Maddow's passionate plea for arts education

From SCT's Literary Manager, by way of a colleague from the Kennedy Center, by way of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, some really great quotes from AirAmerica and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on arts and education:

Sometimes we choose to serve our country in uniform, in war, Sometimes in elected office. And those are the ways of serving our country that I think we are trained to easily call heroic. It's also a service to your country, I think, to teach poetry in the prisons, to be an incredibly dedicated student of dance, to fight for funding music and arts education in the schools.

A country without an expectation of minimal artistic literacy, without a basic structure by which the artists among us can be awakened and given the choice of following their talents and a way to get to be great at what they do, is a country that is not actually as a great as it could be. And a country without the capacity to nurture artistic greatness is not being a great country. It is a service to our country, and sometimes it is heroic service to our country, to fight for the United States of America to have the capacity to nurture artistic greatness.

Not just in wartime but especially in wartime, and not just in hard economic times but especially in hard economic times, the arts get dismissed as 'sissy.' Dance gets dismissed as craft, creativity gets dismissed as inessential, to the detriment of our country. And so when we fight for dance, when we buy art that's made by living American artists, when we say that even when you cut education to the bone, you do not cut arts and music education, because arts and music education IS bone, it is structural, it is essential; you are, in [Jacob's Pillow founder] Ted Shawn's words, you are preserving the way of life that we are supposedly fighting for and it's worth being proud of.

Behind the scenes at one of our Drama School classes

I recently got the chance to sit in on one of our Drama School’s acting classes in Charlotte Martin Theatre. The first thing I noticed was how the kids seemed really engaged and excited to be there—in no small part due to the larger-than-life teaching of Keni, one of SCT’s Teaching Artists.


They started off with a few drama games. The exercises were really dynamic and fast-paced—I tried one out, and I was struck by the great energy level and focus which the students brought to the stage.


Eventually, the students began working on some simple scenes. After dividing into pairs, they were given an open-ended statement and a response—everything else was left up to them. Since the meaning and implications of the sentences were communicated through body language and context, there were some surprisingly different interpretations of the same phrase.


I tried my hand at this as well—I definitely did better than I did in the drama games, but I think my partner and I accidentally started a trend when we resolved practically every scene we acted out by having one of us storm off the stage. I guess I’ll leave dramatic interpretation up to the pros!

Getting into Character

One of our Drama School Classes decided to dress up and take it to the streets--
Zombie style! After a thorough costumes & makeup session, the students went outside
to show off the fruits of their efforts.


Some of the kids took to following unsuspecting pedestrians, walking behind them
and begging for water and band-aids.


Some of them really took their newfound roles to heart! One even played dead for
a solid 15 minutes in the middle of the sidewalk, getting more than a few odd glances.


It was great to see so many kids getting into their character and learning what it's like
to fully engage in a dramatic role!

Letter: Go see "Goodnight Moon"?

This is the closing weekend of our 08-09 season, with both "I Was a Rat!" and "Goodnight Moon" coming to an end. This week, we received an email that we just had to, with the author's permission, share with all of you.


My family was recently given tickets to see Goodnight Moon. Our daughter is four years old, but we weren't sure how she would react. Claren has autism, and Goodnight Moon is one of her favorite books. After beginning to talk last year, she now recites it perfectly. I knew the play would have to veer away from the original words, and when it did, because of her adherence to routine, I worried that she would lose it and have to be removed.

She was mesmerized. Her eyes lit up as she took in the set, and saw the book come to life. For Claren, who does not know how to pretend, you are not putting on a play. Your set *is* Goodnight Moon. And she fell in love with it. After the show, I purchased the Goodnight Moon puzzle as well as the partner book, My World. And every time she's said, "Go see Goodnight Moon?" I have replied, "Of course we can. We'll go in a few weeks."

I didn't realize the show ended so quickly, nor did I ever dream that it would sell out. I'm writing to ask you if there's anything I can do to help her see the show again. To have Claren request something is a very big deal in our family. Claren is not interested in baking cookies with me, or doing crafts, or shopping. She doesn't make the connection between process and result. But Goodnight Moon she understands. I know many parents who find their children's constant demands very stressful. We are not blessed with that problem.

Please let me know if there is anything that can be done. We will come at any time, on any day. I will stand, holding her, in the back or off to the side if need be. We will watch it from the "cry room." We would come to a dress rehearsal if there are any left. I'm sure I must sound like a crazy parent, but because we have so few opportunities to engage and enthrall Claren, it means so much to us when one presents itself. I deeply regret the assumption that tickets would remain available. Please let me know if there is a way for us to see the show again. Although we were planning for my husband and I to bring her, we would be thrilled if just one of us could bring Claren again.


We didn't think she sounded like a crazy parent at all, but rather someone working very hard to provide the best for her daughter. And, of course, we found a way for Claren to attend.

But, the point isn't how nice we are at SCT. It's about the incredible power of the human connections that live theatre provides. I can't imagine a better testament than this letter.

We hope that Claren and her family enjoy "Goodnight Moon" this weekend as much as the first time around. And we hope that you will all join us for the 2009-10 Mainstage Season, starting in September, when we offer another year of stories with the power to enrich the lives of your family.

Creating your own post-play discussions

After nearly every performance, SCT artists return to the stage for a post-play discussion with the audience. They ask audience members about elements of the play, like the effect of parts of the musical score or whether they identify with any characters in the play, and also take audience questions. It is a valuable part of the SCT experience as it helps kids, and adults for that matter, make more personal connections to the material.

And the discussion doesn't have to, and dare we say shouldn't, stop when you leave the theatre. This article from the National Endowment for the Arts, which talks about dramatic play for children, offers some great suggestions for discussion points for your family after seeing a play:

- A good story. Theatre for young audiences today is wide-ranging, offering plays on subjects from traditional fairy tales to current events. Whatever the topic, a good production will clarify its subject. Did you learn something new or gain a new insight through the play?

- Credible characters. A “willing suspension of disbelief” is necessary for viewing theatre, but the characters should be plausible. Did actions seem totally out-of-character for someone in the play? If so, did you lose interest in the drama?

- Excellent performance skills (acting, dance, music, and any other skills called for such as juggling, fencing, etc.). Do these skills support the development of character? Are they at a level befitting the expectations of the actors, both in terms of the amateur or professional status of the company, and the actions of the characters?

- Effective visual elements. Do scenery, costumes, and lighting transport you to the place and time of the play? Are they visually engaging? In cases where scenery and lighting are minimal or absent, did the production stimulate your imagination in other effective ways?

- Challenging ideas. A good script can provoke thought, bring new ideas to light, perhaps help you look at a facet of life in a new or different way. Ask your child what he or she got from a performance. Try open-ended questions such as: What did you see on the stage? What was a particular character trying to do? What happened at the very beginning?

- Insight into other cultures. Theater can take us in time and place to other communities and cultures. Did the production help you learn about cultural or ethnic traditions?

- Strong emotional response and involvement in the plot. Were you moved by the action of the play? While emotions can’t always be verbalized, a discussion with your child about his or her feelings about what happened can benefit both of you.


Of course, it doesn't have to be anything so formal. Simple questions like "What did you like about the play?" or "Who was your favorite character?" on the car ride home can get the discussion rolling.

The ability to forge connections between people is one of the great strengths of theatre arts, and with a little encouragement it can start some great conversations with your kids. And that makes for a more enriching experience all the way around.