Playmaking 2017-2018

It's that time of year again! This season of Playmaking at PS 11 is coming to a close. I taught my last classes there (until next season), the kids all finished writing their plays, we rehearsed them during the past two weeks, and have started the final performances on the Broadway stage at Circle in the Square. 

Playmaking is a form of playwriting created many years ago by playwright and master teaching artist Daniel Judah Sklar. Daniel, Circle in the Square, and PS 11 have been in collaboration for the past 17 years. I joined the team in 2014, and have been teaching classes at PS 11 as a master teaching artist for the past few years. 

We have a team of 10 Residency Assistants (RAs) who are also professional actors and fellow alumni from Circle in the Square Theatre School. They mentor 3-8 students of their own in each class. This residency is part of a year-long Arts Education training program, which I co-direct at Circle with Executive Director Colin O'Leary.

This year's 3rd graders at PS 11 were delightful. Some were passionate about writing from the beginning, while others struggled at first; but each and every one of them found and expressed their unique creative voice through writing and completing their own play.

Their first day started with a scribble scrabble, which sounds just like what it is: scribbling on a blank page. They do this for 20 seconds, then put pencils down. Similar to a Rorschach test--but without analyzing any of their answers--the kids then choose two of their favorite things that they see in their own scribbles, and create character profiles on them. They also learn about play structure and script format; how to build conflict into climax, then create action and resolution. They write their first imaginative plays, and witness them read by the actors. 

During the next step, we give the kids an artistic challenge, which is to transform their imaginary characters into realistic humans, while still keeping the essence of their original scribble scrabble characters. Their final realistic plays are the ones that are being performed at Circle in the Square this week. 

Not many kids can say that they get their original plays performed by professional actors on Broadway; but every single 3rd grader at PS 11 can. 

I consistently feel rewarded and lucky when I do this work. The kids brighten my days; I'm honored to call Daniel Judah Sklar my friend and colleague, and grateful that he taught me Playmaking years ago, and entrusted me to teach it; I so appreciate the whole talented team of 10 RAs; and I love still being a part of Circle in the Square after so many years (I graduated from the theatre school as a 20-year-old back in 1993).  

If you want to come see the rest of the children's plays at Circle in the Square this week, please drop me a line, and I'll give you the details. It's a rare and enriching experience to see the kids as they witness their own words come to life so beautifully on stage; and it's a delight to see the talented actors do what they do best. It's been an incredible pleasure working with them these past few months. 

Me and my team after the performance today. From left to right: Danielle Amendola, Matthew Boyd, me, Cristina Sebastian, Gretchen Schneider, and Shana Casey. (Photo credit: Colin O'Leary) 

2016/2017 Playmaking Final Performances

Yesterday was the opening day of our Playmaking 2016/2017 PS 11 performances at Circle in the Square. All the 3rd graders at PS 11 completed their final scripts; the Residency Assistants/professional actors typed and directed the plays in rehearsals last week; and now is the time that these young playwrights have been waiting for: their first plays on Broadway!

Playmaking is a form of playwriting that master teaching artist and playwright (as well as my mentor, friend, and colleague) Daniel Judah Sklar created many years ago. I teach Playmaking to three of the 3rd grade classes at PS 11 (Daniel teaches the other three). I also taught it to my team of RAs/actors so they could guide their own group of kids in each class.

The performances yesterday were spectacular. The actors/RAs and young playwrights made me so proud! I absolutely love seeing the kids’ faces when they see their plays come to life so beautifully on the Broadway stage. One child and his mom stayed in the theatre long after others left. His mom shyly confessed, “He loves it here. He just can’t leave!” I know how it feels. I truly do.

I’m looking forward to my other two classes’ performances this Friday and Monday. If you’d like to be in the audience, please drop me a line so I can give you the details. 

This is such a unique and extraordinary program that Circle in the Square created with Daniel and PS 11 way back when. I’m really lucky to continue to be part of it.

Here’s a photo of me with my talented team. It was taken yesterday before the kids arrived in the theatre. 

From left to right: Shlomit, Chelsea, Hannah, me, Sam, and Cait

The Three Billy Goats Gruff at PS 166

I'm grateful to have worked as a teaching artist at PS 166 (The Richard Rodgers School of the Arts and Technology) yesterday on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I spent 45 minutes to an hour in each of the five kindergarten classrooms introducing acting and theatre. Since all classes were in the process of reading The Three Billy Goats Gruff, I created a lesson plan with the focus on that story. After a warm up and discussion, the kids rehearsed, then performed in small groups as five characters from the book: the little billy goat; the medium-sized billy goat; the big billy goat; flowers, grass, trees, and vegetables in the meadow; and the troll. It was a delight to work with such enthusiastic kids and supportive teachers. Thank you to Colin O’Leary at Circle in the Square for offering me this fun job; and thanks to PS 166 for having me! 

Photo credit: Jim Henderson

PS 11 Play Reading

We have a new group of residency assistants (RAs) this year working with 3rd graders at PS 11 in Manhattan, guiding them as they write their own plays.  I teach classes 4-6, and lead my RA team, while Daniel Judah Sklar (playwright, master teaching artist, and creator of Playmaking) does the same for his team and classes 1-3. We call my RA team the PM group, and I couldn’t be more pleased with all of these talented women. Yep, all women! Daniel’s AM RA group is mostly men (they're talented, too). It just turned out this rare way due to everyone’s schedules. All of us (except for Daniel) graduated various different years from Circle in the Square Theatre School.

Today, we had our first reading of the kids’ scripts in the library at PS 11. Each RA had a guest actor (also from Circle in the Square) and together they performed the kids’ imaginary plays. It was beautiful to watch the children in awe of their words coming to life so spectacularly!

From now until the end of the year, we will guide the kids as they transform their imaginary characters into realistic humans. Then, in January, their realistic plays will be performed by the RAs (also professional actors) on the Broadway stage at Circle in the Square.

I’m incredibly thankful to Circle in the Square, Daniel Judah Sklar, and PS 11 for welcoming me to this job. I started as an RA a few years back, and continue to love working with the kids as a teaching artist. I’m also thankful to all who were involved in today’s first readings—especially on such a rainy day. We all got soaked on our way to and from PS 11. I’ll include two photos here (both taken today): One of my PM RA team, and the other of our team plus the guest actors--a mini Circle in the Square reunion!