The Magic of Theater and MacBeth!

 

What do Penn and Teller have to do with MacBeth?  I am sure this the question you are asking right now, either that or who are Penn and Teller?  I hope it is not Who is MacBeth, because then we have issues.

I loved magic as a child, and when I turned 15 took up the art of prestidigitation.  I began doing magic at parties the following year and soon found myself performing at 60-80 business parties a year.  I worked all over northern Missouri, Kansas City, and even had the opportunity to perform close-up magic in a few night clubs in New York City.  I attended all kinds of workshops and conventions in my pursuit of learning more.  Penn and Teller were video conferenced in at one such workshop.  Now, I still dabble in magic for fun to entertain the students or to make a point in the classroom, but I do direct Shakespeare and will be teaching a class in Shakespeare next semester.  Upon looking for scripts for the class I came upon this Folger library companies script.  I always use Folger Library for Shakespeare and this one came with a dvd version from one of their shows, and Lo and Behold Teller was one of the directors.  Pear that information together with the picture on the front and I had to see his interpretation.  I directed MacBeth two years ago, and being a magician I also incorporated some the concepts of magic with the weird sisters, so I had to see his take on a magical MacBeth.  This is a good version that I highly recommend.  It has many extra features and interviews that are great for a classroom setting.  I would also highly recommend the Patrick Stewart version.  It is an interesting interpretation.

The Skit Guys and good Christian Scripts

Theater: the final stage. These are the thoughts of Central Christian College. Its mission: to explore strange new scripts, to seek out new dramas and new interpretations, to boldly go on the stage where no school has gone before.

I have been spending a lot of time wrapped up in this thought or idea of performing more Christian dramas.  I use to help with a lot of church drama, but since beginning to teach here I have directed only one full length Christian script.  Everything we put on stage is clean, but I have not been directing plays where the message is Christian.  I have taken it upon myself to explore the outer reaches of Christian drama and find the best resources for Christian Scripts.

The Skit Guys are a wonderful duo of writers that produce great Christian scripts with a great message.  Much like Ted and Co. they are able to take humor and make it work to deepen our thoughts and understanding of the Bible and it’s teachings.  If you are looking for some dynamite material I highly recommend checking out their site and looking them up on YouTube.  I will continue to keep my eyes peeled and looking for scripts to pass on until the God Lord decides to beam me up.

God Bless,

Chris

Celebration of Friends

AJ is a senior here at CCC.  He has played a huge roll on and off stage in the growth and development of what we do.  If he's not on stage, which is rare, he is back stage helping out.  I found out through his sister that his birthday was on a play practice night.  Not just any practice, but one of tech week.  It is a busy and difficult week where everything comes togeher.  I thought it would be fun to recognize his multiple years of service and have a surprise birthday party.  His sister helped decorate and keep him occupied until the right moment and then...boom party.  The cast and his roommate joined in for a fun evening before practice.  Thank you AJ for all of you enthusiam and hardwork, you will be missed next year!

 

Production Mom

Everyone who is born has a mother.  They are there for the good times and bad.  They pick us up when we fall and carry us a little while if need be.  We share with them in our success and triumphs.  Mom will always be with us and see us through till the end.

When away or working in new areas it is a bond we miss and tend to seek out.  We have a work mom or a school mom or whatever kind of mom comes along.  In high school many of us adopted our friends moms as our own.  They watched over us and protected us when we were around, and we were grateful for that love and protection.  I have three good friends, who have all lost their mothers over the last couple years, all of them before we turned 30.  This is a loss we still feel. 

We had a drama mom in High School.  It was of course our teacher and director Kathy.  We looked up to her and she took us under her wing and guided us.  Adam, Luke, and I were her disciples and we drank in all she had to teach.  We would go over and help with yard work when needed and she tutored me in MacBeth one summer simply because I wanted to learn how to understand Shakespeare better.  We are all now working in the creative field and still doing drama.  Adam helps take care of the business side of things with donors and much more I am sure I have no clue about in Florida and a big theater.  Luke works with school children and is a published author and playwright.  I teach theater here at Central and direct all of our productions.  We benefited from having multiple mothers, who all pulled from us.

Over the last several years we here at Central have pulled on this concept of a Production mother.  Now, Shane and I do our best, but we don’t bring the same skills sets to a production that a mother can bring.  We began importing that which we did not have… a local mom.  Diane was our first, and she really made an impact on our kids.  She would be there from start to finish.  She came first practice with cookies or brownies or whatever she had in mind to bake.  She passed out cards and ask the actors to list a prayer concern and their favorite cookie.  She collected all the cards and told them she would be praying for all of them throughout the production.  She would come to one practice a week and bring cookies (somebodies favorite) or juice or something she thought was little, but made a huge influence on the students.  She was available if an actor needed an ear to listen, or a shoulder to lean on, or just simply a hug.  My actors may be college kids, but they still miss their mommy.

Now, having a production mom every play doesn’t happen.  But, on the really hard or more intense productions, I find a mom in our corner makes for a smoother run with happier and healthier students.  I encourage anyone, who is taking on a grueling production or consider asking your mom or any mom for help.

Best Wishes and God Bless,

Chris

Stage Combat Knife Fights

This is the second unit of the Stage movement Class.  Knife fighting is a lot of fun, and yet it always seems the be the one that puts the most fear in them.  Stage combat is safe and always practiced safe, but there is still something about be that close and see the weapon close up that makes them a little nervous.  Nerves are a health thing in stage combat. Save this on Delicious

Public Domain Preview

How to find a Christian Theater skit

If you’re like any other Church, trying to put up a good drama can be difficult.  The hardest part is trying to find a decent script.  Where do you find one that is not cheesy, isn’t afraid of good humor, and still has a message that will speak to all generations.

Many years ago I stumbled into a group named Ted and Lee.  Now, Lee has since left us, but Ted has regrouped and is still producing amazing things.  Ted and Company produce two man comedies that make you laugh while at the same time thinking, “WOW, that was really deep!”  They have many biblical scripts to choose from with cheap performances rights.  I gathered two of my strong male actors together at the end of last school year, and we produced Fish Eyes a full script consisting of 14 scenes that takes you through the Calling of the Disciples, to the day after the Sermon on the Mount, to Peter’s Denial, and on to Breakfast on the Beach.  This is a two man retelling of the Gospel through the eyes of Andrew and Peter.  We performed it for a chapel here at the school and it was warmly received.  We also performed it at a couple of Churches and the message and reception was amazing.  These are wonderful around Easter or really anytime.  Check out the website listed earlier or go check them out on Youtube! 

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Ultimate Flat Focus Tool

 

Being in theatre, especially a small private college theatre, our budget is never quite as large as we would like. Therefore, I am always looking for tools and techniques that are extremely useful, get the job done, and above all are inexpensive. I recently came across The Ultimate Flat Focus Tool by StageJunk that has met all of these expectations. I ordered ours from Stagespot just because I had other things like gaff tape that I was also purchasing.

 

 The price for the tool is downright cheap…especially considering everything that it will do. It is lightweight, and easily fits into a back pocket, or at the end of a lanyard, and best of all, no more fiddling around with a crescent wrench to get the right size for what you are working on. Since purchasing this, in fact, I have only had to go for the trusty Crescent wrench once (and that was because I was working on a specialty light stand used in photography). If you work in theatre with lighting instruments, I definitely recommend getting one of these. They rock!

Shane Dawson

The new tool from StageJunk, debuted at LDI 2010!

This rugged gem does many of the same functions of the other Ultimate Focus Tools, but is both lighter and far less expensive than its big brothers. It is available in Stainless Steel or Black Oxide Steel for longer life.

 

This Ultimate Flat Focus Tool handles:

1. 3/4" and l9mm for standard C-Clamp and star knobs on ETC lekos

2. 7/8" for scaffold clamps

3. 17mm European

4. 9/16" yokebolts

5. 1/2 " C-Clamp

6. 3/8" Older swivel focus nut on C-Clamp

7. 5/16" Newer swivel focus nut on C-Clamp

8. Bottle Opener

9. Lanyard Hole

10. Larger opening for larger shackles and fat wingnuts

11. Long Narrow slot for smaller shackles and regular wingnuts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp9YQg6IdPU&feature=relmfu

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Stage Combat and the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD)

I spent two years doing stage combat with a group called Written in Steel.  I loved the camaraderie, the intense practices, and swinging steel.  When I returned to teach at Central I knew I wanted to add a stage combat class.  I took the skills I had and began researching and reading all I could find on stage combat.  Shane, a fellow teacher in the department, began this process with me.  The outcome of this work has been our Stage Movement class which provides introductions to unarmed stage combat, knife, dancing (for foot work), rapier, and broadsword.  One of the resources we found and instantly fell in love with was the Society of American Fight Directors affectionately known as the SAFD.

The Society of American Fight Directors is an internationally recognized non-profit organization dedicated to promoting safety and fostering excellence in the art of stage combat. Whether you are a producer, director, actor or teacher, they can help accelerate your stage combat skills.

They provide training, weapon certification, and for those dedicated few teaching certification.  While we are NOT certified through the SAFD, we have had the privilege of learning from them at some of the multiple workshops they hold annually.  We have based our system and dedication to safety on their teachings and look forward to any opportunity to attend an event held by the SAFD.

If you are interested in stage combat I urge you to look up the SAFD and see if there is an instructor in your area or if there is a close by workshop coming up.  You will not regret it.  If you are in our area of McPherson, KS and interested swing by and we would love to talk with you and show you some of our steel.

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Class Can be Brutal!

 

Stage Movement Class- Unarmed Combat

 

Getting over the Goof Ups in Live Theatre

 Sandy Boikian wrote an article titled Getting over the Goof Ups in Live Theatre and it was refreshing, because it reminds us all that we are not alone.  She talks about no matter how much you plan, practice, and pray it is still live theatre and on any given show night something can happen.  I know last year we struggled with microphones having problems.  They would work fine in practice and mic checks then on stage poof...sound gone.  Check out the article and if you are looking for good scripts check out her site.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Getting-Over-the-Goof-Ups-in-Live-Theatre&id=3829395

For over a decade, award-winning playwright Sandy Boikian has directed forty productions of her nineteen original plays in the Los Angeles area. At the end of 2009, ten of her critically-acclaimed scripts became available to theatre companies and churches worldwide.
http://christiantheatrescripts.webs.com/

Directors Tip from Drama Ministry

Here's a Directors tip from DRAMA MINISTRY  "Acting is fun. Who doesn't like to be center stage, all eyes on them? But what you're doing within the church setting has eternal value. Make sure you pray together as a drama team so that the focus never strays from the fact that someone might meet Jesus because of what happens on the stage." http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=956b19514d911634d06797e87&id=2cccff560b

I came across this today and thought it important to share.  We may be a college and not a church, but we make a point to pray together as a group.  People aren't necessarily hearing a message about Christ from us every show, but we are still examples and need to spread the light through example!

Public Domain Fundraiser

September 28th and 29th we will be performing PUBLIC DOMAIN an original play by L. David Hesler Author of the novel Children of the Aerthwheel and short stories Prismatica and Lane 8 (http://www.amazon.com/Children-Aerthwheel-Volume-David-Hesler/dp/147518347X )
.  There will be no charge at the door, but if you wish to give we will be taking donations to help raise money for new microphones.  We are lucky to have 8 working mics, but wish to add 2 more to our mic rack.  If you wish to give and cannot make the trip in person here is a link to a site where we can make that possible.
Thanks for your continued support and prayers,
Chris
www.centralchristian.edu/givenow

Drum Roll Please.... Cast list Up

The cast list is up and I find it very cathartic to be at this point in the journey that has been Public Domain.  Great name for a play too I give all the credit to Luke and his wonderful writing.  As Shakespeare wrote, "All the worlds a stage," and Thursday our actors take to the stage again and beging work on Public Domain.

Sets, props, Auditions... oh my

It has been a long summer, but students are beginning to retrurn and we are starting faculty workshops today.  Shane and I have been talking sets for the new year, and have began collecting props.  Begin preping for AUDITIONS in the next two weeks.

Productions for 2012-2013

Our Official Line up for next year is as follows:

The Real Inspector Hound
By: Tom Stoppard
November 8-10 @ 7pm
  
Zap  
By: Paul Fleischman     
Jan 31- Feb 2 @ 7pm     
Picasso at the Lapin Agile  
By: Steve Martin 
April 18-20 @ 7pm 

With the possibility of a special event at the end of September first of October.

Completion

Another year has ended and I would like to thank all of you who helped to add flare and chutzpah to this 2011-2012 production season.  This past season brought me much joy and pride in our actors.  I was marveled by your work on Hamlet, impressed with your dedication in All in the Timing, thrilled to see you come alive in The Importance of Being Earnest, and humbled by Fisheyes.  Thank all of you for your hard work and dedication.  For those of you who have graduated and left us congrats and God Bless if your future endeavors, and for those of you who are staying around for another year... I look forward to working with you again!