REHEARSAL: Phase One

Generally, a first rehearsal is taken up with a read through of the script, highlighting lines, going through the rehearsal/production schedule etc. While this is all very important, working to a tight timeline and with different age groups requires a slight adjustment. Ways around this:

• Read play during their in-class reading time or at home
• Highlight lines for homework and start memorising lines
• Give out letter (or contract) to parents with rehearsal/production schedule and tell the students what they will be doing at the start of each rehearsal and at the end of each rehearsal what they will be doing next time.

When creating a theatre production with children and young people it is essential that you acknowledege their strengths and weaknesses. One of their strengths is playing! So in Part One of your rehearsal phase, PLAY! This includes the following:

• Giving a run down of the play in a kinesthetic mode (not a sit down)
• Using gibberish instead of actual scripted dialogue
• Playing the scenes/units/beats in different styles

As a theatre director, giving directions to a student actor can be frustrating at times, so it is essential that a collaborative approach is taken. It is also imperative that you, as the theatre director, make a firm decision on questions that a student actor asks you about what stage movement you would like. It is either, YES or No, never maybe, or we will get back to that Unit.