Field Trip to A Midsummer Night's Dream

 Luckily for us, it just happens that the same Shakespeare play that we are doing as a class is the same play that was playing last week at a local theater.

So I organized a field trip to take my class to the play to get some inspiration for our play. For many of the students it was their first play that they had ever been too!!!

The theater folk were real nice to us through the whole trip. They gave us a private tour backstage so that the kids could be on stage for a few minutes and see the scenery, the backdrop, and the props up close. And then they even let us go and say hello to the cast who were putting on their makeup and getting ready for the show.

The show itself was done very well. The play was set in the Bahamas in 1910. There were a few places where they talked about local aspects of the Bahamas through the play.

As we sat and watched the play, every time Hermia came on the stage, I could tell my Hermia was watching her every move. Every time Bottom or Puck did something funny, my little actors were paying very close attention. It was like they were projecting themselves into the characters on stage. They were totally and utterly enthralled. On the one hand they are now going to push themselves to be better actors, but it also means that they've got higher expectations for scenery and costumes (which I'm not so sure how I'm going to work out yet!).

Later that afternoon we had our own rehearsal, and my actors were like they were on fire with energy and enthusiasm. They have certainly caught the vision for what theater is all about!