Drama Tuesday - A Cyrano for the Times

“Take it, and turn to facts my fantasies.”

― Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac

An antipodean and retro Cyrano with high school kids

Armadale SHS Production 1986

Airing on SBS this week is a delightful recent French comedy film Cyrano My Love (In French released as Edmond).

A fanciful tale of Edmond Rostand “writing” Cyrano in a madcap few days with inspiration gleaned from his actor friend’s love for a costumier; a over the hill actor desperate for a leading role; a chaotic and comedic backstage account of the writing and staging of the play before going on to be a significant success with over 20,000 productions in the 20th Century alone. 

You can take the “historical accuracy” with the pre-requisite pinch of salt. But it doesn’t make it any the less funny. The scene where Edmond improvises (in verse) the famous “nose speech, drawing images and metaphors out of thin air in a backstage walk is delightfully inventive. If you are in anyway familiar with the play (or its many adaptations like the limp Roxanne with Steve Martin) then there are resonances to be milked.

This was a play that celebrated the very theatricality of theatre – the long tradition of the playing within the play. 

But having watched it (when I probably should have been tucked up in bed) I was transported to the production that John Foreman and I did at Armadale Senior High in 1986. 

Who on earth would have thought that it was a good idea to tackle this High Romance from the French Belle Epoch? People must have thought that we had rocks in our head to even contemplate it. But we did it. 

More than that we had the reckless and rash notion of re-shaping the play into a 1960’s setting! And that we would intersperse rock songs throughout (to move the whole 5 act structure along at a cracking pace).

It was an act of hubris (of the kind that drama teachers are so fond of).

But… it did work.

And the students did respond to the text and built their own connections. 

The closing scene with the mortally wounded Cyrano finally revealing his true love for Roxanne was introduced by the melancholy of the Don McLean song American Pie

Something touched me deep inside

The day the music died

Not surprisingly, I am fascinated by these plays about plays. 

I return (as a teacher) to sharing Stage Beauty about the transition point in Restoration Theatre when women were able to take roles on stage. (Directed by Richard Eyre. The screenplay by Jeffrey Hatcher is based on his play Compleat Female Stage Beauty, which was inspired by references to 17th-century actor Edward Kynaston made in the detailed private diary kept by Samuel Pepys.

Of course, there is Shakespeare in Love  with all of Tom Stoppard’s wit.

“- Philip Henslowe: Mr. Fennyman, allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster.

- Hugh Fennyman: So what do we do?

- Philip Henslowe: Nothing. Strangely enough, it all turns out well.

- Hugh Fennyman: How?

- Philip Henslowe: I don't know. It's a mystery.”

“Cyrano, My Love,” was written and directed by Alexis Michalik, adapting his own acclaimed play,

Like any high school production there were rough edges and some bumpier performances, but what this production did was to open the doors to a kind of theatre that was not harsh realism or Brechtian alienation. It opened minds to theatre seen through the lenses of time and continuity. It opened hearts to how music swells dramatic action. 

It’s a long time since that production – and those actors are now out there in the world with fading memories. The disintegrating paper scripts sit on my shelves slowing dissolving into dust (and who knows where the disc is – or if there is any technology that can possibly read it). But I wanted to remind us as drama teachers that sometimes we need to take bold and huge risks and to step out into the vast planes of imagined possibilities. Too often now I see drama in schools shuttering down; what will maximise the ATAR score thinking. It’s not easy to be bold. It’s risky business to push the boundaries. When it works, it’s worth it.

The first page of the script evokes the vaulting ambition of our production.

Now all I have to do is find the images from the production. 

Drama Tuesday - Participating in Drama in virtual space

Ihave been preparing a recorded presentation for IDEC in Beijing China. The presentations focus on Building Confidence in Drama Teaching and on Progression in Drama. As part of this preparation there is a Question and Answer section and I share part of a really interesting question: 

问题：戏剧是在虚拟的情景进行体验。但有时幼儿对虚拟的场景感到害怕或不愿意参与。比如，教师构建了一个在森林里的场景，但是，个别幼儿表示不愿意去森林探险。这个时候，是否应该允许幼儿进行旁观？或者进行引导？

Question: Drama is experienced in a virtual situation.But sometimes young children are afraid or unwilling to participate in the virtual scene.For example, the teacher constructed a scene in the forest, but some children expressed their reluctance to explore the forest. At this time, should teachers allow children to be an onlooker? Or teachers should do some guidance?

To answer this question I started by thinking about participation in drama.

What is participation in drama learning and teaching – either in the virtual classroom or in the shared physical space of the drama workshop. 

In drama teaching we design our learning activities so that there are opportunities for students to participate physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally. 

By this we mean that students are actively using their physical bodies. They move through space and time. They interact with each other. They use their voices. They use their muscles and limbs and move with a sense of weight, time, space and energy (Laban).

They use their minds and thinking in collaboration with their physical selves. They explore ideas, express and communicate with words, thoughts, images and imagination. 

They interact socially – having a sense of themselves and their personal identity that is shared with others in developing social and cultural identity. 

They engage with their emotions, recognising their capacity to experience and share feelings. 

In drama we want students to be doing, thinking and feeling. 

As teachers we will encourage participation at all these levels and help students understand what we are looking for from them. 

What is the application of these ideas of participation in  the virtual drama classroom?

Learning drama in the changed world means that we are all coming to terms with teaching and learning drama in the virtual world. 

We need better research to guide us. But here are some starting thoughts about 

diagnosing the issue of participation in drama with the student in the virtual space. 

To understand the issue, let us ask ourselves some questions:

• In the virtual classroom, what screen is the student looking at – an iPhone or similar? A laptop? A TV screen?

• How much space is there for moving and participating?

• Who else is in the space with the child? Is she on her own? Other there others who are watching? Is there someone like a caring parent or other who is supporting and encouraging them?

• What is the time of day? Is this part of a routine of on-line teaching or a one-off session?

• What other experiences has the child had of online learning?

• Are they confident communicators?

• What is the child’s age and stage of development?

The reason I ask these questions is because the context matters. We need to diagnose what the underlying issue is.

• Is this a drama learning issue?

• Or a general learning issue?

• Or is this a technology issue?

Some students will respond well in the on-line environment and others will find it difficult. It may be that their language competence and confidence is not yet ready for the online learning situation where their voices and images will be mediated and shared. It may be  that their technology access or confidence is limited. We need to look at the student’s situation to understand the problem.

The first thing that we must do as drama teachers in the virtual classroom is to talk individually with each child and ask them for their answers to why they are reluctant about participating. To have that conversation we need to build rapport with the individual child.

For example, 

• What is the image of us as teacher that the student has – how do we fill the frame of the screen? Are we close to the camera and look directly at them on the screen?

• How are we using our voice? Are we quiet and close or are we using our teacher voice when we have a classroom of students?

• Have we adjusted our pace of speaking? Our tone? Our vocal dynamics?

• Do we listen when the students respond?

• To work in the virtual drama classroom (or any drama class) students need to have clearly explained expectations. We call this the drama contract.

We need to establish with these students in the virtual space our drama contract. Students in the virtual classroom need to know some basic information about drama learning. As teachers we need to explain and students need to understand that: drama is practical and embodied learning. We need to explain to all our students that while we know that students have different ways of showing their learning, in this class you need to show your participation by doing, thinking and sharing your feelings. 

In practical terms, it may be that we need to show reluctant students what we are hoping they will do in the drama lesson. We could show them video clips of students in drama and explain to them what the students in the video clip are doing.  

As with all teaching, we need to plan with a sense of progression – of planning activities in drama that match the age and stage of development of the children in our class. 

Teaching drama is a complex skill and these are some of the things we consider as we plan our drama teaching.

Bibliography

Goksel, E. (2018). Exploring Drama in Education. An Interview with Professor Jonothan Neelands. ETAS Journal, 35(2 Spring), 13. 

Neelands, J. (1984). Making sense of drama : a guide to classroom practice. In (pp. 24-32). London Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books published in association with 2D Magazine.