"Thirty Plays in 40 Minutes"

"30 PLAYS"

Objective: Students will be able to build 30 plays 

for a live performance of a 50 minute play festival

Points for this assignment will be awarded for: 
Rehearsal/ Individual Writing/ Improv Involvment/ 
Assistance with Staging and Blocking/ Review and Critique 

Activity: The students create original work in groups and with partners in hopes to generate 30 original plays. 
It can be a rather tough challenge, but with the right group of students, anything is possible.

The students used all sorts of material as prompts for the writing that is performed. 

They used:

• Current events (global, national, local, and right from the high school)
• Famous people
• Social problems
• pictures
• puns
• statire
• parody
• characters
• advertising
• jokes
• improv
• and plain old storytelling

PHASE 1:
We spend two weeks on the first wave of material generation
1.) Playing improv games (allowing with some small time to prep at times)
2.) Writing Sketch comedy
3.) Creating puns and turning them into quick one liner set ups
4.) Creating some group scenes (some focusing on the abstract or nonsense)
5.) and through general actor play (them goofing off)

Example of an activity: Make up a commercial” – students write a quick commercial about a product or service. Then they perform them in front of the class and on video.

PHASE 2:
Mr. Schaefer selects the 30 and we begin rehearsing all of them by breaking into small groups and coaching the sketches.

FILM ALL OF THEM after they have polished and coached!!!

PHASE 3:

Computer Lab Work

need: Youtube / Word - REVIEW/CRITIQUE

1. The student's watch the sketches that we selected and filmed 
2. They select and write constructive criticism on the pieces they are involved in.

PHASE 4: 
We set up the stage, hang the clothes line, pull all of the props and costume pieces needed, title all of the pieces on notecards.

***The students run the whole show and try to fit it into the hour***
- we stop and start and fix what needs work. 

PHASE 5:
Student perform the show in front of two invited audiences during 7th hour.

PHASE 6:
Computer lab work
Students write a reflection of the production and submit the critique on Google Classroom