Berkeley Rep Blog
Category archive: School of Theatre
Teens engage with the White House
posted by School of Theatre on Fri, May 6, 2011
in School of Theatre
By Allison Whorton
Education Fellow
The phone rang promptly at 5:15pm on Wednesday afternoon, and the 14 Berkeley Rep teens in the room jumped up and down with excitement and anticipation.
“Hey, this is Kal over at the White House,” said the voice over the speakerphone.
We were on the phone with the White House as a part of the President’s 100 Roundtables with Young Americans, started in an effort to have young Americans across the country engage in discussions about and brainstorm solutions to issues that are important to them. Members of the White House Administration were tasked with participating in at least 100 roundtable conversations with youth across the country. Information from each roundtable will be sent to the President’s Domestic Policy Council.
Through our Arts Advocacy Committee, which was started this year, the teens have been researching and reflecting upon the importance of the arts and arts education and they have already met with representatives about this subject. I registered our monthly Teen Council meeting for the White House’s roundtable initiative back in March, requesting that a member of the White House Administration join us. And, lo and behold, we received an email from Kalpen Modi, the associate director of the White House’s Office of Public Engagement and the White House’s liaison for Young People and the Arts (better known to the teens for his roles in the Harold and Kumar movies and the TV series House), asking if he could phone in on our conversation all the way from Washington, DC.
To start off the conversation, we went around the table and shared our names and where we’re from. When we were finished, Kal, who attended grad school at Stanford, said, “All of this talk of Berkeley and the Bay Area makes me miss Zachary’s Pizza” (to which everyone laughed).
Kal went on to say that he “is the product of public arts education,” hence his particular interest and investment in our conversation. “This generation of young people is particularly giving, intelligent, innovative, and civically engaged,” he continued. President Obama started the 100 Roundtables because he wanted young peoples’ voices to be represented in national dialogues, as Obama wants all Americans to have “a seat at the table.”
Teen Council members talked about their interests and concerns. The teens spoke personally about the impact the arts have had on them, and why they believe it’s essential that the arts are considered a core subject in Congress’ reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. We spoke about the significance of the “STEM to STEAM” movement (adding the “A” for arts to our country’s current emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math in education). We discussed the innovative skills students gain from arts education, and how the divergent and creative thinking garnered from arts participation is vital for a forward-thinking nation.
As our hour-long conversation (that was originally only supposed to be 20 minutes!) came to a close, Kal wanted to make clear that while there have been cuts to government arts funding in recent months as part of overall government belt-tightening within this financial climate, it doesn’t mean that the government is trying to give up on an entire program. “Arts are critical to this White House,” Kal said. He went on to give us advice as Teen Council furthers its arts advocacy efforts, suggesting that we continue with our current initiatives and engage in grassroots conversations. “This is a very impressive group,” he said. “Celebrate the work you’ve done and don’t undermine the voices you have.”
Our conversation with Kal was the culmination of a lot of hard work throughout the year. After the call ended, the teens clapped and cheered. Emboldened and inspired, the teens relished this proud moment, and I did too.
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Kimberly sends us fan art
posted by Karen McKevitt on Tue, Apr 19, 2011
in School of Theatre
Aww! Kimberly really enjoyed one of the School of Theatre's arts education programs. And, the Alex she mentions is the same Alex Moggridge now appearing in Three Sisters.
Thanks for the artwork, Kimberly!
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Words for arts advocacy
posted by School of Theatre on Thu, Apr 7, 2011
in School of Theatre
By Allison Whorton
Education Fellow
Tuesday, April 5 was Arts Advocacy Day 2011, a national event dedicated to underscoring the importance of supporting and funding for the arts. In honor of this event, five members of Berkeley Rep’s Teen Council went to Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office in San Francisco to have their voices heard about the importance of arts education. They met with Director of Field Services Gina Banks and engaged in a conversation about the need to keep the arts in our schools.
As part of an arts advocacy social media initiative, members of the Berkeley Rep community and beyond posted on Twitter and Facebook about the value of the arts. Berkeley Rep teens presented these messages at the Senator’s office. Take a look below at some of the key words from their tweets and status updates, compiled into a word cloud on Wordle.net. The larger the word, the more people included it in their posts. (Click the image to make it full size.)
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Teen One-Acts Festival: Oscar learns set design
posted by Karen McKevitt on Wed, Mar 30, 2011
in School of Theatre
By Margot Leonard, scenic art fellow
The Teen One-Acts Festival is an annual event in which a panel of students selects two original plays penned by Bay Area teens to be performed, directed, and produced by their peers. These teens are then mentored by Berkeley Rep staff at each step of the process to help them hone their craft.
Margot Leonard is the 2010-11 scenic art fellow at Berkeley Rep. As part of her fellowship, Margot helped mentor Oscar Peña, this year’s teen scenic designer, through the entire One-Acts process.
About a month ago I was sitting in the lobby of the School of Theatre, teaching a teenager to draft his set design. I’ve spent semester-long college classes on this subject (and that’s not including the grad school that exists somewhere in my hazy future), but I had to give Oscar a crash course in half an hour. We covered the basics as he tried to conceal the apprehension in his eyes, and I assured him he could email me with any questions. Considering how much I threw at him during that brief meeting, he absorbed an incredible amount.
Oscar’s drafting turned out great, and provided us with everything we needed to know to build the set as he intended it (which is, after all, the point of drafting). Fast forward to last Saturday, which marked the beginning of build for the One-Acts. For one week, Lindsay (scene shop fellow), myself (scenic art fellow), and Oscar (teen set designer) worked in the old prop shop, building and painting the set that Oscar designed. Highlights from that week include “crash course in color mixing” and “how to make paint dry faster using a hair dryer.” Much fun was had by all.
Now, just a few days before the show, the sets and lights and props and costumes have been loaded into the School of Theatre and tech week has begun. The actors are figuring out their costumes and props, the stage managers are writing their cues, and everyone’s getting excited as it all starts to come together. Tech is one of my favorite times because, as a set designer, the majority of the work is already done, and it’s a time for making small tweaks to get everything just right. It still means long days, but there’s generally more sitting involved than during build.
Oscar paints a "stained glass window."
I’ve been amazed by Oscar’s attention to detail and maturity throughout this process. True, he would still have a lot to learn before becoming a professional set designer (for that matter, so would I), but he designed two great sets that really work for these teen-written one-act plays, and he successfully communicated those designs to the rest of his collaborative team. That’s more than can be said about some professionals in this business. And he’s only 15!
Come see the Teen One-Acts Festival! Shows are April 1, 2, 8, and 9 at 8pm.
Want to learn more about the fellowship program? Click here!
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Collaboration and creation at Summer Theatre Intensive
posted by School of Theatre on Thu, Mar 10, 2011
in School of Theatre
By Allison Whorton
Education Fellow
Berkeley Rep School of Theatre’s Summer Theatre Intensive is entering its 10th year. Over the last decade, middle- and high-school students have spent their summers at our School, and from June to August our building is abuzz with lots of learning, creating, and laughing. But why not hear it from the source? I talked with some Summer Theatre Intensive experts (a.k.a. the teens themselves) and here is what they had to say:
“Spending my summers at Berkeley Rep helped me realize how amazing it can feel to spend my entire day getting to do something I love surrounded by people who feel exactly the same way. You get the opportunity to spend all day building almost every aspect of your acting skills, and then create a play that demonstrates how much everyone, regardless of skill level, has learned. There’s a tremendous amount of community building involved, and two days in everyone could swear they’ve been friends forever.” -- Sierra Baggins, a junior at Berkeley High School
“My favorite part about the Summer Theatre Intensive is creating and performing the final group production, but also getting to watch the other groups perform. Everyone’s show is always so diverse and creative.” -- Bowen Bethards, a sophomore at Albany High School
Here are some of the words that the teens said “first came to mind” when they thought about their Berkeley Rep summer experience:
Creation
Dramatic
Fun
Learning
Friendship
Amazing
Our expert Bowen says it best: “you just need to take it once, and then you will want to come back next year.”
If you know a teen looking for a fun-filled theatre experience this summer, send them to www.berkeleyrep.org/summerintensive. Financial aid is available.
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New year, new you
posted by School of Theatre on Thu, Jan 6, 2011
in School of Theatre
By Allison Whorton
Education Fellow
Happy New Year! Like many of my friends, family, and co-workers, I decide upon a few New Year’s resolutions for myself each year. One of my resolutions for 2011 is to become a better cook. Some friends have resolved to eat healthier food and get more sleep. Candice, the other fellow at the School of Theatre, has decided to try something new every month in the year 2011. This month, she got her hair cut shorter than she’s ever had it before! If Candice’s resolution sounds familiar, then why not learn something novel and fun at the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre?
This Sunday, January 9 from 1-3pm, we are offering a FREE (yes, free!) workshop for youth, teens, adults, and families. Our Sunday Sampler will give everyone a taste of the exciting classes we have in store for our winter session, which begins next week. There are new experiences to be had by everyone: youth can pretend to be superheroes, teenagers can learn stage combat, and adults can explore the world of acting.
Who knows, maybe you or a loved one will discover a love for theatre and for engaging creativity. The New Year is an occasion for trying new things and becoming a better you; why not do so by surprising yourself at the School of Theatre? And, in the meantime, there are a few recipes I need to try out…
For more information about this weekend’s Sunday Sampler (January 9 from 1-3 pm), email [email protected].
For more information about our winter classes for youth, teens, and, adults of all ages and experience levels, click http://berkeleyrep.org/school.
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Sock it to 'em
posted by Rachel Steinberg on Thu, Dec 9, 2010
in At the theatre , Events , Our shows , School of Theatre
“We should take a picture of this now,” someone said as we all admired our surroundings. We were in the Helen C. Barber upper lobby of the Roda Theatre, standing amidst an array of Tupperware containers filled with buttons and foam; brightly colored yarn, gingerly placed; scraps of fabric from the costume shop in neat piles; and bowls of vibrant pom-poms all carefully arranged atop five tables covered in crisp, white paper. It was Saturday, just before one o’clock, and we were about to launch Berkeley Rep’s first-ever Sock Puppet Palooza.
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We can all be Superman
posted by School of Theatre on Mon, Oct 25, 2010
in School of Theatre
By Allison Whorton
Education Fellow
“Is everyone ready to go?” Candice McDowell, my fellow Education fellow, said to me at 12:45pm on Thursday afternoon. The Berkeley Rep School of Theatre staff gathered together in our lobby. What were we ready for? Not a staff meeting, not one of our many School of Theatre events. Instead, the six of us excitedly headed out the door and walked down Shattuck Avenue to a local Berkeley movie theatre for a field trip. A movie? During a work day? The School of Theatre staff can primarily be found in our office during the work day, plugging away at our desks, orchestrating our diverse range of theatre education programming, or out in Bay Area schools. However, this day was special. We went to see Waiting for ‘Superman’, Davis Guggenheim’s new documentary about America’s flawed education system.
With our large popcorn and soda to share, we scurried into the balcony of the movie theatre, awaiting the start of the film. It begins with an interview with Anthony, a little boy who lives in the Washington D.C. area. As Guggenheim interviews him about his experiences, the elementary school student says, “I want my kids to have better than what I had.” From the moment the documentary began, I knew it would be an intimate and profound reflection of the dismal state of our nation’s public education system. Guggenheim follows five young and promising students around throughout the documentary, and we witness how our current education system can hinder our youth, instead of supporting their growth as students and as people.
The documentary imparted some staggering statistics. America ranks only 25th in math and 21st in science among 30 developing countries. It is estimated that only 50 million Americans will be qualified to fill the 123 million high-paying, high-skilled jobs that will be available by the year 2020. More than 2,000 American high schools are “dropout factories” (meaning more than 40 percent of the students do not graduate). After I saw the documentary, I researched statistics specific to California. California’s high school graduation rate is 68 percent. In 8th grade, only 37 percent pass the state test in math, and 38 percent pass the state test in reading.
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Teens changing the face of American theatre
posted by Chad Jones on Tue, Jul 20, 2010
in News , School of Theatre , Teen Council
In a previous post, we told you about how Berkeley Rep Teen Council members Ariele Scharff, Gareth Tidball, Taylor Greenthal, Matia Emsellem, Keisa Reynolds, and Christina Novakov-Ritchey (that's them above, from left to right, in downtown Chicago) were part of the first delegation of teens to attend the Theatre Communications Group Conference.
While at the Chicago conference, the teens took part in many sessions, including those that dealt with race and diversity in America, inclusion in the arts of people with disabilities, and, perhaps most notably, Fostering the Next Generation of American Theatre Audiences moderated by educators from Berkeley Rep, the Goodman Theatre , and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
We asked members of the Teen Council delegation to reflect on their experience in Chicago and describe what they took away from the TCG Conference.
Christina Novakov-Ritchey
Miramonte High School
Fall 2010: Freshman at the University of California, Davis
The chief reason we, as teenagers, went to the TCG Conference was to let people know that we exist, that we have a voice, and that arts education is vital to keeping the theatre alive and relevant. This is easier said than done. On our plane ride over my mind was racing with thoughts like, “Will everyone dismiss us?” “What are we even supposed to talk to people about?” and “I really really don’t want to mess up,” so I tried to prepare questions, topics of discussion, and brush up on my theatre knowledge. However, the funny thing is that none of that really mattered once I got there and started to attend sessions. Intuitively I knew if I agreed with what someone was saying or not, and how that related to me as a young person. Matia, Taylor, Keisa, Gareth, and Ariele seemed to have a similar reaction as I learned during our first late-night meeting, and I was impressed with their ability to articulate themselves clearly and engage in intelligent conversations with the other conference participants. We managed to get people thinking about our role in the theatre, and many people came to our side in defense of arts education, such as Brava! Artistic Director Raelle Myrick-Hodges and New York University’s Daniel Banks.
As we went to more and more sessions and continued to talk to people, a theme was becoming apparent in our answers: the best way to attract young people to theatre is to offer them an opportunity to see shows that speak to their emotions on a very fundamental level. Our recurring example of this was Berkeley Rep’s production of Girlfriend last season, which moved us all so much that we couldn’t get it out of our heads for months (I mean, we were singing its songs on the bus ride to the airport). People kept bringing up marketing strategies such as big fonts and bright colors as ways to get teenagers to buy tickets, but we couldn’t help but disagree and say that it’s the programming that matters. If you produce a show that is honest and easily relatable and make it accessible to a younger audience that has fewer financial resources than the average patron, you will create a lifelong theatregoer. Attending this conference certainly has raised more questions than it has answered, but it has left us all feeling much more confident about the importance of our voice in theatre as well as opening up doors for us to continue discussing the issue of arts education.
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Teens peer into — and create — theatre of the future
posted by Rachel Viola on Fri, Jul 2, 2010
in News , School of Theatre , Teen Council
June was a busy month for teens at Berkeley Rep. Two special occasions gave high-school students the chance to be part of local and national conversations about the future of theatre.
What happens when 35 teenagers, representing a range of 20 Bay Area high schools and interests, are given a venue and a platform to discuss the value of art in their own lives?
You might get something a little like the Teen Theatre Conference hosted by the Berkeley RepSchool of Theatre early in June. An energetic group of teens, many new not only to each other but also to Berkeley Rep, came together for a day of collaboration and dialogue, voicing their opinions about the issues they encounter as young artists, students of arts education, and theatregoers.
The Teen Theatre Conference had many exciting components, such as a Q & A panel with local theatre professionals, including Rachel Fink, director of the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre; Dave Maier, a fight choreographer and School of Theatre Outreach Coordinator; freelance director Rebecca Novick; actor Carson Elrod from Berkeley Rep’s recent production of In the Wake; and Raelle Myrick-Hodges, artistic director of San Francisco’s Brava! for Women in the Arts.
The conversations sparked by the panel continued with discussions led by teenage representatives of the School of Theatre. These sessions explored how young people share, define, and experience art. The day’s program commenced with a competition: six groups of teens were challenged to create and perform sketches inspired by various, topical prompts such as "Arts in the Year 2075" or "A World with No Arts." Videos of the first- and second-place winners are at the bottom of the post.