The Aragon Advanced Drama class is producing an Original Works performance that is scheduled to be posted at the end of the semester on Aragon’s drama department website. The students will each write, direct and cast their pieces which will be compiled in a virtual performance.
Other district drama classes have worked hard to provide students with alternative performance opportunities during distance learning. Hillsdale is working on a play, “Almost, Maine,” and Burlingame is creating a series of one-acts: five to ten minute plays. Creativity is key as all schools seek to produce entertaining performances while adjusting to the differences of acting through a computer screen.
“To [stage a performance] online, it’s almost half as effective, and I didn’t want it to be half as effective,” said drama teacher Shane Smuin. “We have to make the best of a bad situation. … I felt the best way to get people’s attention for a show online was to open up [students’] teenage brains and put them in a performance.”
“Some monologues … were extremely personal and emotional, … and it’s super brave”
To best showcase the students’ talents, they will be creating four monologues and scenes, which include two to four characters, for different prompts that range from addressing current civic issues to personal experiences. The students’ pieces could be any genre of drama, but they were each influenced by the writers’ personal experiences.
“I don’t really like writing personal things, but there were some monologues in my class that people wrote that were extremely personal and emotional and just hearing them makes you really think,” said junior Nicole Hahn. “Those are the ones I’m looking forward [to seeing] the most, because, in my opinion, it’s super brave that they’re able to share that with people.”
For this project, students will brainstorm, write, edit, practice and record their scenes. This concept of creating original pieces may sound familiar since the advanced drama class has also written their own plays for the Young Playwrights Project.
“[Original Works] is similar only in that they’re writing their own stuff,” Smuin said. “When the Silicon Valley Theater Works Company comes together with Aragon, the students write the plays, but we hire professional actors to perform them, so this is a very different thing.”
What differentiates these two projects further is the medium through which they are presented. While the Young Playwrights Project was performed on stage, the Original Works performance will be presented virtually through a screen.
“Performing in person is a lot less awkward,” said sophomore Kamaile Zimmerman. “On Zoom, you have to stay seated and look in a certain direction and act like someone’s there. Sometimes, with the internet, a lot of people can’t really see what you’re doing, so we have to be a lot more expressive on camera than we would in the theater.”
“I hope they get a chance to have some sort of therapeutic release from writing and performing these subjects”
While some students chose to film their performances via Zoom, others may choose to videotape themselves individually and edit the recording with other students’ parts. Though Zoom or a camera lens may seem like similar mediums, students have to act completely differently for them.
“You have to show a bit more restraint in your acting,” said sophomore Seth Weinfield. “If you’re performing on stage, you have to project quite a bit, and you have to be a lot more dramatic with facial movements. While, in recording, a camera is going to pick up a lot more than what the audience sees.”
Some Advanced Drama students perceived stage acting as more effective than film acting.
“[Acting on screen] does take off a little bit of the pressure, but it’s also not as immersive and I can’t really get the feel of playing the character when I’m talking to the computer,” Hahn said.
The purpose of showcasing student work is to allow them the opportunity to express themselves creatively while entertaining others.
“I hope they get a chance to have some sort of therapeutic release from writing and performing these subjects,” Smuin said. “For the parents, in their heads, I think they’ll be watching and going ‘Wow, that’s how they feel about this. I understand.’”
The Original Works showcase provides enrolled students with an outlet to exhibit their opinions and experiences in an accessible manner. Although the performance will be free for anyone to view, the showing will be paired with an option to donate to the Aragon Drama Boosters. The monologues are expected to be released online on Feb. 12, and the group scenes will soon follow.
