So today was the first day of my internship! It was everything I wanted and more.
I got to the theater at 8:15ish. I met with Sean (my supervisor) and the other interns and had a quick meeting to remind us where we were going and what we needed to remember for the day. I didn't get to greet the coming in students like I wanted but was asked to go to my classroom to prep and tidy up. I think once I am working with younger children than high schoolers, I will be asked to greet outside or wherever...so I know I will do it sometime.
My classroom was on the 4th floor. Everyone else's was in the lower level of the building. So I felt like I was in my own special world. When I got to my class, I was the first one there. Students started trickling in and then the teacher, Leah. Leah is awesome. Such a great teaching artist. She is super mellow and works wonderfully with high schoolers. My favorite part about the way Leah teaches is how she lets the students lead their acting. It is so important for the students to have a say in how they act and what they want to do.
We are working on the play The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). It is a parody of Shakespeare written and originally performed by three Californian men who know a shit ton about Shakespeare. It is hilarious. Some highlights from the show: They turn Titus Andronicus into a cooking show, they do all the Shakespeare comedies in one scene (because they are all alike and pretty much the same play), and they do a rap to summarize Othello. As you can see it takes Shakespeare and really has fun with it. It's a great way to introduce high school students to something as intimating as Shakespeare. We will only be doing pieces of the show. The students were broken up into groups of three and we gave them a scene to work on. They were asked to have fun with the scene...they didn't have to stick AT ALL with the descriptions and footnotes. The work I was already seeing from the students today was hilarious! The cooking show was turned into a cooking show by the Jersey Shore cast, the rap was rapped by three of the whitest kids in the class, and the Macbeth fight was turned into a mortal combat thing. All were funny and the students are really great actors, who go for it. I cannot wait to see what they bring to the table tomorrow.
We also played LOTS of theatre games, which I was allowed to join in on. I love playing improv games with kids because it really shows their creativity and they really go for it. We could have easily played these games all day and never have been bored.
I ate lunch with the students. We went outside to eat since it was such a beautiful day and the cool high schoolers wanted to get away from the not-so-cool younger kids. :) I had one boy already cling to me. He just talked up a storm about plays, musical, auditions, shows he has been in, and things I had no idea about. :) At this point I wanted to get to know some of the other kids, but I had to remind myself that I had all week to do so and this kid obviously wanted/needed my attention. So I listened.
Again it is interesting the different types of theatre people. I could even see it in just this small theatre class. We had the kids who thought they were too cool for school, we had the awkward joke telling boys, and we had the "normal" kids...which isn't that normal for theatre. :) I am sure there will be even more types tomorrow when I get to know them all even more.
Tomorrow I will be working in the same classroom on the same topic. At the end of the week (on Friday) the students will perform their scenes for their parents. Yes, they will have to memorize these scenes by then...even before then. They will do fine.
After class tomorrow I am going out to coffee with some interns (YAY friends). It will just be nice to hang out with someone other than my roommate (not that I don't love her). Especially since we are all theatre education interns and probably have LOADS in common. So I am really looking forward to tomorrow for not only hanging out with some awesome interns but for doing this theatre education thing, that I am already in love with.
Thanks for reading! Talk to you tomorrow!
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