Hi John,
We have done this with Shakespeare, Moliere and of course, Aristophanes.We also wrote stage adaptations of two children's books after we obtained permission from the authors. We found that you have to have the right combination of students to do this effectively. You need a group of kids who are good writers, (I mean
really talented) are really creative, hard working, love a challenge and don't stop working when they run into difficulties. Not everyone needs to be this amazing, but a good portion of the students need to really buy-in, and the rest will follow.
We accomplished this in 2 different ways- depending on the groups. (We, have also written it ourselves, after allowing the students to read and brainstorm ideas. Frankly, this is faster and easier, but the students don't get the actual practice of doing the adaptation.)
1.
With a small group, we tackled the whole thing together. More time-consuming, but there are less issues with continuity and "feel"
.
2. Dividing the class into
strong units, and each group works through a section of the play. If you have equal groups and they all work hard, this takes a lot less time, but if there is a weak group, someone else will end up doing their section over again. Then, the sections inevitably take on the "feel" of the adapting group, so someone (probably you) will have to go through and fix it.
Then, here's the order we found that works with class adaptations.
1. With either approach- we tackled the whole thing together, reading it as a class and taking notes, a secretary recorded ideas as we went along. Lots of explaining here since most old scripts are not easily understood by students...normal classroom teaching and discussions. After the first reading we made several decisions. Time period, music (if any), sections that needed cutting, any changes in characters (i.e. if certain characters could change gender, etc) creative ideas, etc.
After this first step, you can divide into groups, or assign individually.
2. Research! Students need enough information to be able to intelligently contribute to the adaptation process. So if we decide to set a Shakespeare play in the 50's we need to learn all about that decade. Let students choose a topic. Music, trends, politics, dress, everyday life, mannerisms, architecture (for set design), etc, etc.
2. Second time through we made changes and worked through the script page by page, adding, changing ideas, etc
3. Repeat the process a 3rd and 4th time, until we felt the script was ready to go. Be prepared to make lots of changes even after you start rehearsals. You will find holes and things that sound great on paper but don't work on stage. Be prepared to make changes all through the rehearsal process.
Note: I have found that no matter how awesome the kids are, you will need to be the one who has final say, and you will end up dong a lot of the work yourself in order for it to be audience worthy.
4. The benefits, once you get through it, are enormous! The kids have total buy-in, because they wrote the play themselves. The audience appreciates it more, since they know that the students did the adaptation, and they understand it better as well.
Good luck!
PS -After writing all of this...it is a saga! (And the wonderfully talented Don Zolidis was able to give you some excellent advice.) Please feel free to email me with any questions and we can talk about specifics.
stempleton@vchsaz.org------------------------------
Sheri Templeton
Valley Christian High School
Chandler, AZ
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 03-23-2017 14:42
From: John Perry
Subject: The Frogs
Grand Canyon University did the Stephen Sondheim musical version. I saw a revival of it with Nathan Lane at Lincoln Center a few years ago. It's nice but not the best Sondheim.
This string has got me to thinking about my next season. It's my last year teaching (maybe) and I'm planning a big Fall musical and I want to do a Greek or Shakespeare in the Spring. The idea of taking the public domain text and using it in class to create a class-devised work sound intriguing. Anyone have suggestions on how to go about this?
------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 03-23-2017 14:32
From: Sheri Templeton
Subject: The Frogs
I do "The Frogs" every year with my beginning students as part of an intro to Greek theater. However, I cut large chunks out so that what is left is more manageable for the students.
I agree that the ending battle of wits is VERY long. If you would like to do a full length version, and you are up for the challenge, you could probably download the script (public domain=no royalties) and make your own adaptation, cutting the battle and other sections like the Frog Song down to a more manageable size.
I know that Grand Canyon University staged a fabulous version several years ago with set pieces in the swimming pool! They have always been very helpful when I had production questions. If you wanted to contact them, you could start with their director Claude Pensis. You can probably go online and find pictures of their production, as they have posted photographs of most of their shows. Start with gcu.edu and go from there!
Blessings,
------------------------------
Sheri Templeton
Valley Christian High School
Chandler, AZ
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 03-22-2017 15:12
From: Aileen Zeigler
Subject: The Frogs
Has any one done a performance of The Frogs (not a modernization)? I'm interested in doing a classical piece with students and looking for a good option for 25-40 7th-12th graders. I'd love some insight.
------------------------------
Aileen Zeigler
Theatre Arts Director
Omaha NE
------------------------------