d en ts, to determ ine whether or not th ey were in te r e s te d in having such p la y s.

My dear Mr. ________: This year th e major emphasis o f the work in th e Dramatic Art C la sses o f th e Oneonta S ta te Normal School w i l l be placed upon th e s e le c t io n and production o f p la y s s u ita b le fo r c h ild a u d ien ces. The aim i s to encourage and develop keener apprecia­ tio n o f p la y s fo r the ch ild ren o f th e elem entary sch ool age. I f you would be in te r e s te d in having such p la y s produced by members o f the c la s s e s in Dramatic Art under my su p erv isio n fo r your Assembly Programs, p le a s e check th e fo llo w in g item s and retu rn to me. We hope to be able to cooperate w ith you to your b est advantage. A.

Type o f 1. 2. 3. 4.

P la y s H is to r ic a l F airy Tale Fantasy S p e c ia l H oliday P la y

B.

Length o f Performance 1 . 15 m inutes 2 . 90 minutes

C.

Age o f Children in th e Audience 1 . 6-9 years 2 . 10-13 years Very tr u ly you rs, 3eryl

Meek

T w enty-five o f th ese q u estio n n a ires were sen t o u t. out and retu rn ed .

A ll were f i l l e d

Over twenty o f the sch ool e x e c u tiv e s answering preferred

p la y s o f the F airy Tale or Fantasy ty p e. t h ir t y m inutes or s l i g h t l y l e s s .

The le n g th o f the performance was

15

On th e b a s is o f th e s e fin d in g s , i t was planned to p resen t fo r our f i r s t seaso n a l program fou r major p ro d u ctio n s. sem ester.

Two were to be given each

The p la y s were to be e ith e r Fantasy or Fairy Tale and would be

s u ita b le fo r ch ild ren from eig h t to tw elv e years o f age.

I t was a lso planned

to prepare se v e r a l short p la y s o f the same type fo r off-cam pus production. Having secured the n ecessa ry perm ission to use th e sch ool equipment and having obtained f a i r l y e n th u s ia s tic cooperation from the stud en ts and tea ch ers in the f i e l d , the ch ild r en ’ s th ea ter se t out on i t s f i r s t season o f production.

CHAPTER I I I OUTLINE OF PROJECT

The f a l l of the year 1939-40 saw the estab lish m en t o f the c h ild r e n 's th e a te r contem plated. Suggested Outcomes As has been sta ted the general outcomes o f t h is p ro ject were the develop­ ment o f a s e r ie s o f p r a c tic a l tech n iq u es which would be o f use and valu e in th e estab lish m en t o f sim ila r p r o je c ts under sim ila r co n d itio n s and, in c id e n t­ a l l y , to con sid er a l i s t o f t e s t e d p la y s fo r ch ild r e n .

The s p e c if ic outcomes

,

on th e c h ild l e v e l were to in olu d e th e fo llo w in g : 1.

The enjoyment o f dramatic a rt forms.

2.

The a b i l i t y to d is t in g u is h va rio u s ty p e s o f p la y s— humorous, s e r io u s , fa n ta stic , r e a lis t ic .

3.

The a b i l i t y to recogn ize th e d iv is io n s o f p la y form—p rologue, a c t s , e p ilo g u e , scen e.

4.

The a b i l i t y to fo llo w the p lo t or sto ry o f th e p la y —e x p o s itio n , clim ax, co n clu sio n .

5.

The a b i l i t y to d if f e r e n t ia t e between major and minor r o le s .

6.

The a b i l i t y to recogn ize c h a r a c te r iz a tio n s through v o ice and pantomime.

7.

The a b i l i t y to en joy th e p i c t o r i a l elem ents o f a p la y .

8.

The a b i l i t y t o s i t through a p lay w ith good audience behavior.

9.

The a b i l i t y t o analyze th e reasons fo r t h e ir o p in ion s o f p la y s.

17

The s p e c if i c outcomes on th e student l e v e l were to in clu d e th e fo llo w in g : 1.

The a b i l i t y t o recognize and s e le c t appropriate m a teria l fo r c h ild r e n 's p la y s.

2.

The a b i l i t y to portray sim ple ch a r a c te r iz a tio n s through the medium o f v o ca l ex p ressio n and pantomimic ex p ressio n .

3.

The a b i l i t y to master th e e s s e n t ia ls o f stage movement and stage b u sin e ss.

4.

The a b i l i t y to demonstrate sim ple and e f f e c t i v e tech n iq u es o f costume, scen ery, li g h t in g , stage p r o p e r tie s.

5.

The a b i l i t y to handle the e s s e n t ia ls o f backstage o rg a n iza tio n .

6.

The a b i l i t y to estim ate an au d ien ce.

7.

Thea b i l i t y to s e l e c t , adapt, and w rite

in form fo r p resen ta tio n

m a teria l fo r dram atizations on the l e v e l o f understanding and execu tion —fo r example, dram atizing m a teria l fo r c h ild a c to r s . P erson n el F actors At the beginning o f the development o f the p r o je c t, the fo llo w in g fa c to r s were a v a ila b le fo r use: 1.

The stu d en ts o f the Normal Sch ool.

2.

The dramatic equipment o f both Normal and Campus S ch ools.

3.

The ch ild ren o f th e Campus School ( la t e r t h is group was broadened to

in clud e th e ch ild ren o f the c i t y and surrounding ru ra l a r e a s).

P erson n el O rganization The a c tin g group c la s s e s in Dramatic Art included in t h is p ro ject con­ s is t e d o f f i f t y sen io rs (th ir d year s tu d e n ts ). composed o f f o r t y - f iv e women and eig h t men.

The average groups were

This grojtip. was d iv id ed in to two

18

c l a s s sectio n s*

Each s e c tio n , which met four tim es a week fo r one sem ester,

had c la s s e s o f fifty -m in u te p erio d s.

This group was s l i g h t l y below th e

average in dramatio exp erien ce sin c e on ly ten out o f th e e n tir e f i f t y - t h r e e stu d en ts had had any previous dramatic ex p erien ce. The d ir e c t o r ’ s tea ch in g sch ed u le was ev en ly d ivid ed between th e c la s s e s in Dramatic Art and

F re sh m a n

Speech.

The sch ed u le, c o n s is tin g o f e ig h t

hours o f Speech and e ig h t hours o f Dramatic A rt, th u s perm itted th e D irecto r to g iv e h a lf time to th e Dramatic Art work. A member o f th e Art Department was a v a ila b le fo r o cc a sio n a l con ferences w ith stu d en ts and d ir e c to r but no time was included in her tea ch in g schedule fo r such co n feren ces. Audiences The audience was composed o f ch ild ren from th e fou rth to th e eig h th grad es. P h y sic a l Equipment Auditorium This room, which was lo c a te d on the second f lo o r o f th e main b u ild in g , d ir e c t ly above the d ir e c t o r ’ s classroom , had a se a tin g ca p a city o f s i x hundred.

I t was a v a ila b le f o r r e h e a r sa ls and fo r most o f th e c la s s p e r io d s. Stage

Stage dim ensions and lim it a t io n s have alread y been m entioned.

The

equipment included a dark gray f lo o r c lo th , la r g e enough to cover th e e n tir e s ta g e , and eig h t f l a t s .

Because the auditorium was used a ls o fo r School

Assembly programs, i t was equipped w ith a s e t o f b lack v e lv e t sta g e cu rta in s which masked th e back and s id e s o f th e sta g e . o f b o r d e r lig h ts.

Two borders masked two s t r ip s

Among the a v a ila b le drapes were included a s e t o f li g h t

19

*an sateen c u r ta in s and an o ld blue back-drop.

A m iscella n eo u s c o lle c t io n

o f sta g e scen ery, m ostly odds and ends, was the residuum o f a number o f years o f c M ld ren 's o p eretta s and student p la y s . L ig h tin g Equipment The lig h t in g equipment, which was operated from one c e n tr a l switchboard, lo ca ted o f f sta g e le ft-, c o n siste d of f o o t lig h t s and two s e t s o f border or s t r ip l i g h t s .

The border li g h t s were s e t in troughs and were n ot movable.

They were co n tr o lle d by th ree separate sw itc h e s. use th ree co lo r s o f g e la tin e in each border. in th e same manner.

This made i t p o s sib le to

The f o o t lig h t s were c o n tr o lle d

Both f o o t li g h t and borders were equipped w ith dimmers

and th ere was a m aster-sw itch which c o n tr o lle d th e dimmers.

A d d ition al l i g h t ­

ing equipment included two sm all f lo o d lig h t s on standards and not equipped w ith dimmers, and th ree 150 watt s p o tlig h t s which could be hung from borders and operated by sep arate sw itch es from borders.

There were o u t le t s in the

backstage w a ll which could be used fo r lamps or other in d iv id u a l lig h t in g u n its on th e sta g e . Workroom The costumeroom, whichi adjoined th e d ir e c t o r 's classroom , in clud ed in i t s equipment the fo llo w in g item s: 2 foot-pow er sewing m achines, 1 la b oratory ta b le fo r c u ttin g , 2 sm aller t a b le s , 2 iro n in g boards, 2 e l e c t r i c ir o n s , 2 d ress racks fo r hanging costum es, 1 w a ll cupboard fo r sewing s u p p lie s , 1 la rg e blackboard fo r b u lle t i n s , la r g e cartons fo r s to r in g m a teria ls and costum es. room.

No f a c i l i t i e s fo r th e dyein g o f m a teria ls were included in t h i s

Such p ro cesses were carried on in the workrooms o f th e Art Department,

where deep sin k s and e l e c t r i c and gas sto v e s fo r b o ilin g dyes were lo c a te d .

80

F la t8 and oth er p ie c e s o f scenery which demanded the f a c i l i t i e s o f a shop were con stru cted in th e sch o o l carpenter shop under th e d ir e c tio n o f the sohool cu stod ian .

Because o f tim e lim it a t io n s , t h i s labor was done by th e

sch ool carpenter or by th e D irecto r o f Manual T raining in the campus so h o o l. General O utline o f Course in R ela tio n t o Time A llotm ent As t h i s course in Dramatic Art was lim ite d t o one sem ester o f s ix te e n weeks, i t was n ecessary to li m it the tim e spent in s p e c if i c tech n iq u es. was done to enable th e stud en t to have a v a r ie ty o f ex p erien ces.

This

The general

tim e scheme o f t h i s course was planned as fo llo w s : 1.

Elementary sta g e p r in c ip le s and tech n iq u es o f a c tin g - 2 weeks

2.

C asting and r e h e a r sa ls fo r major performances -

6 weeks

3.

Make-up (le c t u r e and p r a c tic e p erio d s) -

1 week

4.

Costume ( le c t u r e s and d is c u s sio n s ) -

2 weeks

5. 6.

Stage backgrounds and lig h t in g ( le c t u r e s and d is c u s s io n s ) -

2 weeks

Student d ir e c te d p la y s ( c la s s prod u ction s) -

2 weeks

T his arrangement

t o t a lle d f i f t e e n weeks.

The ex tra week o f th e sem ester was

used as required to complete u n fin ish ed assignm ents or to be used in fu rth er work fo r th e s p e c ia l in t e r e s t s which th e group d isp la y ed . Changes in th e curriculum in 1940-1941 made n ecessa ry a change in th e s ta tu s o f c h ild r e n 's th e a te r work. one o f four y ea rs.

The th ree-y ea r program was replaced by

In th e fou r-year plan adopted by th e S ta te , Dramatic

Art was no lon ger a required su b je c t.

In stea d , i t became one o f the

e l e c t iv e s o ffe r e d in th e Junior and Sen ior y e a r s.

I t continued on a one-

sem ester b a s is carrying th r e e -c r e d it hours and m eeting fou r hours a week.

21

Although th e gen eral plan remained the same as In th e preceding year In r e la tio n t o su b ject m atter u n it s , tech n iq u es and tim e a llo tm en t, th e fo llo w ­ ing changes and adjustm ents were made. Art to Dramatic Workshop.

The name was changed from Dramatic

One o f th e four w eekly c la s s p erio d s, or i t s

eq u iv a le n t, was devoted to p r in c ip le s o f s ta g e c r a f t .

This period was under

the p erson al d ir e c tio n and su p ervision o f th e s t a f f member o f th e Art Depart­ ment who had supervised th e sta g e s e t t in g s o f th e previous y ea r.

Time was

arranged on her tea ch in g schedule fo r th e se reg u la r appointm ents. The stu d en ts who e le c te d t h is course were J u n io rs. o f S en io rs, th e c la s s groups were much sm a lle r . to a s e c tio n .

The groups averaged f if t e e n

There was only one s e c tio n each sem ester.

s e le c te d fo r t h e ir a b i l i t y and in t e r e s t in dramatio work. were c h ie f ly concerned w ith a c tin g . c r a ft and costum ing.

Owing to th e absence

These stud en ts were Not a l l o f th ese

S everal showed marked a b i l i t y in sta g e ­

Over h a lf o f th e se stu d en ts had had p revious experience

in a ctin g or p la y prod u ction .

I t was a s e le c t e d group.

Since th ere was only

one s e c tio n t o a term, i t was decided t o g iv e one major production each sem ester. The co n d itio n s in th e second year o f th e development o f t h is p ro ject made i t p o s s ib le to compare th e two co n tra stin g groups: 1.

A la rg e u n se lected group,

2.

A sm all s e le c t e d group,

in t h e ir a b i l i t y to produce p la y s fo r c h ild a u d ien ces.

CHAPTER IT PROCEDURES IN FGMDABEENTALS OF ACTING

The course was lim ite d to one sem ester o f s ix te e n weeks.

I t was neces­

sary, th e r e fo r e , to acquaint th e stu d en ts w ith the p ro ject at th e very b egin n in g. In trod u ctio n or P relim inary Steps The program for th e f i r s t m eeting, which was held in th e classroom , c o n siste d o f a le c tu r e end d is c u s sio n in which the fo llo w in g p o in ts were p resen ted . P ro je ct Defined The development o f a c h ild r e n ’ s th ea ter on the campus, w ith th e Dramatic Art stu d en ts as msnbers o f th e a c tin g and production groups. Purpose The purpose fo r th e development o f a c h ild r e n 's th ea ter on th e campus was to provide fo r th e ohildren dramatic exp erience in order to develop an a p p reciatio n fo r p la y s on t h e ir l e v e l , and a ls o to provide fo r th e stud en ts a c tiv e experience in th e production o f p la y s s u ita b le fo r ch ild r en . B ib lio g ra p h ies o f suggested readings o f c h ild r e n 's p la y s were given o u t. These read ings formed the b a s is o f la t e r d iso u ssio n o f play s e le c t io n (se e read ing l i s t , page

89 ).

23

Elementary P r in c ip le s o f A cting S in ce the student b est m asters stage terms by a c tu a lly u sin g them, the stu d en ts met in the auditorium f o r the purpose o f p r a c tic a l il lu s t r a t io n and u se.

The fo llo w in g sta g e equipment was lo c a te d and d efin ed : sta g e areas

(c e n te r , r ig h t , l e f t , up and down), proscenium arch, sta g e apron, w ings, g r id ir o n , cu r ta in , backstage, o f f s ta g e , stage d ra p eries, stage borders, b a tte n s, back drop, f l a t , sta g e brace, f lo o r c lo th .

The stud en ts were per­

m itted to examine the stage f r e e ly and t o ask q u estio n s concerning th e nature and use o f sta g e equipment.

Time was a ls o spent in d r i l l s il lu s t r a t in g th e

use o f stage d ir e c tio n s r e la tin g to the sta g e a rea s. Fundamentals o f C haracterization When th e students had become fa m ilia r w ith sta g e areas and sta g e term i­ n ology, and were acquiring a knowledge o f c h ild r e n 's p la y s , th ey were ready to begin the next problem, th a t o f learn in g th e e s s e n t ia ls o f ch a ra cteriza ­ t io n .

In oth er words, le a r n in g how to make people in the p la y s "come a liv e "

on th e s ta g e . 1.

T his in trod u ctory le c tu r e included th e fo llo w in g d e f in it io n s .

Miming, th e e x p ressiv e a c tio n o f th e body, i s th e a c to r ’ s funda»

mental and b a sic means o f ex p ressin g em otions and id e a s . 2.

Vocal ex p ressio n , th e m odulations o f to n e, supports and r e in fo r c e s miming

3.

and

must

be in harmony w ith i t .

The b a sic ste p s in cre a tin g character in clu d e: study and a n a ly sis o f th e character to be created (through v o ic e and body), l i f e Btudy —a c tu a l ob servation o f th e pantomime and v o c a l exp ression o f people who have c h a r a c t e r is t ic s sim ila r to the ch aracter, im ita tio n (by th e actor) o f th ese v o ca l and pantomimic c h a r a c te r iz a tio n s, s e le c t io n o f harmonious d e t a ils by the aotor to build up h is ch a ra cter.

84

Eaoh aotor c r e a te s an o r ig in a l ch a r a c te r iz a tio n based upon h is in d iv id u a l in te r p r e ta tio n and a p p lica tio n o f th e th ree ste p s Just p resented on page 23.

S in ce th e walk was recognized as a b a s ic form o f pantomime,

the remainder o f th e c la s s p eriod was devoted to th e il lu s t r a t io n and p r a c tic e o f variou s c h a r a c t e r is t ic walks (m incing, a ffe c te d walk, swaggering, h e s it a t ­ in g , old age, e t c e t e r a ) .

The c la s s assignm ent was the demonstration o f two

co n tra stin g c h a r a c te r is tic w alks, based upon ob servation o f r e a l p eo p le. v

When th e se problems were presented fo r c l a s s c r it ic is m , the sta g e was used to rep resen t a sidew alk, though no a c tu a l scenery or p r o p e r tie s were used.

At th e b egin n in g, the e n t ir e o la s s performed a t one tim e.

done to d ecrease any s e lf-c o n s c io u s n e s s .

T his was

Then th e c la s s was d ivid ed in h a lf ,

one group aoted as an audience fo r the oth er in tu rn .

Next a new scene was

suggested to rep resen t an in te r s e c tio n o f s t r e e t s and a t r a f f i c o f f ic e r was ca st to d ir e c t the t r a f f i c . movement to th e scen e. c h a r a c te r iz a tio n s.

T his provided a fo cu s o f in t e r e s t end added

The audience noted and d iscu ssed e s p e c ia lly good -

I t was n oted , a ls o , th at th e audience could not always

see the acto rs c le a r ly and th a t the sta g e was a t one time crowded and again almost fempty.

Thus th e way was prepared fo r a d isc u ssio n o f Stage Movement,

Stage Movement was d efin ed as purposeful movement n ecessa ry to c l a r if y th e a ctio n and t e l l the sto r y o f th e scen e.

In order th a t the audience could

understand th e growth o f th e a c tio n , i t was n ecessa ry to have w e ll d efin ed stage movement.

T herefore, stage movement had to be prepared in advance in

order th at each a cto r might have an op p ortunity to share in th e a c tio n .

The

d isc u ssio n o f th e nature o f stage movement provided the opportunity fo r the in tro d u ctio n o f th e fo llo w in g sta g e tech n iq u es: e x i t s and en tra n ces, use o f sta g e cen ter fo r important a c tio n , g iv in g and tak in g s ta g e , com position o f stage groups, and stage tu rn s.

25

The th ird atep in the development o f th e sidew alk scene was to s e le c t variou s ch aracters from th e c la s s dem onstrations and arrange them

30

as to

produce a p a ttern o f a ctio n th a t would in clud e an in tro d u ctio n , growth o f a c tio n to form a clim ax, and a d e f in it e en d in g. as an o u tsid e c la s s assignm ent.

This was done by the group

P ro v isio n fo r entran ces and e x i t s was in ­

cluded in t h i s arrangement, 'an i l lu s t r a t io n o f which i s g iv e n . L is t o f Characters P resented by Students in C lass T r a ffic policeman

Shoppers w ith bundles

Woman w ith a baby carriage

High Sohool boys and g i r l s

Old man w ith cane

Boy on r o lle r sk a tes

Boy b ootblack

L oafers

Soap box o ra to r

Nervous fu ssy woraan

S ig h tse e r s

Important b u sin ess man

Shopkeepers a t doors

o f th e ir shops

Immigrant fa m ily

Mr* liilq u e to a s t Boy and g i r l "dating"

Pantomime B u ilt Around C h a ra cteriza tio n s Presented in C lass Scene: Time:

Busy s t r e e t corner Five o ’ c lo c k on a sp ring afternoon

A bored policeman i s standing on duty a t the corner.

B ootblack w ith

k i t e n te r s ( r ig h t ) , (c r o s s e s down r ig h t) puts down k it and w a its fo r customer. Two women shoppers en ter ( l e f t ) w ith arms f u l l o f p a r c e ls, th ey window shop (back) as th ey s t r o l l a lo n g .

Boy w a itin g fo r g i r l en ters ( l e f t ) , he lo o k s

up and goes (down l e f t ) to have a sh in e .

Orator en ters ( r ig h t ) and (c r o s s e s

l e f t ) puts down h is box and b egin s t o make a speech . hear him.

Policeman edges n earer.

'Women saunter over to

Two h igh sch o o l g i r l s en ter ( l e f t ) j they

26

l i s t e n to speaker.

Three s ig h ts e e r s en ter ( t ig h t ) and come over to l i s t e n .

B u sin ess nan en ters ( l e f t ) and cr o sse s stage w ithout a pause.

Foreign

fa m ily w ith ch ild ren en ter ( r ig h t ) , c r o ss (down l e f t ) and Join group. f in is h e s sh in e and g e ts p aid . ign ores group around o r a to r .

Young man a n xiou sly aw aits h is d a te.

He

Newbboy e n te r s ( l e f t ) m illin g through crowd

s e ll in g papers, orator d isg u sted a t in te r r u p tio n . grad u ally le a v e s .

Boy

I t b egin s to r a in , crowd

I t ra in s harder and th ey e x it q u ick ly .

but orator and young man and o f f i c e r .

No one i s l e f t

Orator p ick s up box and e x i t s ( r ig h t ) .

Young man seek s B h elter in door (up c e n te r ), looks at watch, f i n a l l y g iv e s up, walks o f f ( l e f t ) .

G irl en ters ( r ig h t ) , lo o k s around fo r young man,

f i n a l l y se e s him ( o f f l e f t ) and runs a fte r him. man, who i s bored.

Nobody l e f t but th e p o lic e ­

He saunters o f f ( l e f t ) .

A fter th e e x e r c is e s in pantomime had been completed th e c la s s began to study v o ic e as i t a p p lied to d ia lo g u e . stu d en ts fo r in te r p r e ta tio n .

Short scen es were s e le c te d by th e

The purpose o f th e se scen es was to acquaint

the student w ith dramatic s c r ip t form, and to provide opportunity to apply knowledge o f pantomime and v o ic e to su ggest c h a r a c te r iz a tio n .

These scenes

were memorized and rehearsed o u tsid e o f c la s s and p resented b efore the group. The d isc u ssio n s which follow ed included the c r it ic is m o f pantomime presented and a ls o the d isp la y o f such elem ents o f v o ca l exp ression as the use o f appropriate tone q u a lity , p ro jectio n o f to n e , volume and tempo, enunciation and pronunciation. When th e stu d en ts had mastered to a degree th ese elem entary p r in c ip le s o f c h a r a c te r iz a tio n th ey were ready fo r th e next s te p . c a s tin g th e se student a cto rs in th e p la y s .

This c o n siste d o f

87

C asting Before th e schedule o f reh ea r sa ls was s e t up the student a c to r s were s e le c te d ( c a s t ) fo r th e p a rts in the p la y .

The d ir e c to r had p r e v io u sly

observed th e s e stu d en ts in c la s s work, in pantomime and sim ple im provisa­ t io n , th e r e fo r e , the a c tu a l procedures used in c a stin g included th e fo llo w ­ in g p o in ts; ,1 .

Reading o f th e e n tir e p lay by th e -stu d e n t.

This was done as an

o u tsid e assignm ent, 2.

C lass d isc u ssio n which included the s p e c if i c p la y elem en ts, such a s , lo c a le —background and atmosphere— , d if f e r e n t ia t io n o f major and minor ch a ra cters, a n a ly s is o f major ch aracters—b a sic charac­ t e r i s t i c s , suggested p h y sic a l appearance, suggested v o c a l ex p ressio n .

3.

Tryouts held during c la s s p erio d s and la t e r o u tsid e c la s s tim e, con­ s is t e d o f the read ing by th e stu d en ts o f short scen es adapted from th e p la y by th e d ir e c to r .

Each student was urged to tr y out fo r a s

many p a rts as he cared t o .

E lim in a tio n s were made a f t e r each se t

o f tr y o u ts . 4.

Student conferences w ith prom ising candidates fo r th e p a rts were h eld fo r in d iv id u a l d isc u ssio n o f major p a rts to enable th e d ir e c to r to lea rn more about th e background and in t e r e s t o f th e in d iv id u a l stu d en t, and to more c a r e fu lly estim a te h is understanding o f th e character as w e ll as h is a b i l i t y to portray i t through v o ca l and pantomimic ex p ressio n .

T his was done through co n v ersa tio n and

through th e reading o f s e le c te d scen es w ith the d ir e c to r . 5.

Major ch aracters were ca st f i r s t , minor ch aracters second.

6.

A t e n t a t iv e ca st was p osted on the classroom b u lle t in board.

28

7.

C lass d isc u ssio n fo llo w ed , In which th e d ir e c to r exp lained th e p r in c ip le s used in the s e le c t io n o f the oast in clu d in g s u i t a b i l i t y to part (p h y sic a l appearance), a b i l i t y to p ro ject v o ic e , understand­ in g o f th e ch aracter, p e r s o n a lity t r a i t s —a b i l i t y to assume resp o n si­ b i l i t y and a b i l i t y to coop erate.

At t h i s d is c u s sio n i t was s tr e s s e d th a t was

the cast was

te n t a t iv e and no student

to con sid er th e part h is own p o ssessio n u n t il he had earned i t by showing

h is a b i l i t y to crea te th e character in the subsequent r e h e a r sa ls. R ehearsals The fo llo w in g reh ea rsa l schedule fo r a th r e e -a c t p la y , w ith p la y in g tim e one hour and ten m inutes, was pursued. F ir s t Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday -

Blocking out R ehearsal o f R ehearsal o f B locking ou t

Second Week Monday Tuesday

- R ehearsal o f - R ehearsal o f iz a tio n Wednesday - B locking out Thursday - R ehearsal o f

Third Week Monday

- R ehearsal o f b u sin ess and Tuesday - R ehearsal o f Wednesday - R ehearsal o f b u sin ess and Thursday - R ehearsal o f

Fourth Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

-

F if t h Week Monday Tuesday WednesdayThursday -

o f sta g e movement fo r Act I Act I Act I , adding in d iv id u a l sta g e b u sin ess stage movement in Act I I Act I I Act I , emphasizing d e t a il s

o f ch aracter­

Act I I I Act I I I Act I I , w ith d e t a il s o f in d iv id u a l ch a ra cte riza tio n A cts I and I I Act I I I , w ith d e t a ils o f in d iv id u a l c h a ra cte riza tio n A cts I I and I I I

R ehearsal o f Act I R ehearsal o f s p e c ia l scen es in play fo r F in ish r e h e a r sa ls o f s p e c ia l scenes R ehearsal o f A cts I I and I I I

tim ing

In d iv id u a l soenea fo r p o lis h in g Costume r eh ea r sa l o f e n tir e p la y (may be in evening) D ress reh ea r sa l (scen ery and p r o p e r tie s a ls o ) evening R ehearsal w ithout costum es, but w ith p r o p e r tie s, tak­ in g tim e fo r ’’b it* scenes

89 I

A fter the e a stin g had been completed and the schedule of r eh ea r sa ls had been p osted upon th e classroom b u lle t in board, th e appointment o f th e student d ir e c to r was announced.

The d u tie s o f the student d ir e c to r included the

fo llo w in g : p rep aration o f a c tin g s c r ip t s (in clu d in g a l l cu ts and changes made in th e p rin ted t e x t or manuscript o f the p la y ), p o stin g o f s p e c ia l reh ea r sa ls on classroom b u lle t in board, a s s i s t i n g th e d ir e c to r at gen eral r e h e a r sa ls, tak in g charge o f s p e c ia l r eh ea r sa ls o f sm a ll groups fo r help in li n e s and sta g e b u sin e ss. S in ce th e ca st was alread y fa m ilia r w ith the gen eral o u tlin e o f the p la y , the purpose o f th e e a r ly r e h e a r sa ls c o n siste d in th e e f f o r t s to -block out stage movement.

The purpose o f th e b lo ck in g out was to g iv e the a cto rs

a cle a r p a ttern o f th e a ctio n o f the plan and to p rovide d e f in it e m a teria l fo r study.

F ir s t o f a l l , th e arrangement o f th e s e t t in g was. explained to

the c a s t, th e number and lo c a tio n o f entrances and e x i t s , and th e p o s itio n o f fu r n itu r e .

(A flo o r plan o f th e sta g e s e t , drawn to o n e-h a lf inch to

one f o o t , helped th e ca st to v is u a liz e the s e t t in g more q u ic k ly ). The n ext step c o n siste d o f "walking through" th e movements o f t h e ir p a r ts , by th e a c to r s , a t th e same tim e annotating th e ir s c r ip t s fo r t h e ir own stud y.

This helped them t o f i x s ta te d p o s itio n s and a ctio n more firm ly

in th e ir minds.

(Chalk marks were used to mark the p o s it io n s o f en trances

and e x i t s on sta g e f lo o r , and to mark the lo c a tio n o f la r g e p ie c e s o f fu r n i­ tu r e , such as s o fa s , c h e s ts , ta b le s and bench.)

The a c to r s reed t h e ir p a rts

as th ey walked through th e se stage d ir e c tio n s given them by the d ir e c to r . P len ty o f tim e was allow ed a t t h is r e h e a r sa l f o r th e tak in g o f n o te s . emphasis was focused upon the in te g r a tio n and time o f l i n e s w ith stage movement.

A ll

30

The su cceed in g r eh ea r sa ls s e r e devoted to th e review and p r a c tic e o f sta g e movement w ith l i n e s .

D irectio n was lik e w is e c a r e fu lly checked.

At

th e end o f the f i r s t two weeks th e cast had memorized most o f th e ir l i n e s and e sta b lis h e d th e o u t lin e s o f sta g e movement.

The emphasis on the th ird week

o f r e h e a r sa ls was placed upon d e t a il s o f ch a ra cte riza tio n and in d iv id u a l sta g e b u sin e ss.

During t h i s period o f r eh ea r sa l s p e c ia l a tte n tio n was given to

v o ca l exp ression and p r o je c tio n .

A d ev ice used to make th e student a cto rs

con sciou s o f the need fo r v o ca l p r o je c tio n was t o s c a tte r members o f the ca st (not in th e scene being rehearsed) throughout th e auditorium .

A pre-arranged

s ig n a l o f a double handclap to ld an a cto r promptly and d e f in it e ly i f h is v o ic e was not carrying adequately.

The a cto r repeated h is lin e u n t il th ere was no

fu rth er cla p p in g . The f i n a l weeks o f reh ea r sa l included s p e c ia l p eriod s fo r th e p o lis h in g o f in d iv id u a l scen es, with s p e c ia l *mphasi3 on tim in g .

In order to in sure

smoothness in th e mechanics o f the in te r p r e ta tio n s , as many r eh ea r sa ls as p o s s ib le were h eld , w ith scen ery, costumes and p r o p e r tie s.

The reh ea rsa ls

o f th e l a s t week included th e use o f th ese important elem ents o f production. P ro p er ties were used during the l a s t two weeks o f th e r e h e a r sa ls. Conference Both th e d ir e c to r and th e student d ir e c to r used con ferences to supple­ ment th e reh ea r sa l sch ed u le.

The student d ir e c to r h eld conferences w ith

th ose stu d en ts who needed help in p e r fe c tin g cues and d ialogu e and in becom­ ing more fa m ilia r w ith stage movement.

The d ir e c to r used sm all group r e ­

h e a r sa ls con feren ces to p o lis h s p e c ia l scen es u sin g two o r .th r e e ch a ra cters. These v a ried in number w ith in d iv id u a l stu d e n ts.

In d iv id u a l conferences were

a ls o used to develop in te r p r e ta tio n o f ch a ra cter, both in p r a c tic e o f v o ca l exp ression and in pantomimic a c tio n .

31

A f l e x i b l e plan was n ecessary in working out th e se u n it s .

At tim es

th e c l a s s was d ivid ed in to groups who worked to g eth er in group pantomimes or in short scen es fo r c h a r a c te r iz a tio n .

Every e f f o r t was made to make

the stud en t f e e l a person al r e s p o n s ib ilit y in the m atter o f crea tin g ch aracter.

I n i t i a t i v e was encouraged, but th e importance o f th e p la y as

a whole, rath er than th e development o f a sta r perform er, was emphasized.

CHAPTER V PROCEDURES IN PLAY PRODUCTION

Production S t a f f When th e c a s tin g had been completed and r eh ea r sa ls begun, th e chairman o f the production committees were appointed by the d ir e c to r .

These commit­

te e s included the fo llo w in g : scenery and lig h t in g , p rop erty, wardrobe, house management, and p u b lic it y .

Those stu d en ts who were not c a st in the p la y or

who had on ly minor p a rts s e le c te d the committee on which they wished to Berve.

The d ir e c to r had con ferences w ith th e variou s com m ittees,

Each

committee had one conference w ith the d ir e c to r , a t which a l l members were p resen t, (S in ce th e regu lar c la s s p eriods were devoted to r e h e a r sa ls, th e se production conferences were h eld o u tsid e c la s s p erio d s, u su a lly in th e la t e a fte r n o o n ,)

At t h i s i n i t i a l conference th e regu lar d u tie s o f each group were

exp lained and l i s t e d , and assig n ed to the members.

A fter t h i s f i r s t m eeting

th e d ir e c to r met the chairmen in d iv id u a lly to check up on the work and to a d vise and a s s i s t them when n ecessa ry . Scenery and L ig h tin g The d u tie s o f t h is group included th e d esig n in g and ex ecu tin g o f the stage s e ttin g s and the lig h t in g o f th e sta g e s e t s . the i n i t i a l

This co m a ittee, a fte r

m eeting in which the p la y was d isc u sse d , worked d ir e c t ly w ith

and were r e sp o n sib le to the member o f th e Art Department.

A prelim inary

conference had been held between th e d ir e c to r and th e a rt tea ch er , in which such Important p o in ts as ground p la n s, p o s itio n o f entran ces and e x i t s and th e gen eral p la cin g o f fu r n itu r e had been decided upon.

T his was done to

33

e s t a b lis h th e movement o f th e p la y during th e r e h e a r sa ls.

The a rt

d ir e c to r , in conference w ith th e scenery committee, decided upon the d esign and co lo r fo r stage backgrounds.

Drawings andsk etohes were made and sub­

m itted to th e d ir e c to r .

In order

t o save tim e th e s e conferences were o fte n

lim ite d to th e two s t a f f members.

The n ecessa ry carpenter work was done in

th e sohool shops.

The scene p a in tin g was done by th e student committee

members under th e d ir e c tio n and su p erv isio n o f the a rt d ir e c to r .

When th e

scenery was com pleted, th e stage was s e t by th e members o f t h i s committee and the lig h t in g e f f e c t s worked out and th e li g h t and scene p lo t s con structed fo r th e use o f th e sta g e manager and

h is crew.

Wardrobe This conm ittee had i t s f i r s t m eeting with th e d ire cto r in th e costume room.

P reparation fo r t h is m eeting c o n siste d in the re-rea d in g o f th e p la y

fo r lo c a le and p erio d , and th e l i s t i n g o f th e ch aracters in to major and minor p a r ts .

A wardrobe m istr e ss was e le c te d by the committee and th e d u tie s o f

the committee d isc u sse d .

At t h is time th e group fa m ilia r iz e d them selves w ith

th e equipment o f the costume room.

Their next procedure wasto con su lt

costume books fo r cu ts and plateB o f th e lo c a le suggested by

the p la y in

order to reoogn ize th e s ilh o u e t t e s o f th e costum es.

N otes were a lso made

o f appropriate c o lo r s and fa b r ic s fo r the costum es.

A fter th e b a sic co lo r

schemes o f th e backgrounds had been decided upon by th e scenery committee, a conference was held w ith th e art d ir e c to r and th e chairmen o f the scenery committee and th e costume committee.

Then th e c o lo r scheme fo r costumes

was worked out to harmonize w ith the

s e t t in g s . These su g g estio n s were sub­

m itted to the d ir e c to r , and, a fte r being approved, were posted on the b u lle t in board o f the costume room. t

34

The n ext procedure was th e s e le c t io n o f costume m a te r ia ls.

The ward­

robe m istr e ss s e le c te d from th e costume su p p lie s th o se m a teria ls and costumes which could be used and a ls o made estim a tes o f th e new m a teria ls needed to be purchased.

A fter a conference w ith th e d ir e c to r she purchased

such m a teria ls as could be found; the d ir e c to r a ls o shopped w ith her when n ecessary adjustm ents had to be made.

A fter th e m a teria ls were purchased

th e Wardrobe M istre ss and the d ir e c to r measured and la b eled th e m a teria ls fo r each costume. comm ittee.

These costumes were then assig n ed to the members o f the

Wot more than two members worked on a given costume.

The costume

a ls o included th e headdress and a c c e s s o r ie s . Work was

done on the costumes

a t such tim es as was convenient fo r stu d en ts t o work.

The Wardrobe M istre ss

was in charge o f the costume room during c la s s p erio d s.

The room was open

to workers at a l l times* A b u lle t in board was used to w rite out req u ests fo r n ecessary su p p lies or fo r m essages.

A ll the shopping was done by the Wardrobe M istr e ss. In order

to be ab le to check e a s il y on th e p ro g ress o f the costuming the fo llo w in g procedure was adopted.

The costume room contained two la r g e m etal d ress racks;

one o f th ese was d esign ated to be used f o r u n fin ish e d , the other fo r fin is h e d costum es.

As soon as a costume or a ccesso ry was com pleted, i t was placed

upon th e " fin ish e d ” rack and marked w ith the name o f th e character in the p la y and the name o f the a cto r who was to wear i t .

The oth er costume rack

was used to hang u n fin ish ed garments or th o se garments which were not in use at th a t tim e.

The n ecessa ry f i t t i n g s were arranged fo r at a tim e con­

v en ie n t fo r th e stu d en t.

A ll fin is h e d costumes were checked by the Wardrobe

M istr e ss and a ls o by th e d ir e c to r .

When th e costumes were approved they

were p ressed and hung upon th e costume raok.

The Wardrobe M istr e ss and her

35

committee a lso acted as d ressers a t th e performance and a ls o took care o f the sto r in g o f costumes a f t e r th e f in a l performance. Back Stage O rganization At the f i r s t m eeting w ith the d ir e c to r the members o f t h i s group e le c te d t h e ir stage manager.

The variou s d iv is io n s o f back sta g e o rg a n iza tio n were

explained and the d u tie s assign ed to th e group.

These d iv is io n s and t h e ir

attendant d u tie s included th e fo llo w in g : 1.

The sta g e manager has charge o f the te c h n ic a l fa c to r s o f the perform­ ance.

He must see th at the stage i s s e t fo r each perform ance, make

a l l n ecessary changes during th e performance, and see th a t th e sta g e i s ready fo r subsequent performance, i f more than one i s g iv en . a ls o g iv e s th e s ig n a ls fo r r a is in g and low ering th e c u r ta in s.

He He i s

resp o n sib le fo r the fu n ctio n in g o f the fo llo w in g groups: Stage Crew - Their work i s to s e t th e stage (p la c in g scenery and sta g e a c c e s s o r ie s fo r each scene o f the performance; to s tr ik e th e stage (remove scenery and other e f f e c t s a fte r each scen e); to s to r e scenery and p ro p ertie s between perform ances. Property Crew - Has charge o f th e assem bling o f sta g e and hand p r o p e r tie s used in the performance. and stored back sta g e . each performance.

These must be c o lle c te d

C o lle c tin g o f hand p ro p ertie s b efore

D istr ib u tio n o f hand p r o p e r tie s to th e

in d iv id u a l a cto rs during each performance.

Cheeking and

s to r in g o f a c c e ss o r ie s Between perform ances. L igh tin g Crew - Charge o f switchboard to produce n ecessa ry lig h t in g e f f e c t s as d ir e c te d by l i g h t p lo t . ( a ls o from back sta g e sw itchboard).

L ig h tin g o f auditorium

36

Prompter - Holds s c r ip t and prompts a t a l l performances o f th e p la y .

A ttends r e h e a r sa ls to fo llo w s c r ip t and become fa m ilia r

w ith a c t o r 's In te r p r e ta tio n s such as p au ses, stage b u sin e ss, e t c . 2.

Preparation o f "plot" (w ritten o u tlin e s or l i s t s ) to be used by stage crews, included the scene p lo t , lig h t and sound, p r o p e r tie s, costume.

A fter th e above p o in ts had been d iscu sse d , each group prepared i t s own " plot", which was checked by th e sta g e manager and a ls o by th e d ir e c to r . D uplicate co p ies o f th e se "plots" were kept by th e stage manager to use as check fo r th e stage at each performance.

A second s e t o f d u p lic a te s were

included in the prompt book o f th e production.

The sta g e erews a ls o attended

r eh ea r sa ls o f th e p lay in order to f a m ilia r iz e them selves w ith i t .

The

d ir e c to r had con ferences w ith the sta g e manager as needed, no f u l l group conferences being held a fte r th e f i r s t one.

The sta g e crew were on duty at

the lig h t and d ress r eh ea r sa ls as w ell as at each reg u la r performance.

The

Btage manager worked out s p e c if ic d u tie s w ith each member o f th e sta g e crews and each one was resp o n sib le fo r th a t s p e c if i c duty. P u b lic ity The committee which handled th e p u b lic it y fo r th e p la y s met w ith th e d ir e c to r fo r conference when needed.

At the f i r s t conference th e d u tie s of

the committee were l i s t e d as fo llo w s : rese r v a tio n o f d a tes fo r productions, in v ita t io n s w ritten to sch ool p r in c ip a ls , planning and d is tr ib u tio n o f p o ste r s on campus, p rin tin g and d is tr ib u tio n o f t i c k e t s , w ritin g a r t ic le s fo r sch ool p u b lic a tio n . At the f i r s t m eeting th e chairman assign ed th e d u tie s to th e corronittee members.

T hereafter they reported to th e chairman,

to the d ir e c to r .

who in turn, reported

The school calendar was consulted and th e d ates fo r

37

production were reserv ed .

L e tte r s were w ritten to th e s c h o o ls, g iv in g

th e t in e and day o f perform ances, (Jfriday afternoon or Saturday morning) asking them to s e le c t th e performance which th e ir sch ool would a tten d , and to in d ic a te the number o f t ic k e t s th ey would need.

When th e r e p lie s

had been receiv ed th e number o f r e se r v a tio n s were tab u lated and th e number o f t ic k e t s sen t to th e c i t y sch o o ls was estim ated to balance the s iz e o f the two au d ien ces.

T ic k e ts were made in the school p r in t shop.

They were counted and marked w ith the names o f th e variou s s c h o o ls .

These

t i c k e t s were e ith e r sen t to th e sch o o ls or held a t th e box o f f i c e u n t il th e tim e o f performance.

In the case o f th e c it y sch o o ls th e t ic k e t s were

a l l sen t d ir e c t ly to th e superintendent o f sch o o ls and he had them d is ­ tr ib u te d as he saw f i t among th e variou s sc h o o ls.

The committee a ls o con­

ferred and arranged w ith the Art Department fo r th e making and d isp la y o f p o ste r s fo r th e sch ool b u lle t in boards o f the campus and Normal S ch o o ls. Arrangements were made w ith the e d ito r s o f th e school p u b lic a tio n s fo r a r t i c l e s to be W ritten by the s t a f f and published in the sch o o l magazine. House Management The members o f t h is group met fo r a conference w ith the d ir e c to r and d iscu sse d th e d u tie s o f t h e ir committee.

The fo llo w in g l i s t o f d u tie s was

drawn up and apportioned among th e members: reser v a tio n o f auditorium fo r production d a tes, s e le c t io n and in s tr u c tio n o f t ic k e t ta k ers, ushers and h o s te s s e s . A fter t h is i n i t i a l con ference, no more f u l l committee m eetings were held w ith the d ir e c to r .

Each member reported d ir e c t ly to th e chairman,

who in turn reported to the d ir e c to r .

The chairman cheoked w ith th e d ean's

o f f i c e and made reser v a tio n fo r the use o f the auditorium fo r th e days

38

o f performance.

Conmittee members, aided by v o lu n teers from th e student

body, acted a s u sh ers, t ic k e t tak ers and h o s te s s e s .

They a ls o assumed th e

box o f f ic e d u tie s , which c o n siste d o f g iv in g out t ic k e t s which had been r e ­ served fo r various sch o o ls and in checking o f f the various, sch o o ls as they a rriv ed . p o s e .)

(A l i s t had been prepared by th e p u b lic ity committee fo r t h is pur­ S in ce th e auditorium was lo ca ted on th e second f lo o r o f the main

b u ild in g , student h o s te s s e s were sta tio n ed at th e main en trances and along the corrid o rs to guide th e c h ild r e n .

The t ic k e t ta k ers were sta tio n ed at

the main doors o f th e auditorium and each c h ild was a sk ed ,to p resen t h is own t ic k e t for adm ittance.

The doors were open h a lf an hou r,b efore the perform­

ance began and the ushers and h o ste sse s were on duty by th at tim e. grams were used. p referen ce.

Ho pro­

The ushers seated the ch ild ren according to the c h ild ’s

Ho b lock s o f s e a ts were reserved fo r any s p e c ia l groups.

In

order to be near the ch ildren and thus observe th em ,, the ushers reserved se a ts fo r th em selves in the various p arts o f the auditorium .

At the c lo se

o f the performance the h o s te ss e s assuned th e ir s ta tio n s in h a lls and on s t a ir lan d in gs and remained th ere u n t il th e audience h a d .le f t the b u ild in g . Itom th e beginning the importance o f th e production s t a f f was empha­ s iz e d .

E ffo rt was made to acquaint the stu d en ts w ith the various fa c to r s

o f dramatic production and w ith t h e ir p la c e s in the th e a te r .

They were

made to r e a liz e th a t the fu n c tio n s o f the production s t a f f con trib u ted as la r g e ly to the su ccess o f the p la y as the co n trib u tio n o f the a ctin g group. The next step was to acquaint a l l o f the stu d en ts with the various m a teria ls and tech n iq u es o f s ta g e c r a ft which would be u s e fu l in th e pro­ d u ction o f fu tu re p la y s fo r ch ild r e n .

CHAPTER VI PROCEDURES IN STAGE CRAFT

The remainder o f the course was devoted to o b serv a tio n , dem onstration, p r a c tic e and d isc u ssio n o f the stage tech n iq u es which had been used in the major p rod u ction s.

The m a teria ls in clud ed make-up m a te r ia ls , costume fa b r ic s

and p a tte r n s, scenery p a in ts , and sim ple sta g e lig h t in g equipment. Make-up S in ce o n ly one week (fo u r c la s s p erio d s) could be devoted to make-up techniques the procedure was la r g e ly th at o f dem onstration and o b serv a tio n . The o u tlin e fo r th e four m eetings devoted to t h is su b ject was as fo llo w s : 1.

Demonstration o f s tr a ig h t make-up by th e d ir e c to r .

2.

P r a c tic e o f str a ig h t make-up by th e stu d en ts in c l a s s .

3.

Demonstration o f old age make-up.

4.

P r a c tic e o f old age make-up.

P reviou s to th e se dem onstrations the stud en ts had been given assigned read ings on th e p r in c ip le s o f make-up and had a lso provided them selves w ith in d iv id u a l make-up k i t s . members.

Both Factor and Miner k it s were used by the c la s s

At th e f i r s t le ss o n a student was s e le c te d as a model, and a

s tr a ig h t make-up was put on by the d ir e c to r .

During th e lecture-d em on stra-

tid n the fo llo w in g s te p s were explained and il lu s t r a t e d : p reparation o f the sk in fo r make-up, a p p lic a tio n o f b a se, eye make-up w ith shadowing and lin in g , a p p lic a tio n o f under rouge (cheeks and l i p s ) , powdering, reto u ch in g .

40

At th e second le s s o n , stu d en ts a p p lied s tr a ig h t make-ups, e ith e r on t h e ir own fa c e s or on each o th e r ’ s .

Then th e c la s s -went up to the stage

and the r e s u lt s o f t h e ir e f f o r t s were observed under reg u la r sta g e lig h tin g * A d is c u s sio n fo llo w ed .

S u g g estio n s fo r improvement were g iv en by the

d ir e c to r and the stu d en ts. The th ir d le ss o n co n sisted o f a dem onstration o f methods o f preparing stu d en ts fo r old age p a r ts .

A student again served as a model.

In t h is

dem onstration the fo llo w in g tech n iq u es were illu s t r a t e d : h ig h lig h tin g and shadowing, lin in g (fo r w r in k le s), a p p lic a tio n o f crepe h a ir fo r beards and m oustaches. The fou rth le sso n was a stud en t p r a c tic e period fo r c r e a tin g old age effects.

L in ing and h ig h lig h tin g were stu d ied under sta g e lig h t in g .

Since

the sch ool d id not o ffe r adequate f a c i l i t i e s fo r observing th e r e s u lt s obtained by powder and grease p a in t, la ck in g adequate m irrors and lig h t in g , a l l oth er p r a c tic e in t h is f i e l d had to be done o u tsid e o f c la s s tim e. O ccasional group p r a c tic e s were arranged fo r at the stu d en t’ s req u est. U su a lly th ese were held in the even ings when the sta g e was a v a ila b le fo r checking r e la t iv e e f f e c t iv e n e s s . S tudents were made up fo r major productions by volu n teer groups from the student body who had had p reviou s ex p erien ce. Costuming This u n it c o n siste d o f e ig h t c la s s p erio d s.

I t s purposes were to

acquaint student w ith the p erio d s o f h is t o r ic a l costume which would be o f valu e to him in th e fu tu re work w ith c h ild r en ’ s p la y s, and to permit th e stud en t to examine such stage costumes as were a v a ila b le in order to lea rn th e p r in c ip le s o f th e ir c o n stru ctio n .

41

The procedure in th ie u n it c o n siste d c h ie f ly o f le c t u r e s by the d ir e c to r , whioh were illu s t r a t e d by costume p la te s and by sta g e costum es. At th e end of th e claBS p erio d , time was g iven fo r th e stu d en ts to examine th e se costumes and to ask q u estio n s about t h e ir co n stru ctio n .

S ince th e

time was lim ite d , th e stu d en ts did not have opportunity to d esign or to make oth er costumes in a d d itio n to th ose used in th e c la s s p rod u ction s. In th e opening le c t u r e , which formed the in tro d u ctio n to th e su b je c t, i t was p oin ted out th a t th e r e a l purpose o f costume i s to clo th e the a c to r . In th e d isc u ssio n i t was fu rth er noted th at a knowledge o f th e b a sic elem ents o f costume was n ecessa ry f o r an understanding and the planning o f sta g e costumes.

These included b a sic ty p es o f garments as tu n ic , lo in

c lo th or s k ir t , m antle, f i t t e d garments; co lo r in referen oe to gen eral co lo r harmony,

h is t o r ic a l accuracy, sta g e backgrounds, em otional tone o f play;

m a teria ls as in w eig h t, weave and su rfa ce.

Samples o f variou s t e x t i l e s were

used as il lu s t r a t io n s . The gen eral o u tlin e o f the fo llo w in g (seven) le ss o n s was arranged to d is c u s s costume in ch ro n o lo g ica l order. I l l u s t r a t i v e O utline fo r One C lass Lecture O rien ta l Costume (Egyptian or A ssyrian) 1.

Egyptian A. B asic garments: tu n ic , lo in c lo th and s k ir t (P a ttern s to show co n stru ctio n o f th ese germents.) B.

C olors: green, b lu e, red , w h ite, y ello w , henna red , b lack and y ello w och er,

C.

M a teria ls: Japanese co tto n crepe, pongee, m uslin and lawn

D.

D ecoration: borders, u su a lly rep eat d esig n s on hems Small a ll- o v e r d esign on garments

42

1.

Egyptian (continued) 1 . M o tifs: geom etric— squares, l i n e s , lo zen g es and dots Formal arrangements o f so la r d is c , lo tu s bud, scarab, serpent and hawk F.

A ccesso ries: broad o o lla r s , h ead d resses, sa n d a ls, jew elry—arm lets and a n k lets

(Garments d isp layed included tu n ic , c o lla r and hawk headdress) 2.

A ssyrian A* B asic garments: tu n ic , s h ir t and mantle B.

C olors: p u rp les, maroon, y ello w , orange, blue black and yello w green

C.

M a ter ia ls: unbleached m uslin, canton fla n n e l and lig h t weight duck

D.

D ecoration: s t e n c ille d a ll- o v e r d esig n s or borders on tu n ic and mantle

E.

M o tifs: geom etric— squares, c i r c le s and dots

F.

A ccesso ries: broad g ir le e fo r men, f i l l e t s fo r h a ir , heavy jew elry , arm lets and a n k lets (Dem onstration o f draping mantle over tu n ic )

The fo llo w in g le s s o n s d iscu ssed costume in the s e le c te d p erio d s, in clu d in g: Greek and Roman, M edieval, E liza b eth a n , Seventeenth Century, E igh teenth Century, N ineteenth Century. Each p eriod included the s i x p o in ts, a s illu s t r a t e d in th e o u tlin e above from A to and in clu d in g F, in th e d is c u s sio n .

During th e le c tu r e

garments were on d isp la y fo r examination and p a ttern s or diagrams fo r con­ s tr u c tio n were a v a ila b le fo r th e stu d en ts to copy in t h e ir n o te s , such as: p la in tu n ic s , hawk headdress, Egyptian c o lla r , variou s methods o f draping Greek c h ito n s, draping o f Roman to g a , c ir e u la r m antle, tu n ic w ith s le e v e s , cowl hood and cape, hennin, E lizabethan r u f f s , doublet and t ig h t s , woman's d ress w ith fa r th in g a le , c a v a lie r b o o ts, fo n ta g e, P u ritan hat w ith buckle, pannier d r e s s , sto ck w ith ja b o t, men's Seventeenth Century knee len g th coat

43

and knee b reech es, men’ s fro ck co a t, men’ s sto v e p ip e h a t, women’ s d ress w ith hoop s k ir t s , V icto ria n bonnet. S ta g ecra ft This u n it o f work co n sisted o f e ig h t c la s s le s s o n s .

The purposes

were to enable th e student to recognize the v a rio u s ty p es o f h is t o r ic a l s ta g e s , to understand th e d iffe r e n t ty p es o f scenery used on the modern s ta g e , and to co n stru ct sta g e f l a t s . The procedures employed in t h is u n it in clud ed : illu s t r a t e d le c tu r e s by the d ir e c to r , o b serv a tio n s by stu d en ts o f v a rio u s typ es o f scen ery, and student p a r tic ip a tio n in elem entary stage c r a ft under th e su p erv isio n o f the Art in s tr u c to r . In the c la s s le c tu r e s a rapid Burvey o f v a rio u s ty p es o f sta g es and th e ir c h ie f c h a r a c te r is tic s was p resen ted .

This m a teria l formed th e back­

ground fo r th e d is c u s sio n o f modern s ta g e s which fo llo w ed i t .

These le c t u r e s ,

illu s t r a t e d by p ic tu r e s and drawings, were supplemented by o u tsid e rea d in g s. I l l u s t r a t iv e O utline o f L ectures (two c la s s p eriod s) H is to r ic a l S tages Reasons fo r th e use o f scenery: to cover o f f - s t a g e actor and m echanicians, to su ggest or rep resen t the p la ce o f a c tio n , to provide, fo r d eco ra tio n , to provide fo r su g g estio n s o f mood 1,

Greek Theater A, R e lig io u s elem ents emphasized B, P h y sic a l fa c to r s : a lt a r , o r c h e str a , th ea tro n , slcene C, 3ackgro.und (form al) permanent in ch aracter, provided means o f masking groups o f te c h n ic ia n s apd a cto rs o f f sta g e , a r t i s t i c e f f e c t , and su g g estio n s o f mood and p la ce

2.

M edieval Stage A. R e lig io u s element dominated B. P h y sica l fa c to r s : p la tfo rm -sta g e, cu rta in background, s ta tio n s (a c to r s moved from one s ta tio n to anpther) r ep re se n ta tiv e p ain ted scenery C. Background (d eco ra tiv e) provide su g g estio n o f p la ce as w e ll as n ecessary cover

44

H is to r ic a l S tages (continued) 3.

4.

E lizabethan Stage (co p ied from innyards) P h y sic a l fa c to r s : la r g e fo r e s ta g e , inner sta g e , stage cu rta in , g a lle r y , balcony windows, heavens. D evices used included: e le v a tin g mechanisms and trap doors. Numerous le v e ls and areas provided fo r quick change o f scen e. M otives included cover fo r p erson n el, d ecoration and su g g estio n o f p la c e . P ictu re Frame Stage (indoor th ea ter) P h y sica l fa c to r s : proscenium arch, ra ise d s ta g e , painted scenery w ith backdrops, w ings, b orders. M otives included cover fo r a cto rs and te c h n ic ia n s, d ecoration and su g g estio n o f mood and p la c e . Note: I t remained fo r th e modern stage to rep resen t p la ce n a t u r a lis t ! c a lly .

Modern S ta g ecra ft (ty p es o f scenery) 1.

Arras S e ttin g : Curtains hung in fo ld s to drape back and sid e o f sta g e or fa sten ed f l a t on standard siz e d frames which have Jack f e e t and can be stood on a p o lish ed f lo o r . Advantages: g iv e s form al background, i s e a s ily taken down and sto red , i s in exp en sive to co n stru ct. D isadvantages: cannot be used in r e a l i s t i c p lays u n le ss combined w ith standing p ie c e s .

2.

Box S et: Canvas covered wooden frames ( f l a t s ) la sh ed to g eth er to form th ree s id e s o f a room. Advantages: provid es r e a l i s t i c backgrounds for indoor scen es, i s adaptable- (u n its can be s h ifte d to change s iz e and shape o f s ta g e ), provides " p ractical" doors and windows. Disadvantages: more expensive to co n stru ct, req u ir es more storage sp ace, req u ires s k i l l in s e t t in g up sta g e.

3.

Scenery and Drapery S e ttin g : C urtains combined w ith hinged f l a t s fo r providing doors, windows, p ylon s. Advantages: adaptable to many com binations, a ffo rd s v a r ie t y , forms unobtrusive backgrounds, u n its may be acquired gra d u a lly . D isadvantages: does not lend i t s e l f to r e a l i s t i c s e t t in g s , may become monotonous i f used too o fte n .

45

A fter t h is m a teria l (d isp la y ed on pages 43, and 44) had been presented in two c la s s le c t u r e s , th e c la s s met in th e auditorium to use the stage* There th ey observed and examined a Box S e t t in g ,

The fo llo w in g p o in ts were

noted: co n stru ctio n of s e t —wooden frame w ith fa b r ic covering— ; door and window p ie c e s ; method o f p u ttin g up f l a t s by la sh in g and bracing w ith use of la s h l i n e s , c le a t s , stage b ra ces, sta g e screws; backings to mask as doors and windows. The stu d en ts examined and asked q u estio n s about th e methods o f s e ttin g up f l a t s .

The sta g e was only p a r t ia lly s e t b efore th e students a rriv ed , so

th at th ey were able to watch th e remaining f l a t s being put in to p o s it io n . The sta g e work was handled by stud en ts (and members o f th e j a n it o r ’ s s t a f f ) who had had p reviou s experience in s e t t in g stages* th e su p erv isio n o f the an Arras S e ttin g .

Art in s tr u c to r .

The work was done under

The second ob servation c o n siste d o f

This type o f s e t t in g was already fa m ilia r to th e stu d en ts,

s in c e i t formed the standard equipment o f th e school sta g e .

At t h is observa­

tio n the fo llo w in g techniques were noted: co n stru ctio n o f c u r ta in s, - fa b r ic , l i n i n g , gronmets and t i e cordBj p ie c e s u sed, - lon g drapes fo r back and s id e s , borders to form to p , short drapes to form openings; methods o f hanging drapes, - ty in g o f cu rta in s to b a tte n s, fa s te n in g f l a t on standard siz e d frames c o n s titu tin g upright p ie c e s th a t can be moved about lik e scen ery, r a is in g and low ering drapes, p u lle y and l i n e s , b a tte n s. This ob servation a ls o included a d is c u s sio n o f co lo rs and f a b r ic s . The th ir d ob servation c o n siste d o f a screen and drapery s e t t in g . C urtains were used to mask the s id e s o f th e s ta g e . ( f l a t s ) f i l l e d the back o f th e sta g e . arch openings.

A s e r ie s o f arches

A sky c lo th was used fo r masking the

V a ria tio n s su ggested fo r use in t h is type o f s e t t in g

in clud ed such stage u n its as: doors, windows, p y lo n s,

platform s and s t e p s .

46

The fo llo w in g c la s s p erio d s were spent in the Art workrooms where the ob servation and p r a c tic e o f spraying f l a t s took p la c e . were under th e su p erv isio n o f th e Art in s tr u c to r . observed fin is h e d f l a t s . tio n .

These le ss o n s

Students had already

Outside readings had explained t h e ir construc­

The in s tr u c to r mixed p a in ts and the stu d en ts p r a c tic e d the use o f

th e spray gun in p a in tin g f l a t s and sm all sam plers.

Care was taken to work

fo r evenness and tex tu re in the spraying p ro cess. The f in a l

le s s o n was held on the s ta g e , where a sim ple lig h t in g

dem onstration was h eld .

The fo llo w in g lig h t u n its were demonstrated:

f o o t li g h t s , border l i g h t s , spot l i g h t s .

The use o f dimmers was illu s t r a t e d

to mix the th ree c o lo r s (red , w hite and blue) to produce varied e f f e c t s .

A

co lo r wheel was used to show the e f f e c t o f d if f e r e n t c o lo r s o f g e la tin e on variou s c o lo r s o f costume fa b r ic s and on th e samples o f scene p a in tin g which the stu d en ts had made in the previous le s s o n . Student D irected P la y s The l a s t two weeks o f t h is course were devoted to p la y s d irected and acted by th e members o f the c la s s .

These co n sisted o f short one-act p la y s

which were c a s t , d ire cted and acted b efore the c la s s .

P la y s were s e le c te d

according to th e standards s e t up e a r lie r in th e cou rse. by th e d ir e c to r before c a s tin g . p e r io d s. in clu d ed .

They were approved

A ll r e h e a r sa ls were h eld o u tsid e c la s s

No costumes or scenery were used, but n ecessary p ro p ertie s were A fter th e performance o f each p la y the c la s s d iscu ssed i t w ith

emphasis upon th e ch oice o f p la y , s e le c t io n o f ch a ra cters, sta g e movement, c h a r a c te r iz a tio n , and d ic t io n . When tim e p erm itted , th ese p la y s were p resented a second tim e to permit the working out o f c la s s su g g e stio n s.

The b e st p la y s were then s e le c t e d ,

47

cpatumea and n ecessa ry background m a te r ia ls assem bled, and th e p la y s were used fo r assem bly p eriod programs in th e campus sch o o l, as w e ll as at nearby elem entary so h o o ls.

Thus the stu d en ts had o p p o rtu n ities

to work out in p r a c t ic a l form the th eory o f th e sta g s c r a ft u n it s .

CHAPTER

VII

NOTES ON THE STAGE PRODUCTIONS OP THE CHILDREN’S THEATER

The fo llo w in g standards were agreed upon as a r e s u lt o f c la s s d isc u ssio n a s forming th e y a r d stic k fo r th e s e le c t io n o f p la y s fo r c h ild a u d ien ces. These standards were based upon th e m a te r ia ls in th e read ing l i s t , student ob servation o f ch ild ren in the sch ool assembly and in the schoolroom (o b serv a tio n s which they had p rev io u sly made in connection w ith th e p r o fe s­ s io n a l sequence co u rse}, knowledge o f c h ild p sych ology, and background o f gen eral lit e r a t u r e . P la y Standards 1.

P la y s should be based upon w e ll known m a teria l, sin c e ch ild ren

enjoy se e in g dram atizations o f fa m ilia r s t o r ie s and ch a ra cters, 2.

P la y s should have a w e ll defined p lo t so th a t th e c h ild audience

w i l l not become confused in fo llo w in g the s to r y .

Contrast in characters

a ls o adds in the understanding o f the p lo t , 3. clim ax.

The a ctio n should be d e f in it e and s w ift w ith good suspense and Children li k e to see th in g s happen.

Their a tte n tio n cannot be

h eld by long scen es o f d ia lo g u e, 4.

P lays should have a d e f in it e and s a t is f a c t o r y co n clu sio n .

th e c h ild view point t h i s u su a lly means a "happy en ding".)

(Prom

These c r it e r ia

were se t up fo r use in th e s e le c t io n o f m a teria l fo r dramatic p resen ta tio n and used throughout th e cou rse.

Playa Produoed by Children*a Theater During th e two y ea rs, 1939-1941, the stu d en ts in th e Dramatic Course produced t h ir t y p la y s .

T w enty-five o f th e se p la y s were short p la y s con­

s i s t i n g o f one or two scenes and ranging in p la y in g tim e from f if t e e n to fo r t y m inutes.

These short p la y s were s e le c te d by th e stud en ts from th e

c o lle c t io n o f c h ild r e n ’ s p la y s in the sch ool lib r a r y .

They were a l l p la y s

which could be produced w ith th e sim p lest o f backgrounds. was used as a background fo r most of th e se p la y s .

A p la in cu rtain

The purpose o f th ese

p resen ta tio n s was tw ofold—to g iv e the stu d en ts more tr a in in g in th e a ctin g and d ir e c tin g o f p la y s , and to provide i l l u s t r a t i v e m a teria l fo r t h e ir fu tu re needs in planning School Assembly p la y s . Emphasis upon th e se p la y s was centered c h ie f ly upon a ctin g tech n iq u e, in clu d in g ch a ra cte riza tio n and stage movement. su pp lied from the sch ool equipment. th e s e p lay s e la b o r a te ly .

P r o p e r tie s and costuming were

Ho s p e c ia l e f f o r t was made to produce

They w ere, for th e most p a rt, laboratory p rod u ction s.

The f iv e long p la y s which were produced by th ese student groups were given p u b lic perform ances.

Every e f f o r t was made to g iv e th ese p la y s a

s e t t in g as t e c h n ic a lly co rr ect and as a t t r a c t iv e as was p o s sib le under th e working c o n d itio n s.

These f i v e major p la y s provided th e stu d en ts w ith

o p p o rtu n ities to recogn ize and ap p reciate the te c h n ic a l elem ents o f p la y pro­ d u ctio n , in clu d in g scen ery, p r o p e r tie s, costuming and lig h t in g , as w e ll as to have some experience in a ctu a l sta g e production, included th e fo llo w in g p laya:

The major productions

The Ebqperor's New C loth es, David’ s Adventures-

(S ix Who P ass While th e L e n t ils B o il) (S ir David Wears a Crown), A lic e in Wonderland, A laddin, C in d erella . The s p e c if ic su g g estio n s fo r th ese student p la y s are the r e s u lt o f the p roductions g iven by th e stu d en ts.

50

The Emperor*a New C lothes A dram atization o f the old f o lk t a le by C harlotte Charpenning, published by S, French. Three acta and two scenes (one e x te r io r and one in te r io r ) Three women, seven men, ex tra s A cts I and I I I .

S tr e e t o f the Weavers in Old China

Act I I .

Room in the Smperor’s P alace

Scenery This p la y was given a Chinese s e t t in g s in c e th e l i n e s o f th e p la y suggested th a t country.

The tim e i s "a lo n g time ago", so no s p e c ia l

period o f costume was n ecessa ry . The backgrounds fo r both scen es c o n siste d o f b lack v e lv e t drapes. These black drapes masked back and s id e s o f sta g e .

In th e s t r e e t scen es,

A cts I and I I I , a cen ter back opening was used, backed by a blue drop. This opening was framed by a la rg e Chinese s t y le arch, constructed b f p ly board and p ain ted in Chinese red, b lack and g o ld . pteced a sig n : " Street o f the Weavers". Chinese ch a ra cte rs.

The le t t e r in g was done to su ggest

Suspended from th ree b a tten s, running p a r a lle l to the

f o o t li g h t s , were la r g e Chinese banners.

They were made o f cotton c lo th

(m uslin) dyed y ello w , blue-green and V erm illio n . applied in b lack to th ese banners. were used. sid e drapes.

Above the arch was

Chinese characters were

No oth er p ro p ertie s or scenery p ie c e s

The weavers came on and o f f th e sta g e through openings in the No attem pt was made to crea te a r e a l i s t i c s t r e e t .

For th e room in th e Smperor’ s p alace th e banners were sk ied and the arch was removed.

The cen ter opening was masked by a la rg e painted screen .

TM b

screen , seven f e e t high and wide enough to mask the opening, was con­

stru cted in th ree s e c tio n s .

The two end s e c tio n s were braced by sta g e

braces and the cen ter panel (movable) was mounted on a screen w ith c a s te r s , so that i t could be moved from r ig h t to l e f t as needed.

The cen ter panel

s lid back and fo r th to open and c lo s e the "treasure ch est". made o f C elotex and painted in blue green, ro y a l b lu e,

The screen was

s ilv e r and crimson.

The "great ruby" which formed the s e c r e t spring was made from th e red g la s s o f a b ic y c le lamp, fa sten ed to th e movable p an el.

D ir e c tly behind the mov­

able panel a s e t o f sh elv es was placed and th e se were f i l l e d with len g th s o f b right

m a te r ia ls .

The loom was placed Down Stage L e ft, An Indian loom

was used,

about four f e e t high end darkened to look old and worn. A p i l e

o f bright

cushions was placed Down B ight to balance the loom., and near i t

a tea k wood chair w ith a len g th o f added fo r a c o lo r .

brocade draped over i t .

These were

The a ctio n o f th e p la y demands a fr e e s ta g e .

I t must

not be c lu tte r e d . P rop erties A l i s t of p ro p ertie s used in t h i s production fo llo w s: 2 gongs, cord, la s h e s , bundles o f bright ric h c lo th (W eavers), ch e st, bags o f g o ld , box o f s i l k th read , jew els (g o ld ) , la rg e fa n , 2 crowns, a cup, bundles o f c lo th e s (W eavers), Chinese banners, 1 la rg e cupboard, 1 loom. Lengths o f m a teria ls as ric h as p o s s ib le , fo r weavers to u se. of

brocades were borrowed.

Tie-dyed fa b r ic s were used.

t iv e they were b esp attered w ith gold end s ilv e r p a in t.

To be more e f f e c ­ Shiny rayon uphol­

s te r y and cu rtain fa b r ic s were used (and they are most in ex p en siv e). The Chinese gong and drums fo r th e Emperor’ s p rocession and the Empress' fa n were borrowed.

P ie c e s

The gold co in s were painted t in d is c s .

sa Costumes The costumes were d ivid ed in to two main groups— the weavers and th e people o f th e Court. Strong con trast was shown in c o lo r .

The weavers*

costu nes c o n siste d o f narrow f u l l len g th tro u sers and lo o s e J a ck ets.

They

were made o f cotton m a te r ia ls ,—denim, ohambray and sa teen (d u ll s u r fa c e ). The co lo r s were drab,— dark b lue, green, red and brown.

They wore black

w igs w ith queues, and w hite socks and s o f t b la ck sh o es.

The members o f

the Court wore b r i l l i a n t costum es, s t i f f s h ir t w ith an over m antle.

'The Emperor wore a long tu n ic v e s t and His c o lo r s were crim son, purple and s ilv e r .

He wore an ela b o ra te Chinese headpiece made o f buckram decorated w ith t i n s e l and beads.

Tor the p rocession scene he wore a short s le e v e le s s y ellow tu n ic .

The Empress wore lo n g tu n ic and tro u sers o f co ra l and white flow ered ch in tz , and a flow er trimmed Chinese headdress. o f rayon (sh in y ) brocades.

The Court M in isters wore long robes

They were lin e d with c r in o lin e to s t i f f e n them.

The two rogues did not wear Chinese costum es.

Since they have "come from a

fa r country" th ey wore long f u l l ankle len g th tr o u s e r s , wide sa sh es, s tr a ig h t ja c k e ts and sk u ll ca p s. One costume was made w ith s c a r le t jack et and y ello w tr o u s e r s , the oth er w ith y ello w jacket and red tr o u se r s. la r g e d esign s s t e n c ille d on them to g iv e patterned e f f e c t . shoes were worn.

Both costumes had Soft h e e lle s s

A gainst a black background th ese c o lo r fu l fig u r e s were

most e f f e c t i v e . L igh tin g The play o f f e r s few lig h t in g problem s. in both scen es.

Borders and fo o t s were used

A spot lig h t played upon the panel in th e screen when the

rogues were working th e sp rin g .

Dimmers were used to co n tro l the l i g h t s .

The stage should be b r i l l i a n t l y lig h te d during most o f the a c tio n .

53

E valuation The p la y produced e x c e lle n t resp o n se. good a c tio n .

There i s p le n ty o f suspense and

E s p e c ia lly d e lig h t f u l to ch ild ren are th e scenes where th e

rogues tr y to work the se c r e t spring on the p a n el, where th e Empress v i s i t s them, and when th e Emperor wears h is "new cloth es'*.

T his p la y i s not

d i f f i c u l t to produce, although i t su g g ests p o s s i b i l i t i e s fo r ela b o ra te sta g in g and pageantry, and fo r th e a d d itio n o f many e x tr a s , dancers and m u sician s.

I t may a ls o be done by an a l l - g i r l c a s t .

to ld and th e humor i s w e ll adapted t o c h ild r e n . it.

The story i s sim ply

They get great fun from

I t i s an e x c e lle n t p lay fo r ch ild a u d ien ces. David*s Adventures T his name was g iv en to the com bination o f

the two p la y s: nS ix Who Pass

While the L e n t ils B o il” and ”S ir David Wears a Crown”.

These twosep arate

o n e-a ct p la y s use the same ch aracters and the a c tio n i s s e q u e n tia l.

The

arrangement used "The S ix Who Pass While th e L e n t ils 3 o il" as the f i r s t a c t , and "Sir David Wears a Crown" as th e second a c t .

David*s Adventures i s a

p lay o f M ake-Believe by Stuart Walker. Two a c ts (two scen es, one in t e r io r and one e x te r io r ) Nine men and s ix women Act I .

The k itch en in D avid's house.

Act I I .

At the beheading b lock .

Scenery The back and s id e s o f th e sta g e were draped w ith li g h t gray sa teen c u r ta in s. k itch en .

They were used as th e background f o r both sc e n e s. Door p laced Up L eft fo r entrance to s t r e e t .

room was made through th e cu rta in s Up R ig h t.

Scene I . - The

The entrance to bed­

Down L eft along the s id e w a ll

54

mas s e t a casement window frame w ith p r a c tic a l l a t t i c e windows; under­ n eath it' was placed a bench, a p ain ted r7elsh d resser se t with dishea was p laced along back w a ll a t cen ter.

The b u t t e r f ly , made o f b righ t orange

paper, was wtred to the top corner o f th e d r e sse r .

A high backed s e t t l e

was placed Down L eft and two sm aller s t o o ls were placed down sta g e near the k e t t l e .

The fu rn itu re was p ain ted a b righ t blue w ith peasant flow er

d esig n s s t e n c ille d on.

The s t o o ls were lig h t and could be moved e a s il y by

th e ch aracters them selves as the a ctio n req u ired .

The k e t t l e , a huge one

o f copper, was placed Down Center very c lo s e to the f o o t li g h t s . The e f f e c t o f red and blue fo o t s r e f le c t e d in th e copper made the e f f e c t o f fla m es. P ro p er ties A l i s t of th e p r o p e r tie s used in t h is production fo llo w s : 1 la rg e k e t t l e , b ello w s, la rg e spoon, b u t te r f ly , th ree golden b a lls , m ilk p a il fo r milkmaid, cane fo r b lin d man, la r g e beheading axe, pocket k n ife fo r David, rope, la n c e , cru st o f bread, trumpet, s c r o ll fo r c o u n c illo r , rope fo r bind­ ing p eop le, s c r o ll fo r Queen, crown fo r S ir David, cape, two arm chairs, one cupboard, one bench, one s e t t l e , two s t o o ls , one 7x9 platform , one platform w ith two s te p s . The p ro p ertie s were g r e a tly exaggerated in s i z e . wooden one w ith a handle tw enty-four in ch es lo n g . p a il was painted b righ t y ello w .

The spoon was a

The milkmaid’ s wooden

The axe o f the headsman was made w ith

long wooden handle to which was attached a very large m edieval s t y le axe head, made o f p ly board.

The handle and head were painted d u ll black and

a s ilv e r s t r ip o u tlin e d th e " cu ttin g edge” o f th e weapon. was almost as t a l l as th e a c to r .

The "weapon"

This made h is awkwardness in u sin g i t

more lu d icro u s and th e ch ild ren enjoyed t h i s a c tio n in h is e f f o r t s to b lu f f .

55

Scene 2. The Beheading BIock,-The same gray ou rtain s were used. window was removed, lik e w ise th e door p ie c e .

The

No opening was made along

th e l e f t w a ll, but the door opening was converted in to the entrance from the p a la ce .

On each s id e o f the opening, which was backed by a blue drop,

was placed a p i l l a r .

These were con stru cted from the heavy cardboard

cy lin d e rs used in packing linoelum rugs fo r sh ip p in g.

These cy lin d e r s were

p ain ted , paper co rn ices were added to g iv e h eig h t and a heavy p lu sh cord was sketched a cro ss th e opening. en tered .

This was dropped when the ro y a l party

There were two p latform s, one e ig h t in ch es h igh , about f i v e f e e t

by eig h t f e e t , which was placed down sta g e at the l e f t . the high back s e t t l e used in th e k itch en scen e.

On t h is wa3 placed

I t was covered w ith a plush

cu rta in and formed the throne fo r the King and h is Aunt.

A sm all platform

w ith two ste p s attached was p laced Down B ight fo r th e Headsman's stan d .

One

o f the sm all s t o o ls , draped w ith a black c lo th , formed the beheading block and was placed on the top o f the p latform .

Since th ere were a .la r g e number

o f people on th e stage during t h is scene no stage p ro p ertie s oth er than the p latform s, could be used. Costumes The E arly Gothic p erio d was s e le c te d fo r the s t y le o f costum es. men wore t ig h t s and tu n ic s and long m antles. d r e sse s w ith f u l l s k ir t s and hennins. green s, red s and y e llo w s.

The

The women wore long w aisted

The costumes were b r i l l i a n t b lu e s,

These showed up w e ll a g a in st th e gray background.

David (played by a g i r l ) wore short brown tu n io w ith green s le e v e s and green t ig h ts .

The Headsman wore a desd black tu n ic w ith cowl hood, black t ig h t s ,

g lo v e s and sh o es. w ith b e l l s .

The Mime wore a j e s t e r ' s tu n io and pointed hood trimmed

B r illia n t verm ilion and lavender c o lo r s were used on h is costume.

56

L igh tin g The f i r s t scene was stro n g ly lig h te d as the a c tio n demanded th at the ch aracters be p la in ly seen .

In the second scene th e l i g h t s began to dim

■when th e people went o f f , lea v in g th e boy alon e w ith th e King and Queen. They were grad u ally dimmed down so th at by the tim e the Mother sang the lu lla b y , a t the end, the stage was shadowy.

T his miade a q u ieter and more

e f f e c t iv e ending. Off Stage Sound E ffe c ts The s tr ik in g o f th e K in g's th ree clo ck s was produced by a k e t t le drum fo r the la r g e s t clo ck , cymbals fo r the m iddle clo c k and a tr ia n g le fo r the tin y clo ck .

These had to be c a r e fu lly timed to be e f f e c t i v e .

P ersonal E valu ation This p la y depended la r g e ly upon th e a b i l i t y o f th e l i t t l e boy to make the ch ildren in th e audience l i k e him.

The scen es th a t th ese ch ild ren

responded to most o f a l l were: th e b lin d man who ''saw" w ith h is f in g e r s , the entrance o f the headsman (th ey took him s e r io u s ly at f i r s t ) , and the end o f th e f i r s t a ct where the Queen i s fr e e d .

In the second a ct they en­

joyed the comedy o f the K ing's great-aunt and the overthrowing o f the Headsman.

His awkwardness w ith h is ax amused them.

m other's song at the end. th e "Emperor's C loth es".

They a ls o lik e d th e

The p la y did not have as strong an appeal as The p lay was a b it beyond th ese ch ild ren as

regards theme, but they did enjoy the p lo t .

The second a ct i s not as

strong as th e f i r s t and needs ca re fu l a tte n tio n fo r tempo and movement. S everal il lu s t r a t i o n s o f t h is production are p resented on th e next two pages, page 57 and 58.

David’ 8 Adventures

- Act I

D avid 's Adventures - Act I I

58

David’ s Adventures - Act I I

59

A lic e in Wonderland An arrangement o f the atory by Lewis C arroll made by C harlotte Charpenning in two a c t s .

E ighteen ch aracters and ex tr a s.

Scenery The play was so arranged th at a permanent background could be used w ith movable p ie c e s o f scenery to represent th e various adventures o f A lic e .

The

b lack v e lv e t cu rta in s were used at back and s id e s o f sta g e during the e n tir e p la y .

With the ex cep tio n o f the Duchess’ house, whioh was a framework o f

pain ted canvas and sk ie d , th e scenery c o n siste d o f lig h t movable p ie c e s o f C elotex whioh were moved from th e w ings. sta g e .

The cu rta in went up on an empty

The C a te r p illa r made h is entrance on a' la r g e to a d s to o l.

made o f C elotex, p ain ted in lavender and y e llo w .

This was

I t was fa sten ed to a sm all

platform , w ith s t e p s , which was mounted on sm all w heels. sa t on the ste p s and leaned over th e top o f th e to a d s to o l.

The C a terp illa r A strong wire was

attached to th e platform , lon g enough to reach from the stage in to the w ings. When th e C a terp illa r made h is en trance, th e to a d sto o l was pushed from the wings and r o lle d on the sta g e .

The wire was used to withdrew i t at th e end

o f th e scen e. The house o f the Duchess was lowered to p o s itio n upstage when a scene was played down stage and th e Footman came out through a p r a c tic a l door in the house a fte r i t was in p la c e .

At th e end o f th e scene i t was sk ie d .

For

the garden, four large cu t-o u ts o f flo w erin g bushes— s t y liz e d in design and b r i l l i a n t l y co lo red , were constructed o f C elotex and braced w ith retu rn s to stand a lo n e.

They were seven f e e t by four f e e t f iv e in ch es, la rg e enough

to conceal the stage crew who ca rried them in and placed them. hands moved them up or down sta g e as th e a ctio n req u ired .

The sta g e

60

P ro p er ties A

l i s t o f the p r o p e r tie s used in t h i s production fo llo w s: l i t t l e

fo ld in g fa n , white g lo v e s , watch, two p ie t i n s and spoons, la rg e a r t i f i c i a l c a r r o ts, two croquet b a lls , th ree croquet m a lle ts , 1 la rg e ta b le , red and w hite c lo th , s ix p la t e s , s ix cups, sugar bowl and two p itc h e r s , one arm­ chair fo r A lic e , four sm all s tr a ig h t c h a ir s, two armchairs, one 7x9 platform , s ix jury b oxes, sm all s c r o ll fo r r a b b it, la rg e s c r o ll fo r A lic e , s ix s la t e s w ith p e n c ils , one tra y o f t a r t s , one la r g e d o ll w ith p ig mask, la rg e can marked "Pepper". The hlad Tea Party scene used sm all kindergarten ch airs fo r th e Hare and H atter and a

reg u la r siz e d armchair fo r A lic e .

long enough to extend in to th e

w ings.

The ta b le was low and

I t was pushed

out to p o s it io n , a l l

s et w ith p la t e s and cups, and the Hare and H atter brought out the ch a irs

w ith much b u stle and con fu sion .

The ta b le was covered w ith a checkerboard

c lo th o f red and white tw elv e-in c h squares. The tea p o t was made o f a sm all b a r r e l, la r g e enough to hold the Dor­ mouse.

A handle and spout o f O elotex were wired on and a hinged li d was

attach ed .

I t was p ain ted b righ t b lu e w ith flo w e r s .

The s iz e o f the tea p o t

in comparison w ith the s iz e o f th e t a b le added to the "mad e f f e c t " .

(S in ce

the ch ild ren enjoyed t h is scene most o f a l l , th e work o f co n stru ctin g the "teapot" i s w e ll worth w h ile .) The p ic tu r e

o f th e Walrus and th e Carpenter was

copied in charcoal

from th e T en n iel

il lu s t r a t io n s on a sh eet th ree f e e t

by four f e e t and

mounted on a movable e a s e l, so th at the Tweedles could move i t on and o f f stage q u ick ly . The jury b oxes, fo r th e t r i a l scen e, were made o f orange c r a te s p ain ted in b r i l l i a n t c o lo r s in camouflage e f f e c t s .

The king and queen sa t on arm­

ch a irs p laced on a platform to give them h e ig h t.

The s c r o ll used by A lic e

61

was made o f white paper, and was f i v e f e e t lo n g , painted w ith "mirror w ritin g" ch a ra cte rs. Costumes The T en n iel il lu s t r a t io n s were used as models fo r costumes and p r o p e r tie s and were reproduced a s a ccu ra te ly as p o s s ib le .

A lic e wore a

lig h t blue co tto n frock , w hite p in afore and s to c k in g s , black s lip p e r s and a blue h a ir bow. The w hite ra b b it wore a w hite fla n n e l animal costume w ith s c a r le t coat and fan cy w a istc o a t, watch, g lo v e s and fa n .

In making costumes fo r

the r a b b it, March Hare and Dormouse, t ig h t f i t t i n g hoods with shaped ears and whiskers were used, but th e fa c e s o f th e a cto rs were exposed.

The

C a te r p illa r ’ s costume a lso had a t ig h t f i t t i n g hood w ith pipe stem antennae. I t was made in a lo n g tube w ith tig h t f i t t i n g s le e v e s and m itten s o f same blue fa b r ic .

P ainted s tr ip e s were used fo r d eco ra tio n .

Masks o f p a p ier-

machi were made f o r the Frog Footman, and h is wig was made o f green ro v in g . The Gryphon wore a h a lf maBk w ith long curved beak, made o f papier-machft. H is costume o f dark green o ile d s i l k was made in lig h t f i t t i n g c o v e r a ll w ith lon g s le e v e s , to which were attached bat wings o f th e o ile d s i l k . These s le e v e s a ls o covered th e hands.

The Mock T u r tle 's costume o f cover­

a l l type was made o f gray fla n n e l painted w ith green sp o ts .

His s h e ll was

made o f papier-machft on a w ire frame and was strapped to h is back. The costumes o f th e King, Queen and Knave were made o f painted o i l c lo th and p ain ted m uslin, which gave th e s t i f f cardboard e f f e c t . L igh tin g The f i r s t scene— th e ra b b it h o le— used a dark sta g e w ith a s p o tlig h t hung on the f i r s t border to produce an o b liq u e l i g h t .

When A lic e and the

62

Rabbit cane on, a second spot shone d ir e c t ly down on them.

During t h e ir

scene the l i g h t s were grad u ally brought up by f o o t s and borders to d esired amount o f l i g h t .

No change in lig h t in g was made u n t il the end o f the

court scene when the "blackout" i s used. mit the a cto rs to c le a r th e sta g e .

This was c a r e fu lly timed to per­

Then th e f o o t s and borders were added.

E valuation The p la y must move quickly and th e scenery and p ro p ertie s need to be li g h t so th a t th ey may be handled e a s i l y . f u l p la y s fo r a c h ild r e n ’ s th e a te r .

This i s one o f the most d e lig h t ­

Both ch ild ren and grown-ups enjoyed i t .

The arrangement i s e x c e lle n t for ch ild ren sin ce th e p lo t i s based upon th e a b i l i t y o f A lic e to keep her temper.

She s u ff e r s when she g e ts angry and

wins on ly when she c o n tr o ls h e r s e lf .

The ch ild ren understand t h is w e ll.

The scene the ch ild ren enjoyed most was th e tea p a rty , e s p e c ia lly the b u si­ n ess o f p u ttin g th e Dormouse in th e te a p o t.

C hildren are u s u a lly fa m ilia r

w ith the sto ry and th ey recognize th e v a rio u s ch aracters w ith much enthusiasm . S everal il lu s t r a t io n s o f t h is production are presented on th e next page, page 63. Aladdin An arrangement o f th e Old Arabian N ig h t’ s Tale by Theodora Dubois in fou r acts* seven scen es ( f i v e in t e r io r and two s t r e e t s c e n e s ).

Seven

men, four women and e x tr a s . Scenery A sk e le to n , s e t , c o n s is tin g o f th ree keyhole-shaped a rch es, was used to f i l l th e e n tir e back o f th e s ta g e .

This was backed by a blue drop

(continued on page 64)

63

A lic e in Wonderland - Act I

A lic e in Wonderland - Act I

64

(Continued from page 62) a g a in st which c u t-o u ts o f tr e e s were placed in s ilh o u e t t e to change scen e. The arches were placed four f e e t in fro n t o f backdrop to allow th e w all (used in Scenes 5 and 7) to he p laced fm between arches and drop.

There

was room to p la ce a m attress fo r the p ro tectio n o f the people when they climbed th e w a ll and jumped o v er.

These arches were painted and s tip p le d

in te r r a co tta c o lo r s to g iv e p la s te r e f f e c t .

On the rig h t sid e o f the

stage a double f l a t was angled to mask the e n tir e

r ig h t s id e .

This hada

p r a tic a l window from which th e P rin cess dropped her flow er to Aladdin. bench was p laced beneath the window.

A

The l e f t s id e o f th e stage was a lso

masked with a double f l a t s tip p le d in grayed pink to n e s .

T his sane s e t was

used in Scene 6 . In Scene 2 , th e magic cave, th e gray c u r ta in s (used in "David’ s Adven­ tu re" ) were used to mask arch es.

F la ts were moved and two la r g e screens

w ith double p a n els were angled to make a shallow sta g e down cen ter . draw cu rta in s were p u lled to make a sm all opening.

The

These screens were

covered w ith Chinese s ilv e r paper and draped h e a v ily w ith purple and gray paper moss.

(The paper moss was attached to bamboo p o le s which were hooked

to the top of the screen s and were e a s il y rem oved.)

A dark step lad d er was

p laced in th e an gle o f the screen s so that only the th ree lower ste p s were v is ib le .

A huge Chinese Temple Dog, out from C elotex and p a in ted , was se t

a g a in st the screens r ig h t fr o n t, th e magic lamp was placed a t the f e e t o f th e dog.

On the f lo o r were gold painted boxes to rep resen t c h e sts f i l l e d

w ith s tr in g s o f crushed cellop h ane jew els andlen g th s

o f g l i t t e r i n g f a b r ic s .

The depth o f t h is scene was o n ly s i x f e e t . Scene 3, Home o f A la d d in 's Mother.

The screen s and ladder were removed

and the arches masked by th e gray cu rtain s a cro ss e n tir e back of s ta g e .

65

Three dark le a th e r ottomans and s t o o l were placed Down S ta g e.

The

characters made t h e ir en tran ces Down Right and L eft a t s id e s .

Aladdin and

the Genii came through the openings in the cu rta in s at r ea r .

The scene

was q u ite drab in co n tra st to the ones preceding and fo llo w in g i t . Scene 4 , The S u lta n ’ s Audience Room.

The gray cu rta in s were sk ied .

The arches were f i l l e d in w ith figu red c u r ta in s . s id e s o f th e s ta g e .

P la in f l a t s masked the

A r t i f i c i a l palms were used at corn ers.

b righ t le a th e r h assocks formed the S u lta n 's Divan Down L e ft. were thrown ru g s.

Two huge Over th o se

A low ta b le was p laced near i t .

When Aladdin b u ilt the magic p alace th e crowd rushed to th e arches and p u lled back th e cu rta in s and saw th e p alace o f f 3 teg e.

On our tin y

stage we did not fin d i t p r a c tic a l to have any o f the palace v i s i b l e . Scenes 5 and 7, The Courtyard o f A laddin’ s P a la ce.

The arches were

open, showing blue drop, ag a in st which c u t-o u ts o f tr e e s were p la ce d .

A

w all f iv e and o n e-h a lf f e e t high (a f l a t p laced on i t s s id e ) was placed Just o u tsid e the a rch es.

I t was braced to stand firm ly .

The s ilv e r screens

(used in Scene 2) w ithout moss were s e t behind th e two la r g e hassocks placed Down R igh t.

Another hassock was s e t L eft Upper Center.

were p la c e d ■a g a in st th e courtyard w a ll. w a ll, they p laced the s t o o l on the bench. t io n .

A bench and a s t o o l

When th e women climbed over th e Palms in tubs were used as decora­

In Scene 7 , the cu t-o u t tr e e s a g a in st th e back-drop were removed and

were rep laced a f t e r the ’’tran sportation " scen e. P ro p erties A l i s t o f th e p ro p erties used in t h i s production fo llo w s: th ree robes— Zobeida, A la d d in --, two b a sk ets, p a ir o f s lip p e r s , k it e —A laddin, banana— A laddin, two p en n ies—Aladdin, one w hite bench, bundle o f s t ic k s —o ld man,

66

flo w er—P r in c e ss, money-bag w ith gold money—M agician, p illo w s , red m a teria l, Jew els, c h e sts o f Jew els, id o l, lamp, s ilv e r screen s, money-bag w ith gold money—Aladdin, tra y , four gold bow ls, four g la s s e s , f r u i t , one low ta b le , two brown le a th e r h assock s, one covered s t o o l, one la r g e ornate fan w ith lon g handle, two colored le a th e r hassock3, one s n a il eh est o f Jew els, awe for

3 la v e ,

p ie c e o f sew ing, n eed le and th read , bowl, g la s s , wine b o t t le ,

bowl o f oranges, one sm all dark step la d d er, two a r t i f i c i a l palms, three p a ir s o f drapes fo r arches* The k it e used in Scene 1 , was made to rep resen t a Chinese one ana was two by th ree f e e t and painted in b rig h t red and y ellow d e sig n s. The jew els in Scene 2 , were made by crushing wads o f cellophane in to b a lls and str in g in g them on cotton s t r in g . h is fam ily were costume p e a r ls .

The ones which Aladdin gave to

The b rass tra y in Scene 3 , which th e C e n ii

brought in , contained wooden bow ls, g ild e d , and a Turkish c o ffe e pot o f b ra ss.

The same tra y and d ish es were used in Scene 5, fo r the M agician’ s

supper, w ith th e a d d itio n of a tra y heaped w ith oranges and a wine b o t t le . The b askets used in Scenes 1, 5 and 6, were covered hampers. On our stage i t was not found p r a c tic a l to have the a cto rs form th e p rocession down th e a i s l e s .

The sedan ch air was not u sed .

The P rin cess

and her atten d ants walked a cro ss the sta g e and sh o r tly a f t e r , th e P rin cess appeared a t her balcony window. p ain ted and sh ella c k e d .

The magic lamp was made o f pap ier machfc

The handle was made so th a t Aladdin could hook i t

to h is sa sh . Costumes The p la y w as n o t c o stu m e d i n a p a r t i c u l a r s t y l e o r c o u n t r y , a lt h o u g h t h e P e r s i a n id e a w as d o m in a n t.

In t h e f i r s t s c e n e , A la d d in w o re r a g g e d

67

tr o u s se r s and tu n ic o f brown.

A fter he had become a p rin ce he wore a

c o lo r fu l costume o f crimson and gold and green, long f u l l tro u sers and f i t t e d coat and turban with o s t r ic h plumes,

The P rin cess wore O riental

costume w ith f u l l tr o u se r s, s le e v e le s s tu n ic , knee len g th coat and a v e i l . The o ld er women wore f u l l s k ir t s , tu n ic s and v e i l s .

The S u ltan and h is

m in iste r s wore lo n g lo o se rob es over f u l l tr o u se r s, and tu rb an s. dominating c o lo r s were warm—red s, purples and g o ld .

The pre­

J u lin a r wore a

ragged d ress in the f i r s t scene and a ric h e r costume l a t e r .

The Magician

wore long f u l l cloak g ir d le d a t w a ist and a t a l l crowned h a t, decorated w ith Zodiac sig n s

in s i l v e r .

The G enii wore Jacket and f u l l tr o u se r s, a

s t y liz e d mask and

a very t a l l f a n t a s t ic h a t.

L ig h tin g and Sound E ffe c ts Much o f th e e f f e c t iv e n e s s o f th e p la y depends upon th e lig h t and sound e f f e c t s .

In Scene 1, th e sta g e i s w e ll lig h te d at th e opening.

Then beginning w ith the scene between Aladdin and h is mother, the li g h t s should be gra d u a lly dimmed down to th e M agician’ s en tran ce, and the r e s t o f th e scene played on a darker s ta g e .

In Seene 2 , the cave should be

very dark at the beginning and as Aladdin gradually co n tro ls h is fe a r s the lig h t in c r e a s e s .

Red, blue and purple li g h t s were u sed.

Each time the

lamp was rubbed the same e f f e c t took p la ce— complete b la ck o u t, r o llin g o f kettledrum s, and crashing o f cymbals, and li g h t s up.

T his n o ise must be

continued lo n g enough to permit the Genii or p ro p ertie s to be p laced or to be removed.

Timing must be accurate*

E valuation The p la y wasw e ll r e c e iv e d . suspense i s h ig h .

I t has se v e r a l e x c it in g scen es where the

The ch ild ren enjoyed the scen es where Aladdin

d isco v ers

68

th e lamp in the cave, where th e P r in c e ss s e l l s th e "new lamps fo r old", and where th e M agician ca tch es T ulinar clim bing the w a ll to esca p e. p lay o f f e r s e x c e lle n t o p p o rtu n ities fo r scenery and costume. enjoyed th ese e f f e c t s .

The

The audience

I t a ls o gave stu d en ts o p p o rtu n ities to make

numerous p ro p ertie s and to design costum es.

I t i s an e x c e lle n t p lay for

young audiences because o f i t s e x c it in g a ctio n and good clim ax. Several il lu s t r a t io n s o f t h is production are presented on th e next two pages, page 69 and 70. C in d erella Arranged by Mimi 0 . P ick erin g , w ith two a c ts and s i x scen es (two in t e r io r and one e x t e r io r ) . Seven men and elev en women, ex tra s i f d e s ir e d . The p lay was r e v ise d to omit the e x te r io r scen e. Act I I were combined.

Scenes 1 and 2 o f

This was done to avoid th e ex tra change o f scene

and speed up the a ctio n o f the p la y . Scenery For the two i n t e r i o r s ,— C in d e r e lla ’ s k itch en and the Throne room o f the p a la ce— two s e t s o f drapes were used.

The two scen es a lter n a te d so

th a t th e black v e lv e t drapes, used fo r th e throne room, were s e t to make th e stage as la r g e as p o s sib le ; and th e gray cu rta in s were hung in sid e them. The gray cu rta in s were skied when not in use and lowered when needed.

For

th e k itch en scen es th e gray cu rta in s were arranged w ith an opening to th e o u tsid e in back w a ll a t L e ft Center. p la ce w ith s t o o l in fro n t o f i t , benches at e ith e r s id e .

At Lower L eft a g a in st w a ll was a f i r e ­

A k itch en ta b le was Down Center w ith

Along the back w a ll was a high-backed s e t t l e .

opening was made Up S ig h t to th e in t e r io r o f th e house.

An

A k itch en bureau

w ith m irror hung above i t was Down R ight a g a in st the w a ll.

(continued on page 71)

Aladdin

- Scene

1

69

b

Aladdin

- Scene

71 (continued from page 68) For th e throne room scen es, the gray cu rta in s were sk ied and fu r n i­ tu re removed, cen ter opening.

31ack v e lv e t cu rta in s were draped back to form a large This opening was backed by a hanging, a g a in st which was

hung a la r g e ornate clock w ith movable hands, which Fussynfume ad ju sted . Palms were placed on e ith e r s id e o f opening. s e t Down .Right.

The d a is fo r thrones was

Two carved mahogany armchairs were used.

On e ith e r s id e

o f th e opening along th e back w a ll were se t two sm all d ivan s, and a row o f s tr a ig h t mahogany ch a irs was arranged along the w a ll Down L e ft.

The

cen ter o f the sta g e had to be kept fr e e fo r the dancing. P r o p e r tie s A l i s t o f th e p ro p ertie s used in t h i s production fo llo w s: w a ll m irror, n eed le and thread, a r t ic le o f c lo th in g ,

dancing s lip p e r s , shoe brush,

c u r lin g ir o n , th ree evening wraps, la r g e handbag—Fairy Godmother, la r g e walking s t ic k —Fairy Godmother, la rg e book la b e lle d "1001 Magic R ecipes", old w ire mouse trap w ith n ic e in

i t , l i g h t on t a b le , b a ll d ress and s lip p e r s ,

trum pet, dance cards, one broom,

saucepan, th ree cups and sa u cers, scep tre

fo r King, la rg e r o l l o f tap e, s c is s o r s , b ello w s, la r g e shoehorn, la rg e can talcum powder ( la b e lle d ) , cu sh ion , f o o t s t o o l, one s e t t l e , one d resser, one f ir e p la c e , one coach, one s t o o l, two c h a ir s , one ta b le , th ree armahairs, one 7x9 p latform , two a r t i f i c i a l palms, one ornate clo c k w ith r e a l hands, th ree s tr a ig h t c h a ir s, s e t t e e , v a rio u s k itch en u t e n s i ls . The most important property was th e coach. plywood, and painted y ello w .

It

This was sawed out o f

was attached to the sm all platform on

r o l l e r s (used fo r to a d sto o l in A lic e in Wonderland p ro d u ctio n ).

The

p latform was stored between th e two s e t s o f cu rta in s during Scene 1 .

Dur­

ing th e blackout i t was pushed in to th e opening o f the gray c u r ta in s. I t ju s t f i l l e d the opening.

C in d erella went around i t and mounted th e ste p s

72

from th e up-atage a id e .

She waved "Goodbye" from th e window as the stage

crew p u lled the coach out o f th e au d ien ce’ s view . The clo ck in the ballroom scene was a ls o con stru cted o f plywood.

The

d ia l was eig h teen in ch es a cro ss w ith la r g e numbers and hands th a t could be e a s il y moved.

An orn ate gold frame was painted around i t .

The Godmother’ s

r e c ip e book was b righ t y ello w w ith la r g e b lack l e t t e r s a cro ss th e cover, reading "1001 Magic R ecipes". In Act I I ,

Scene 2 , th e court gentlemen ca rried a f o o t s t o o l, a very

la r g e shoehorn, la r g e can o f talcum powder, and a cushion w ith th e s lip p e r . Costumes M edieval and S ix teen th Century costumes were u sed . c o lo r fu l and ela b o ra te as p o s s ib le . w ith c ir c u la r capes. r u f f 8 or p oin ted h a ts .

These were made as

The men wore t ig h t s and f i t t e d tu n ic s ,

The women wore f u l l s k ir t s and f i t t e d b od ices w ith The costumes o f th e Stepmother and S is t e r s were made

o f s t i f f f a b r ic s , t a f f e t a and c h in tz .

C in d erella ’ s b a ll gown was made o f

ta r le to n , very b o u ffa n t, to co n tra st stro n g ly by i t s lig h t n e s s .

Her costume

was done in p a s te l c o lo r s , which made her much more d a in ty than th e o th ers. The Godmother wore the t r a d it io n a l costume o f f u l l s k ir t , shawl and high crowned h a t. L igh tin g and Sound E ffe c ts In the opening scene the k itch en was not b r ig h tly lig h t e d .

A fter the

stepmother and s i s t e r s le ftj th e l i g h t s were slo w ly dimmed and the glow from the fir e p la c e f e l l upon C in d erella a s she sa t by the h earth .

7/hen the

F airy Godmother began her transform ation scen e, th e l i g h t s went o u t, and her chant was echoed by v o ic e s o f f s ta g e .

At th e end was a r o l l o f drums

73

and then the l i g h t s go up "strong".

During t h i s scen e, C in d erella

changed to her b a ll gown, her s lip p e r s and crown were placed on sta g e , and th e coach moved in to the opening. The ballroom scen es were b r ig h tly lig h t e d . was done by la r g e cymbals o f f s ta g e .

The s tr ik in g o f th e clock

Music was fu rn ish ed (fo r dancing) by

piano and v io l in s out fro n t in o rch estra p i t . E valuation The sto r y was so w e ll known th at the ch ild ren enjoyed i t .

This

p a r tic u la r arrangement has some s o p h istic a te d d ia lo g u e which does not g et over to younger ch ild r e n , but the charm and d e lic a c y o f the characters o f the P rin ce and C in d erella d elig h te d them.

The p la y needed r e v is io n .

Some

o f the scen es in Act I I , between the King and h is Major Domo, required c u ttin g in order to avoid undue r e p e t it io n o f b u sin e ss.

This arrangement

i s not d i f f i c u l t to produce and g iv e s op p ortu nity fo r d ainty and c o lo r fu l sta g e e f f e c t s and costum es.

I t was a good co n tra st w ith "Aladdin".

The

scen es th e ch ild r en enjoyed most were the C in d e r e lla 's "Transformation" scene w ith th e Coach, when th e P rin ce dashes out to fin d C in d erella le a v in g poor Fussynfume, the tr y in g on o f the s lip p e r by th e two s t e p - s i s t e r s in th e l a s t scen e.

I t i s an e x c e lle n t arrangement (w ith s lig h t r e v is io n )

fo r a sm all s ta g e . S evera l il lu s t r a t io n s o f t h is production are p resented on th e next two p ages, pages 74 and 75. A ll o f th ese p la y s were enjoyed by th e ch ild ren o f our au d ien ces. They were s e le c te d to conform to th e standards s e t up fo r th e s e le c tio n o f p la y s fo r ch ild ren ( s e e page 4 8 ) . and were g iven c o lo r fu l s e t t in g s .

A ll o f them had w e ll-d e fin e d p lo t s

An e f f o r t was made to present w e ll

known, y e t c o n tr a s tin g , c l a s s ic s fo r ch ild r en . gave them’ a stron g ap p eal. d e lig h t f u l en tertain m en t.

Their f a m ilia r it y alone

In t h i s th e a te r th e audiences found them

74

C in d erella - Act I

NEW YORK U N IV ERS ITY S C H O O L C F EDUCATION I !R P '»v

CHAPTER VIII EVALUATION OF THE PROJECT

In t h i s p r o je c t, th e development of a ch ild r e n ’ s th e a te r in a tea ch erpreparing in s t it u t io n , no attempt was made to s e t up an experiment which could be evalu ated o b j e c t iv e ly .

The o n ly a v a ila b le techniques o f evalua­

tio n were su b je c tiv e judgments.

In order to ob tain as complete an estim a te

as was p o s s ib le under th e c o n d itio n s, th e fo llo w in g sources o f op in ion were s e le c te d and u t ili z e d : a d m in istra tio n , tea ch in g s t a f f o f the Normal School, tea ch ers in th e f i e l d , c h ild r e n ’ s o p in io n s, stu d en ts’ o p in io n , d ir e c t o r ’ s op in ion and o b serv a tio n s. A dm inistration P erson al in terv iew s were held w ith th e p r in c ip a l o f th e Normal School and w ith th e d ir e c to r of tr a in in g .

At th e se in terv iew s a req u est was made

th at they express th e ir op in ion s as to the value (or lack o f i t ) o f th e p r o je c t.

On the next two pages are p resented th e statem ents prepared by

them as ex p ressio n s o f th e ir o p in ion s on t h is p r o je c t. Teaching S t a f f o f th e Normal School Opinions were expressed by th e s t a f f o f the Normal School and campus sch ool in response to th e q u estion : "Do you th in k the c h ild r en ’ s th ea ter p r o je c t i s worth continuing?

I f s o , why?”

in t h i s rep ort and are presented on page 79.

Some o f the r e p lie s are included

77

S ta te Normal School Gneonta,

New York

H iss Beryl Meek S ta te Normal School Oneonta, New York My dear M iss Meek: The C hildren’ s Theater met a c o r d ia l response from a d m in istra to rs, 7/henever in v ite d they have been w illin g to send ch ild ren in by sch oo l b u s , ' They have been p lea sed w ith the experience for the ch ild ren and the second opp ortu nity has brought them in in la r g er numbers. Our s e a tin g c a p a city has been taxed at a l l a v a ila b le perform ances. This audience ch a llen g es our own student performers and g iv e s them and th o se who observe an opportunity to see th e eager happiness o f a l l kinds o f ch ild r en at r e a l p la y s chosen i n t e l l i ­ g e n tly and performed under expert d ir e c tio n fo r th e age groups. I t makes one w ish th a t th ere were more opportunity fo r t h i s kind o f c r e a tiv e rec rea tio n in t h i s a rea . I s h a ll expect to hear a good d eal more o f the same kind o f en te r p r ise in th e lo c a l sc h o o ls, judging by th e way sim ila r th in g s spread. T his i s the kind o f a c t iv i t y whioh seems appropriate fo r our sc h o o l. I f we have th e tim e and energy, we s h a ll hope to serve in an advisory cap acity fo r the surrounding sch o o ls in t h e ir e f f o r t s to crea te a genuine c h ild r en ’ s th e a te r in th ese u n it s . Yours c o r d ia lly , (sign ed ) Charles W. Hunt P r in c ip a l

78

S ta te Normal School Oneonta,

New York

Mi3 a Beryl Meek S ta te Normal School Gneonta, New York My dear M iss Meek; An ev a lu a tio n o f the C h ild ren 's Theater conducted at th e S ta te Normal School fo r the p a st two years le a d s me to the fo llo w in g con clu sio n s: I, II,

III,

I t e s t a b lis h e s standards o f dram atic exp ression in an area where they are hadly needed, I t dem onstrates to sch ool a u t h o r it ie s and teach ers th e importance o f s e le c t io n of p lays fo r ch ildren in keeping w ith t h e ir stage o f development, I t su p p lies the tea ch ers in t r a in in g good examples o f performances th at have been a c t u a lly tr ie d out on ch ildren o f d if f e r e n t grade l e v e l s ,

IV,

I t g iv e s student tea ch er s a chance not on ly to p a r tic ip a te in c h ild r e n 's p la y s but a lso to d ir e c t them,

V,

I t provides an op p ortunity to develop the n ecessary s k i l l s o f costuming, make-up and s ta g e c r a ft in th e s e n io r s .

To summarize, I can s in c e r e ly s ta te th a t th e C hild ren 's Theater has been a decided a s s e t to u s , I would l i k e to see i t con tinued. Very s in c e r e ly you rs, (sig n ed ) A. E. E it z e lle D irecto r o f Training

79

F o r ty -fiv e o f th e s t a f f members were given an opportunity to express th e ir o p in io n s.

Thirty-tw o r e p lie d .

tin u in g the p r o j e c t .

A ll but two were in favor o f con­

I t diould be noted th a t the more e n th u s ia s tic back­

ing came from the tea ch ers in th e campus sch o o l. 1.

As a r e s u lt o f ray exp erien ce in s ta g in g the p la y s fo r th e c h ild r e n ’ s th ea ter I would a d v ise th a t i t should continue to fu n c tio n . I would su ggest th a t under th e p resen t condi­ t io n s th e productions should be lim ite d to one or two a y ea r. The ch ild ren from the h i l l s i d e s have an opportunity to s e e sta g e s e t t in g s and costumes which th ey could not see in any oth er way. From th e stand p oin t o f student ex p eri­ ence i t has been p r o fita b le f o r th e fo llo w in g reason s: I t has given them an a p p recia tio n o f ch ild r e n ’ s p la y s and standards f o r judging them. I t has a ls o given them o p p o rtu n ities fo r cr e a tiv e work in scenery and p r o p e r tie s . There i s more chance fo r im agination in the sta g in g o f c h ild r e n ’ s p la y s than in th e more r e a l i s t i c backgrounds fo r a d u lt p la y s . They have o p p o rtu n ities to show th e ir r eso u rce fu ln e ss and in gen u ity in th e making o f p ro p ertie s which cannot be borrowed. They have learn ed to use in exp en sive m a te r ia ls . They have lik e w is e used various tech n iq u es: handling brushes, spray-guns, papier-machft, e t c e te r a , which w i l l be v a lu a b le in t h e ir fu tu re tea c h in g .

2.

From my observation o f what has gone on so fa r in the producing o f the p la y s fo r th e c h ild r e n ’ s th e a te r , I should a d v ise th e ir c o n tin u a tio n . Some o f my reasons are There i s great need fo r s u ita b le ty p es o f entertainm ent fo r ch ildren on th e elem entary school l e v e l . I t provides a kind o f th e a te r d iffe r e n t from th e m ovies. I t g iv e s ru ra l ch ild ren c u ltu r a l o p p o rtu n ities u su a lly a v a ila b le to urban ch ild ren o n ly . I t has th e p o s s i b i l i t i e s fo r in crea sin g c r e a tiv e exp ression on the part o f th e ch ild ren atten d in g the p la y s —a lread y we se e evidence o f room d ram atization s, fu rth er use o f a r t and c r a ft m a te r ia ls, in th e a rt exp ression o f ch ild ren a fte r s e e in g th e p la y , puppets, e t c e te r a . ( I have seen evidences o f ch ild ren u sin g th e l a s t p la y as a b a s is fo r some o u t - o f - . sch ool th e a te r .)

80

I t la in v a lu a b le to the stud en ts a t th e normal school fo r th e se reason s: acq u ain ts them fu rth er w ith sto r y and dramatic m a teria l fo r ch ild r e n , h elp s them to get fu rth er understanding o f kinds o f m a te r ia ls su ite d to c h ild r e n ’ s needs and in t e r e s t s . 3.

I ’d li k e to say th at I th in k th e c h ild r e n ’s th ea ter p ro ject i s an e x c e lle n t one and worthy o f co n tin u a tio n . I t i s a f in e th in g to in v it e th e oth er sc h o o ls to come in and sh are. Many ch ild ren g et t h e ir f i r s t and on ly exp erien ce w ith a cto rs and th e th ea ter in t h is way. I t i s good to have movie exp erien ce supplemented a b i t . I t i s a f i n e way f o r our stud en ts to become acquainted with ch ild ren and to know c h ild r e n ’ s in t e r e s t s . (Although my f i r s t grade haB seen on ly " C in d erella” and even though i t was much too " adu lt” fo r th en , th ey enjoyed i t thoroughly and I f e e l the time was w e ll s p e n t.)

4.

I th in k th e venture in d evelo p in g a c h ild r e n ’ s th e a te r should most c e r ta in ly be con tin u ed . I t has s e t up a worthy standard o f the kind o f p la y s which are s u ita b le fo r ch ild r en . I t has brought untold enjoyment to the ch ild ren o f th e o u tsid e sch o o ls who have not had exp erience w ith th a t so r t o f th in g . I t has given th e stud en ts o p p o rtu n ities to p la y to c h ild au d ien ces.

5.

We th in k th at th e c h ild r e n 's th e a te r has g iv en sev era l d e lig h t­ f u l productions and should be continued by a l l means. T his th e a te r makes th e s t o r ie s known to every c h ild l i v e again . Only th e other n ig h t a tea ch er from Schenevus s a id th a t her ch ild ren ta lk ed every day o f C in d erella and how the s i s t e r s t r ie d to squeeze t h e ir f e e t in to the s lip p e r . Our own ch ildren lik e d th a t scene the b e s t , C in d erella i s liv in g againj We w ish we might have more p la y s .

6.

I th in k th e c h ild r e n ’ s th ea ter should be continued fo r many rea so n s. I t i s th e f i n e s t example o f c h ild r e n 's in t e r e s t s in t h i s s e c tio n . The Bugbee (campus sch o o l) ch ild ren have been t h r il le d by i t . I know th e community ch ild ren have enjoyed i t s e x c e lle n c e . I t has se t a standard which ought to be con tinued. A fter having such t a s t e s they ought to be oarried on. I t i s another way o f spreading "our l i g h t ” in th e community. Children in th e se strenuous tim es should have something more than war t a lk , r a d io , h y s te r ia , et c e te r a . "Life has lo v e lin e s s to s e l l — And C hild ren 's fa c e s look in g u p .”

7.

I t la a community con tact and a c u ltu r a l a s s e t . What more could be asked? I t speaks fo r i t s e l f . I su ggest more p u b lic it y fo r i t .

8.

The c h ild r e n ’ s th e a te r lias proved a source o f p lea su re fo r th e ch ild ren o f a wide area in t h is community. The produc­ t io n s have se t a very h igh standard in dramatic a r t. I think th a t i s a f in e th in g not only fo r th e stud en ts who take part but a lso fo r th o se who see th e se p la y s . I t should fu rth er d e s ir a b le r e la tio n s h ip s w ith th e community.

9.

I f e e l th a t the c h ild r e n 's th ea ter should be continued by a l l means. I am sure th a t the p la y s serve as c r it e r ia fo r th e ch ild ren in th e ir choice o f entertainm ent o f a dramatic n atu re, and fo r th e stud en ts in th e ir subsequent dramatic work w ith ch ild r en . The m ajority o f th e ch ild ren have no other chance a t r e a lly worth w hile le g itim a te drama, th e refo re th e c h ild r e n ’ s th e a te r i s an e le v a tio n o f t a s t e . The productions are a f e a s t to the eye and a l i f t to th e s p i r i t . They played P ied P iper to th e c h ild r e n ’ s im agin ation s. T his th ea ter i s a v alu ab le en rich ­ ment to community c u ltu r e . I co n g ra tu la te you.

10.

I f e e l we should put more time on Speech C orrection work and l e s s on Dram atics. Many stud en ts come to us w ith a f a i r knowledge o f s ta g e c r a ft, but v o ic e placem ent, nervous maladjustments in v o ca l mechanism, are o fte n augmented by bad in s tr u c tio n on the secondary le v e l.

11.

I doubt i f our ch ild ren need any more en tertainm ent. overstim u lated by screen and r a d io .

They are

Ifcom the exp ression o f f a c u lt y op in ion th e con clusion may be drawn th at th e s t a f f in gen eral approved o f th e p ro ject as a c u ltu r a l resou rce fo r the ch ild ren o f the community. Teachers in the F ie ld In order to ob tain an exp ression o f opinion from the tea ch ers in th e f i e l d , th e fo llo w in g q u estion n aire was sen t to th o se sch o o ls which had p a r tic ip a te d as audiences in th ese p la y s .

82

Q »estionnaire For th e p a st two years we have been in te r e s te d in d eveloping a c h ild r e n ’ s th ea ter a t th e S ta te Normal School at Gneonta. Daring t h is period we have presen ted the fo llo w in g p la y s: "David's Adventure", "A lice in Wonderland", "Aladdin", and "C inderella". We need to have an exp ression from each in d iv id u a l teach er who has seen th e se p la y s , or who has noted any r e s u lt s from her p u p ils who have keen any o f th e se p la y s . Your response i s in d isp en sa b le to us in determ ining the fu tu re p o l i c i e s o f t h i s work. To a To The Q uestions grea t some _______________________________________________________ ex ten t ex ten t 1,

Should we continue the c h ild r e n 's th ea ter w ith i t s attendant work and expense?

2»

Do th e ch ild ren enjoy th e se p lays?

3.

Are th ey eager to come again?

4.

Do you fin d any subsequent dramatic a c t iv i t y as a r e s u lt o f se e in g th e se plays?

5.

Have you rec eiv ed any id ea s fo r s e le c t in g m a teria l fo r c h ild r e n 's plays? A.

Approximately how many o f your children have attended one or more p lays?

B.

Have th ese p la y s stim u lated d isc u ssio n in regard to : Acting? Scenery? Costume?

C.

Suggest ways in which th e c h ild r e n '3 th ea ter may become more p r o fita b le to your sch o o l.

L ittle or no exten t

83

Forty cop ies were sen t out and tw en ty -fiv e were retu rn ed . up work was done to have them retu rn ed .

JTo fo llo w -

The response was v o lu n ta ry .

The

fo llo w in g ta b le shows the r e s u lt s o f the survey.

TAHL3 I Response from Teachers in th e F ie ld on Value o f C hild ren 's Theater Questions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Should we continue the c h ild r e n 's th ea ter w ith i t s attendant work and expense? Do the ch ildren enjoy th e s e p lays? Are they eager to cone again? Do you fin d any subsequent dramatic a c t iv i t y as a r e s u lt o f seein g th ese p lays? Have you re c e iv e d any id ea s fo r s e le c tin g m ateria l fo r c h ild r e n 's plays? Have th ese p la y s stim u lated d iscu ssio n in regard to a ctin g ? scenery? co sturae?

To a grea t ex ten t

To some ex ten t

L ittle or no ext ent

13 24 24

11 0 0

0 0 0

2

16

6

2

14

6

9 7 14

5 4 6

6

These tea ch ers were encouraged to make su g g e stio n s as to ways in which th e c h ild r e n 's th e a te r might become more p r o fita b le to them,

A few o f th es

are presented h ere. 1.

7/e have been lim ite d to th e number o f t ic k e t s , could more o f our ch ild ren come?

2.

An e a r lie r time on week days i s more s u ita b le , 10 A.M. on F ridays, fo r example,

3.

By continuing to s e le c t s t o r ie s which are in our reading books, i t h elp s us to read and d isc u ss the sto ry b efore we come.

4.

I should lik e p la y s which are b e tte r su ite d to the primary grades.

5.

Let us come more o f t e n .

6.

Could you bring p la y s to our sch ools?

84

From th e inform ation as expressed in th ese op in ion s i t may be Judged th a t the tea ch ers f e l t the p ro ject to be worth con tin u in g, th at th e c h il­ dren enjoyed th e p la y s, th a t some subsequent a c t i v i t y r e s u lte d , th a t the tea ch er s them selves gained some id ea s fo r s e le c t io n o f p la y m a te r ia ls, and th a t th e a c tin g and costumes made a more v iv id im pression upon the ch ildren than did the scen ery. C hildren*s Opinion The opinion o f th e ch ild ren was obtained from l e t t e r s w ritten to th e d ir e c to r o f the th e a te r .

These l e t t e r s were w ritten a t th e su g g estio n o f

th e teach ers or o f the ch ild ren th em selv es.

They were w ritten by the

ch ild ren in the campus sch ool and in the nearby ru ra l or ce n tr a l sc h o o l. The ch ild ren were encouraged to express t h e ir o p in ion s f r e e ly .

From the

many l e t t e r s rec eiv ed the fo llo w in g were s e le c te d as being t y p ic a l. 1.

I lik e d "The Whisker" b e s t . I hope you w i l l put on more p la y s , I lik e d them a l l . I lik e d th e Whisker because th e Rabbit saved the P rin cess and the W itch’ s f in g e r n a ils . T e ll the stu d en ts I lik e d a l l th e p la y s they have put on, (Fourth Grade)

2.

I lik e d the p la y because the costumes were c o lo r fu l and the a c tin g was good. The two b est ch a ra cters, I thought, were C in d erella and Fussyfume. I lik e d C in d erella b est because she acted n a tu r a l. I lik e d Fussynfume because he was so funny. I hope you w i l l in v it e us to another p la y soon. ( F ifth Grade)

3.

T his morning I am w r itin g to you about the p la y "The Magic R ing” th a t we saw y esterd a y . L ast year we d id n ’t have any p la y s snd am glad th a t we have turned over a new le a f and are having them a g a in . The background o f th e act was good but cu rta in s looked funny in a w oodcutter’ s c o tta g e . I could fo llo w th e sto ry e a s ily and i t kept me in suspense as to what was going to happen n ex t. I f I had a magic r in g I would w ish I could get 100$ in a l l my R egents exam inations next week. . (Seventh Grade)

4.

I was glad to go to Assembly and see another o f your p la y s . I thought I enjoyed going to the movies b est but I would rath er see one o f your p la y s , lik e th e Emperor’ s New C lo th es. I lik e d th e p la y because i t was e x c it in g and I could fo llo w i t e a s il y .

85

I enjoyed the a cto rs and t h e ir costumes seemed to go r ig h t w ith the p la y . I hope your dramatic c la s s w ill put on another e x c it ­ in g drama fo r u s, soon, (E ighth Grade) 5.

I lik e d th e p la y very much. Thecostumes were lo v e ly , a l l o f them, I th in k the b e st actor was th e Magician and th e next b est I lik e d A laddin. The c lo th e s th at Aladdin found in th e cave were very b e a u tifu l and so were the Jew els. The way th e Magician c a lle d "New Lamps fo r Old" was good. I lik e d th e way i t sounded l i k e i t was coming from fa r away. I wonder how th ey make i t sound d is ta n t l i k e . But when you put the whole th in g to g eth er I lik e d i t a l l . I w ish I could make aplay as you d id . I mean as w e ll a s you d id . ( F if t h Grade)

6.

I th in k th a t on the whole, the people o f t h i s sch ool l i k e the comedy typed p la y . The play th a t was produced to d a y ,— "The Chimney Sweep’ s Holiday" was a l i t t l e too draw ley. The play th a t was produced ju st before Christmas (Christmas a t Casey’ s ) was very n ic e , but a p lay li k e the sto r y o f the Chimney sweeps I don’ t th in k the p eop le lik e d so w e ll. T herefore, I th in k your p la y s would be a l i t t l e b e tte r i f you could put more oomedy, Jokes and la u g h s, in to them. (E ighth Grade)

From the o p in ion expressed by the ch ild ren i t would seem th a t th e fo llo w in g co n clu sio n s are f a i r l y evid en t: th a t the ch ild ren did enjoy the p la y s , th at they observed and appreciated cer ta in e f f e c t s in a c tin g and costuming, th a t th ey were acq u irin g a cer ta in c r i t i c a l f e e lin g fo r dramatic v a lu e s, and th a t th ey were beginning t o have in d iv id u a l op in io n s on the su b je c t. Student Opinion In order to g et an estim a te o f the p ro ject i t was f i n a l l y decided to ask fo r anonymous statem ents from the p a r tic ip a tin g stu d e n ts.

I t was sug­

g ested th at they w rite t h e ir op in ion s a fte r th e course was completed and th e grades were f i l e d . they oared to make. as t y p ic a l.

They were a lso asked to in clud e any su g g estio n s

The fo llo w in g statem ents were s e le c te d and are presented

86

1.

The th in g I got most out o f was the opportunity t o work on th e scen ery fo r A laddin. I r e a lly learn ed a l o t out o f b ein g sta g e manager and assuming the r e s p o n s ib ilit y fo r having th e sta g e ready on sch ed u le.

2.

A fter working on costumes fo r "Alice" I f e e l I know more about th e importance o f costum es. They must be e x a c t. The c o lo r s have to be harmonious and f i t in w ith th e background. They must f i t th e p lay and the period*

3.

The most v alu e I received from the ch ild r e n ’ s th ea ter was th e fu n , enjoyment and t h r i l l o f a c tin g in a p lay fo r ch ild ren . I t has g iven me the d esire fo r fu rth er exp erien ce in being in p la y s and to produce some in my tea ch in g ca re er.

4.

I f e e l th a t I have a b e tte r knowledge o f c h ild r e n ’ s p lays and what to lo o k f o r when I want one.

Ik’om th e statem ents o f th e stud en ts i t may be judged th a t the stud en ts f e l t th a t th ey had gained p r a c tic a l experience in sta g in g p la y s , enjoyment in p la y in g to ch ild r e n , and knowledge o f s e le c t io n o f c h ild r e n ’ s p la y s . Among th e su g g estio n s receiv ed were more tim e to le a rn about make-up, costuming tech n iq u es,

d ir e c tin g p la y s.

(In a one-sem ester course each

student was n e c e s s a r ily lim ite d in time spent on each u n it .) D ir e c to r ’ s O bservations T his p r o je c t could be looked at from th e p o in t o f view o f the d ire cto r —what th e author h e r s e lf , as d ir e c to r o f th e t h e a t e r ,—observed.

Itom time

to tim e, in th e course o f developing t h is p r o je c t th e fo llo w in g o b servation s were made and noted: 1.

General enthusiasm shown by the stu d en ts, fo llo w ed by w illin g n e s s to work o u tsid e regu lar c la s s p e r io d s.

2.

Costume room was used fo r workin th e ev en in g s.

3.

A fter having taken th e cou rse, th e student tea ch ers in off-campus sch o o ls produced p la y s in th e ir communities.

87

4.

Children m eeting the d ir e o to r in off-cam pus s it u a t io n s would comment on how much they lik e d th e p la y s they lad seen*

5.

Teachers in th e f i e l d would ask fo r s p e c if i c help in s e le c t in g or producing p la y s f o r ch ild r en .

6.

The s iz e o f the audiences in creased from th ree hundred fo r th e f i r s t p la y to n in e hundred a t th e f i f t h p la y .

7.

More teach ers attended th e p la y s which were given th e second y e a r .

8.

The people o f th e community a ls o attended th e p la y s which were given during th e second y ea r.

The d ire cto r r e c e iv e d c e r ta in in d iv id u a l b e n e fits from th e development o f t h is p r o je c t.

These included a new f i e l d o f m a teria l fo r study and

experim entation, a c lo s e r r e la tio n s h ip w ith th e sch o o ls o f th e community, a personal s a t is f a c t io n in p rovid in g a source o f enjoyment fo r c h ild r e n . C onclusions The fo llo w in g co n clu sio n s may be drawn from th e sou rces o f op in ion s concerning the v a lu es o f th e c h ild r e n 's t h e a t e r . groups approved o f th e p r o je c t.

On the whole th e v a rio u s

T eacher-expressed op in ion in d ica te d th a t

th e p r o je c t was a c u ltu r a l a s s e t to th e community and th a t ch ild ren r ec eiv ed some dramatic stim u la tio n from i t .

C hildren’ s-ex p ressed op in ion s in d ica te d

th a t i t was a source o f enjoyment and a stim u lu s, in some degree, fo r dramatic c r it ic is m .

Student o p in ion rev ea led a gain in th e ir knowledge o f

c h ild r e n 's p lays and in the p r a c t ic a l tech n iq u es o f producing them.

In

g en era l, th e op in ion o f th e v a rio u s groups would in d ic a te th a t th e c h ild r e n 's th e a te r was valu ab le as a c u ltu r a l a s s e t in th e community and as a means o f provid in g p r a c tic a l eaqaerience in the s e le c t io n and production o f p la y s fo r ch ild r en .

88

S u ggestion s T his p r o je c t was lim ite d to two years and to a sm all area. i s n e c e s s a r ily lim ite d by i t s sco p e.

I t s value

Perhaps i t s g r e a te st worth i s not in

what i t has accom plished but in i t s in d ic a tio n o f fu tu re developm ents. There seems to be at th e p resen t tim e a decided need fo r c u ltu r a l dramatic entertainm ent adapted to th e ch ild ren * s l e v e l . in ru ra l communities.

This i s p a r tic u la r ly tru e

A c h ild r e n ’ s th e a te r would seem to meet t h is need.

The fo llo w in g su g g estio n s fo r fu rth er growth o f t h is p ro ject would in clu d e: 1.

A Loan Library o f s e le c te d c h ild r e n ’ s p la y s , which would be a v a ila b le to te a c h e r s.

2.

A costume and property wardrobe which could be loaned or ren ted to sch o o ls.

3.

A tr a v e lin g th e a te r which could p resen t p la y s a t the sch o o ls w ith l i t t l e or no f e e s .

4.

C reative w ritin g c la s s e s in which the stu d en ts might w rite and adapt p la y s fo r c h ild r e n .

89

ANNOTATED HEADING LIST OF PLAYS PRESENTED 1939-41

at STATE NOrMAL SCHOOL, ONEQNTA, HEWYORK

Note; The p la y s describ ed in d e t a il in Chapter VII are sta rred .

* 1.

A lad " ’ "" ' ~ w th e Curtain by Montrose J* Moses. L i t t l e , Brown. 7 scen es (5 in t e r io r , 2 e x t e r io r ) . 7 men, 4 women, e x tr a s . A c o lo r fu l arrangement o f the Arabian N ights S to ry . Pro­ v id es op p ortunity fo r im aginative and ela b o ra te backgrounds and costum es. Good a c tio n and suspense. Well adapted fo r c h ild r e n ’ s th e a te r .

* 2.

A lic e in Wonderland by C harlotte Charpenning. Junior Leagues, In c. 2 A cts, many ch a ra cters. A compact s im p lifie d arrangement o f Lewis C a rro ll’ s sto r y . E x cellen t o p p o r tu n itie s to portray most o f th e fa v o r ite ch a ra cters. Good clim ax.

3.

Babouska Sees I t Through by Gertrude 3 . Buckland, in L e t’ s Give a P la y . C ra v ell. 1 scene ( in t e r i o r ) . 5 boys, 3 men, 4 women and e x tr a s . A Christmas p la y o f S o v iet Russia showing how the ch ild ren are made happy by Babouska’ s coming. S u ited fo r sch ool assembly by seventh and eig h th grad es.

4.

The

Bubble Peddler by A lic e C.D. R ile y , in L e t’ s Pretend, 3aker. 3 scen es (very sh o r t, needs no scen ery ). 3 ch a ra cters. A peddler cures Red Riding Hood’ s grandmother o f her rheumatism. Good fo r s ix t h grade. May be done by a l l g i r l c a s t.

5 . Cabbages and Kings by Rose Fyleman, in Eight L i t t l e P lays fo r C hil­ dren. Doubleday, Doran. 2 short scen es (1 in t e r io r , 1 e x te r io r ) 11 ch a ra cters. In th e cabbage co n test P eter Simple wins over both the kings and s e t t l e s a fa m ily d isp u te . Third and fo u rth grades. 6.

* 7.

Chimney Sweeps’ H oliday by Rachael F ie ld , in Patchwork P la y s. Doubleday, Doran. 3 scen es (2 in t e r io r , 1 e x t e r io r ) . 5 boys and e x tr a s . S tory o f a boy kidnapped by Sweeps who fin d h is fam ily on May Day. Not to o in t e r e s t in g , la c k s su sp en se. F if th grade. C in d erella by Mimi P ic k e r in g . Ms. C h ild ren 's Theater P r e ss. 2 a c t s , 6 scen es (2 in t e r io r , 1 e x t e r io r ) . 7 men, 11 women, e x tr a s . A chaining and d ain ty v ersio n o f th e f a ir y t a l e . Opportunity fo r costumes and dancing. May be done by a l l g i r l c a s t . S u ita b le f o r c h ild r e n ’ s th e a te r .

90

8.

Christmas a t Casey’ s by J e s s ie M. Ford* Dramatic P u b lish in g Company. 1 Act ( in t e r i o r ) . 2 men, 3 women, 1 boy. An I r is h fam ily carry out th e Christmas s p ir it w ith su rp ris­ ing r e s u lt s . E x c e lle n t fu n . Junior High School assem bly,

9,

Darby and Joan by Hose Fyleman, in E ight L i t t l e P lays fo r C hildren. Doubleday, Doran. 1 scene (1 e x te r io r )'. T boy, 2 g i r l s . Darby and Joan are weather ch a ra cters. They must be separated because they co n sta n tly q u a rrel, u n t il th e s p e ll i s broken. Good fo r cu rtain r a is e r or puppet show. Appeals to young ch ild r en . Can be done by f i f t h and s ix th grad es.

*10.

The Emperor’ s New C lothes by C harlotte Charpenning. French. 3 a c ts (1 in t e r io r , 1 e x t e r io r ) . 8 men, 4 women, many e x tr a s . An e x c e lle n t v ersio n o f th e Anderson t a l e . Has good dramatic a c tio n and provides opportunity fo r color and pageantry. Ex­ c e lle n t fo r c h ild r en ’ s th e a te r .

11 .

The E v il K e ttle by Lord Dunsany, in Another Treasury o f P la y s. L i t t l e , Brown. 1 act ( in t e r i o r ) . 2 boys, one woman. Im aginative sto r y about James Watt a s a lad who d isco v ers a sin g in g tea k e t t le . He dreams o f th e fu tu r e. Good fo r school assem bly. Eighth grade.

12.

The Gooseberry Mandarin by Grace Ruthenberg. French. 1 scene ( in t e r i o r ) . 3 ch a ra cters. Chinese leg en d . Good fo r puppet shows. S ix th grade,

13.

The Hole in the Wall by A lic e R ile y , in The P la y ’ s The Thing. W inston. 2 scenes (no sc e n e r y ). 11 men, 3 women. A d e lig h t f u l s a t ir e on fo r m a lity . No scenery i s required as property man s e t s the s ta g e . Very amusing to ch ild ren . Good fo r sch ool assem bly. S ix th grade.

14.

L i t t l e Square Toes by Rachael F ie ld , in Patchwork P la y s. Doubleday, Doran. 1 act (1 e x t e r io r ) . 5 g i r l s . A C olon ial c h ild captured by th e Indians r e fu se s to return home w ith her playmates because she i s happy in th e f o r e s t . Good assembly p la y . F if th and s ix t h grad es.

15 . The Magic Ring by L ilia n C orn elius, in P la y s fo r Boys and G ir ls . Greenburg (H .Y .) 1935. 1 scene ( in t e r i o r ) . 4 men, 4 women, 6 or more e x tr a s . Galen fin d s a magic r in g . But le a r n s he must u se i t w ise ly to bring h ap pin ess. Good m o ra lity p la y . S ix th grade assem bly. 16.

Mrs. M agician’ s M istake by V irg in ia Dixon. French. 1 act ( in t e r i o r ) . 2 women, 2 men, ch ild r e n . Mr. M agician makes a m edicine which makes le ss o n s easy fo r a l l ch ild ren , but h is w ife d estro y s i t . S ix th grade.

17.

The M irth fu l M arionettes by Dan T otheroth, in One Act P la y s fo r Everyone. French, 1931. 2 scen es ( i n t e r i o r ) . 1 a c t ( T n t e r i o r )• 4 men, 5 women. The puppets reb el ag a in st the tyranny o f t h e ir master and put on a new v ersio n o f C in d e r e lla . Very good comedy. F ifth and s ix t h grades, assem bly.

91

18.

Old Gentleman Gay by R ita Barton. 1 man, 2 women, e x tr a s . The Christmas s p i r i t depends upon sharing g i f t s . Good fo r primary assem bly. May be played by a l l g i r l s .

19.

Only a Bright G ift by Evelyn Wentworth B i l l i n g s . The North­ w estern P r e ss, 1937. 1 a c t , 3 scen es (2 in t e r io r , 1 e x te r io r ) (E x terio r scene may be played before the c u r t a in .) 3 women, 2 ch ild r en , v o ic e . A b e a u tifu l l i t t l e p lay based on "Why th e Chimes Rang" theme. M arta's g i f t , because she i s u n s e lf is h , brings back th e p ic tu r e o f the Madonna. E x cellen t fo r sch ool assem bly. A ll ages li k e i t .

20.

The Patchwork P eop le by A lic e R ile y , in The P la y 's the Thing. Winston. 1 scene ( e x t e r io r ) . Dame Patch a t f i r s t h a tes G ypsies, but la t e r le a r n s to l i k e them. Good fo r g i r l s . F if th and s ix t h grad es.

21 .

P o lly Patchwork by Rachel F ie ld , in Patchword P la y s . Doubleday, Doran. 3 scen es (2 in t e r i o r s ) . 2 boys, 7 g i r l s , e x tr a s . P o lly wins the s p e llin g match because o f her patchwork d r e s s . Good assem bly p la y . F ifth and s ix th .g r a d e s .

.

Pot o f Broth by W illiam B u tler Y ea ts, in P la y s fo r an I r is h T heater. Volume I I . Macmillan. 1 scene ( in t e r io r 'll 2 men, 1 woman. The beggars f o o l Sibby and g et th e broth fo r h im s e lf. P la y fo r Junior High S ch o o ls. Good li t e r a r y and dramatic m a te r ia l.

22

23.

The Sentim ental Scarecrow by Rachael F ie ld , in Patchwork P la y s. Doubleday, Doran. 1 scene ( e x t e r io r ) , 3 b oys, 3 g i r l s . A romantic scarecrow comes a liv e because he i s lo v e d . Junior High Assembly. *

24.

The Sing a Song Man by Florence C. Comfort, in One Act P lays fo r Young F o lk s. 3rentanos 1924, 1 scene ( in t e r i o r ) . 5 men, 1 woman, 1 c h ild , e x tr a s . The Sing a Song Man shows Toddle Tot how to go to sle e p p ro p erly . Good fo r fo u rth grade assem bly.

*25.

S ir David Wears a Crown by S tu art Walker, in Portmanteau Adapta­ t io n s . Appleton-Century. 1 a ct ( e x t e r io r ) . 1 boy, 8 men, 6 women. Because he saves h is Queen, David i s g iv en a crown. M edieval s e t t in g . S ix th and f i f t h grad es.

*26 .

S ix ’Who P ass While th e L e n t ils B o il by Stuart Walker, in Portmanteau PlayB. A ppleton-Century. A lso , in a Treasury o f P la y s. L i t t l e , Brown. 1 Act ( I n t e r io r ) , 2 women, 5 men. A fa n ta sy in which th e boy h id es the Queen in h is house in s p it e o f th e variou s people who come to v i s i t him. May be com­ bined as a f i r s t a c t w ith S ir David Wears a_ Crown. Good fo r c h ild r e n ’ s th ea ter or s ix t h grade assem bly.

92

27.

Ten U inutes by th e Clook by A lic e C. D. R ile y . Doubleday, Doran. 1 a c t (1 in t e r io r ) . 6 men, 2 women. A s a t ir e on formal manners. The King fin d s out th a t h ard -b oiled eggs are ju st a s good as s o f t - b o ile d o n es. For Junior High School a ssem b lies.

28.

Two S la tte r n s and a King by Edna S t.V in cen t K illa y . Appleton, 1921. 1 scen e (no scen ery ). 2 men, 2 women. A m o ra lity p la y showing how chance r u le s a f f a ir s . Junior High S ch ool. Good cu rta in r a i s e r .

29.

The Weather Clerk by Rose jtyleman, in S ig h t L i t t l e P la y s for C hildren. 1 scene ( in t e r i o r ) . 3 b oys, one g i r l . The weather c le r k saves h is thunder when North Wind t r i e s to s t e a l i t . Good a c tio n . F if t h and s ix th grades.

30.

The V/hisker by Rose Fyleman, in Nine New P la y s fo r C hildren. N elson. 1 scene ( e x t e r io r ) . 3 b oys, 1 g i r l . Bunny s a c r if i c e s h is whisker and saves the P rin cess from Wicked W illiam ’ s s p e l l . Charming fa n ta sy fo r young ch ild r e n . Third and fourth grad es.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A lb e r ti, Eva, A Handbook o f A ctin g,

New York: Samuel French, 1935.

Andrews, Harry L . , A ctin g and Play Production, 1925.

New York: Longman’ s Green,

Barton, Lucy, H isto r ic Costume for the S tage.

3oston: Walter Baker, 1935,

Brooke, I r i s , E n g lish Costume o f the Early Middle A ges. Macmillan, 1935. E n g lish Costume o f the Later Midd le A ges.

New York: New York: Macmillan

1936. Brown, Corinne, C reative Drama in th e Lower S ch ool. 1929.

New York: D, Appleton

Brown, Gllmar, and Garwood, A lic e , General P r in c ip le s o f P lay D irec tio n . New York: Samuel French, 1940. B riggs, E liza b eth , Subject Index to C hildren’s P la y s . Library A sso c ia tio n , 1940.

Chicago: American

B u rris, Meyer, and C ole, E , , Scenery fo r the T heater. Brown, 1938.

Boston: L i t t l e ,

Calthrop, Dion, E n glish Costume.

New York:

Chalmers, H elene, The Art o f Make-up. Colran, E .B ,, Face th e F o o t lig h t s .

M acmillan, 1926.

New York: Dodd Mead, 1923.

New York:

W h ittlesey House, 1939.

Cosgrove, F ra n cis, Scenes fo r Student A ctors, Volumes I - I I I . Samuel French, 1936, Crump, L e s lie , D irectin g fo r the Amateur S ta g e. 1935. D'amico, V icto r, Theater A rt.

New York: Dodd, Mead,

P eo ria , I l l i n o i s : Manual A rts P r e ss, 1931.

F ish er , C .E ,, and Robertson, II,G., Children and the T heater. U n iv ersity : Stanford U n iv e r sity P r e ss, 1940. Fran k lin , Miriam, R ehearsal.

New York:

New York: P r e n tic e -K a ll, 1938.

Stanford

94

G rim ball, E liza b eth , Costuming a P la y . 1925.

New York: The Century Company,

H aire, Frances, The Folk Costume Book.

New York: A. 3,

H a rtley , Dorothy, Medieval Costume and L if e . L td ., 1931.

Barnes, 1926.

London: 3 , T. B atesford ,

H effn er, H ., S eld en , S ., and Saliman, II., Modern Theater P r a c tic e . New York: F. 3 , C ro fts, 1939, H ew itt, Barnard, Cut and Craft o f P lay P rod u ction . L ip p in co tt, 1940.

New York: J . P.

H yatt, A eola, Index to C h ild ren ^ P la y s. Third E d itio n . Library A sso c ia tio n , 1931. K ohler, F , , and Von S ic h e r t, H istory o f Costume. 1928. M itc h e ll, Roy, The School Theater.

Hew York: Howard Watt,

New York: Howard-McCann, 1925.

S eld en , 3 . , and Seliraan, H ., Stage Scenery and L ig h tin g . C ro fts, 1932. S tra u ss, Ira rd , P a in t, Powder and Make-up. 1938. Ward, W inifred, C reative Dram atics. Theater fo r C hildren.

Chicago: American

New York: F .3 .

New York: Barnes and Noble,

New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1930. New vork: J . Appleton-Century, 1939.

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION e LIBRARY •