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Kids On Stage by Douglas Eby Many children seem to be born actors, to love playing parts - even ones their parents would just as soon live without : "I was an ugly little kid with a big mouth, an obnoxious
show-off." That is a recollection from someone who not only learned better parts to play, but has inspired many of us with her power to act : Meryl Streep. But just what is acting? Kathleen Turner has called it "an ability to communicate, an empathy, a space between words, a common experience...Being on stage is about the most alive you can be". That quality is also emphasized by actor-teacher Chuck Sloan : "It's not making it happen, but letting it happen - not acting, just being...all you're asked to be on stage is human". But that is really the challenge - for both kids trying to find their own uniqueness and place in life, and adults, who have learned endless ways to not be authentic. A growing number of personal growth and management training workshops are using some of the techniques of acting to help people be more aware, in control and in charge of themselves, and to more freely and effectively work with others. But what about kids? Drama has been used for many years with children in both educational and therapeutic situations. In the classroom, using role playing techniques, or more formal acting out of scenes from books and plays, it has been very helpful in developing thinking skills, reading comprehension and appreciation [1], increasing social skills and desire to speak, and allowing inventive problem-solving and risk-taking in a safe situation. [2] And beyond all that serious stuff, acting is of course just fun. As filmmaker and author Kaila Kukla has noted, "Drama is a positive, joyful, and fulfilling way of learning...it gives children the opportunity to create learning situations that are meaningful to them. They find ways to tap their inner resources because they want to do so". [2] Expressive arts therapies, which include the careful use of
play, art and drama, can be extremely valuable in helping kids with
emotional problems - or just coping difficulties, such as being shy.
One study recently talked about five year old Louis, who was "a foster child who had a variety of emotional and social problems. Shy, frightened of loud noises and aggressive play, he tended to get lost in the periphery of the group...The story 'Three Billy Goats Gruff' was being played out [in his class]: Louis watched silently from the sidelines, then responded to encouragement and volunteered to be the first, most timid billy goat... "Then he played the second one several times, and finally he felt ready to play the biggest and strongest of them all...his voice was stronger, his stance more sure, and a big smile creased his face. It was as though these were excercises in courage for him...these gains carried over to his relationships with his foster family and peers as well". [3] One of the primary therapists using drama with teens notes, "in hundreds of sessions I have directed, especially with adolescents who have had difficult childhoods, I note a strong hostility toward their parents. It is precisely this hostility that often defeats their own life. A technique I use is to place them in the role of their own parents...almost invariably, this process of confronting the difficult life their parents had...relieves the enormous hostility that keeps them in trouble". [4] A number of local hospital programs for teens and children use the dynamics of drama therapy. But when you read the title - Kids on Stage - you were probably thinking more of show business, and there is an increasing demand for children to work in commercials and various productions in Southern California. One of the places responding to that demand is the Backstage Theatre & Company in Costa Mesa. Director Al Valletta is developing the facility as a place to "give kids and others in the area an opportunity to showcase themselves as part of a regular professional theater...to do quality original works plus other plays". [5] Classes for children ages 5 to about 10 are ongoing, and new classes for older kids will be added in the summer. The instructor, Lanell Henson, herself an actress with stage and commercial experience, notes that most of the parents are looking for professional development for their kids : "Usually the first question every mother asks me is 'Will you know when they're ready for an agent - can you help me find one?' When it is right, I will find the right agent for them - it's just a matter of time. I always see great improvement in all my kids - within the first two weeks they break that wall [of shyness] - the class is such a comfortable environment, children get along so well with each other." She seems to have as much fun in class as the students, but she keeps things professional, and helps them learn more than just how to read lines : "After they start to take the class, I'm very strict with them - I mean I'm nice, I love kids very dearly. But I am strict - I teach them manners as well, which they use in daily life. In an audition situation, they need to shake the hand, say 'Yes, ma'am', and be very very polite, so that's what I teach them. "I tell them everyone should be treated with this kind of respect. After they've chosen that they like to be treated as an adult more, that's how I treat them. There are times when kids are going to be kids - which is normal, I don't want to take that away from them - but they need to know the difference between when they need to act like an adult and when they can act like kids. I think they leave the class with a lot more respect for older people." For a number of her students, continuing the classes is a problem : they get too busy working in commercials or other jobs. When a child is not making the progress and change that Lanell feels is needed for this demanding career, she will tell the parents honestly that she doesn't think they are really going to make it as an actor. But a number of parents gladly keep paying tuition, saying they are getting so much out of their kids being in the class anyway. Lanell says, "They see them practicing at home, excited and happy, becoming a better person from it. Like one mom just told me, 'I can't believe it - she's just so outgoing now and she used to be real shy in front of everybody. Now she goes up and says 'Hi' to lots of people'. It's exciting for me to see that. I don't have more than six in a class, and we all get along very very well. But I get a high out seeing them do jobs, so even if the parents don't care about their child working as an actor, I do - I'll keep pushing and pursuing it until they do get work. I love this with a passion - I grow with the kids. They teach me as I teach them." ~ ~ References: 1 Yaffe, Stephen (1989). Drama as a Teaching Tool. Educational Leadership, March, 1989 : 29-32 2 Kukla,Kaila (1987). David Booth : Drama as a Way of Knowing. Language Arts, 64(1) : 73-78 3 Irwin, Eleanor (1986). Drama Therapy in Diagnosis and Treatment. Child Welfare, 65(4):347-357 4 Yablonsky, Lewis (1976). Psychodrama. New York : Basic Books 5 Blizzard, Peggy. Backstage Theatre raising curtain on showcase for talent. Irvine World News, June 8, 1989
books Judy Galbraith The Gifted Kids Survival Guide : A Teen Handbook "Written with help from hundreds of gifted teenagers... guide to surviving and thriving in a world that doesn't always value, support, or understand high ability. Full of surprising facts, strategies, and practical how-tos, and inspiring quotations, featuring insightful essays contributed by gifted young people and adults.." Claire Golomb The Development of Artistically Gifted Children : Selected Case Studies Christina Hamlett. Lively Plays for Young Actors : 12 One-Act Comedies for Stage Performance Emanuel Hammer Creativity, Talent, and Personality : An Exploratory Investigation of the Personalities of Gifted Adolescent Artists Lorraine Hansberry To Be Young, Gifted and Black "A special autobiography told in a very special voice. Both the story and the voice belong to a young black woman who was born in Chicago, came to New York, won fame with her first play, A Raisin In The Sun." Katherine Mayfield Acting A to Z : The Young Person's Guide to a Stage or Screen Career [readers:] "I reccomend this book to young aspiring actors. It gives an honest idea of what you will be getting into as an actor. It goes through the day to day life of different actors and shows you how they are trying to make it (on a budget)." // "I like this book because it gives you complete details of what actors go through, a day in the life of one. It tells you everything that you need to know about an acting career." ~ ~ ~
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