Wow!Pow!Bow! 2010 came to a close (finally). Despite our initial fears of playing to only half a house, alumni, parents, friends and a sizable number of the current student body filled the seats, allaying our worries about covering costs.
Rowdy crowd, though. They came in prepared to laugh, and laugh they did even at moments when the drama going on onstage was tense. Guess it's their way of coping. Life is already tense enough as it is. Our three Wow!Pow!Bow! plays had to play to a tough audience. For many of the kids just standing there in front of a sea of faces was a first. That they were able to keep their cool and tell their stories regardless was truly commendable.
Typical of teenagers, the three plays tended to repeat the themes of death and cell phones. Unsurprisingly, the Audience Poll Award went to the play that resonated these two themes the most. The judges gave the Best Overall Production Award to the play with the most movable set pieces and explosive conclusion. SFX rulez! Cool, I can live with that.
But the play from Sectionals which we debuted for a paying audience showed what a trained and professionally directed cast and crew can do. Comedy is difficult, but if done well will win over the toughest crowd. So let's keep comedy on the cards for future Drama Nights, ok?
On the whole, working with all the kids on Wow!Pow!Bow! has been exhausting. But to see them all grow as performers in such a short time, to see how innovative they've been with their staging and set designs, how frugal they've been in obtaining their materials, how eager they've been to improve their performance day-by-day, how patient and cooperative they've been with each other and their competitors; everyone just focused on presenting a good show... that's what I mean by working with a cast and crew with an awesome attitude, having a sense of motivation and ownership over a project of their own choosing.
Though I said before that I don't desire to die in the theatre, I'm pretty sure I want to continue living in it. It's great to be able to teach kids stuff that's outside the curriculum. You can yell at them, threaten them with flying shoes of death, work them till odd hours of the night, and the next night they'll be there again asking for more abuse just so that they can improve on their previous performance. Now, that's a real love for learning! And I'm so happy to facilitate!
