Teachers and Students Collaborate on Original School Play, SOLDEA ISLAND
By Victoria Olsen, 4th-grade parent, and Amanda Seiden, 4th grader
You may have noticed the energy in the halls on Tuesday afternoons...or Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays too... .For weeks now 75 students from 3rd through 5th grades have been working with seven teachers on an original play called Soldea Island, written by Robert Weinstein and based on an illustrated story by drama teacher Noelle Gentile. Directed by Ms. Gentile and 4th-grade-teacher Angie Nelson, the play is the school's first theatrical production in years and it is built on teamwork.
"Theater by nature is a collaborative process. We wanted to take the experience of putting on a theatrical performance and have the students experience all of the different aspects mounting a production," Ms. Gentile said recently during a rehearsal. "We wanted this to be a student-driven production. In fact, there were several scenes written or revised by the students. The costumes were designed by the students, and so on." Parents got involved too: music for the play was written by 3rd grade parent Jeff Newell. Volunteer Day was a perfect example of this productive collaboration. On Saturday May 17th about 20 parents, four teachers, and 30 students came together to transform the auditorium into a theater space. Fueled by pizza and enthusiasm, they worked for hours to get ready for next week's performances.
Fittingly, the play's theme is cooperation. Fourth-grader Amanda Seiden, on the Public Relations committee, explains that "the play is about two groups of people, the Urples and the Eenies. The Urples have purple hair. They love music, dance, and all kinds of arts. The Eenies however, have green hair and like scientific things. There is a wall of 'hatred' that separates them. One day a boy named Havi from the Urple side gets his foot stuck in the wall. A girl named Nika from the Eenies side sees him and gets a potion to help him. The two sides are supposed to hate each other but once they become friends, a small hole is created in the wall. Eventually, the wall is worn away. This play has themes of how wrong racism and war are."
Students auditioned for parts and everyone who wanted to participate was assigned a role or a position on the crew, led by PS 8 teachers and parents. Volunteer team leaders include Carolyn Saffady (Props and Set Pieces), Teresa Kravitz (Backdrop), Aleah Forrest (Make-up and Hair Design), Karen Block (Public Relations and Front of the House), Josette D'Ambrosi (Choreography), Dianne Galashaw (Costume Design), with Patricia Bounab helping on hair and makeup and Roselinda and Marilynn Galashaw on costumes too.
There will be evening performances on Thursday May 29 at 5:30 and Friday May 30 at 6:30. Tickets are free, with a suggested donation of $5. It promises to be amazing!
Posted on: May 27, 2008
