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The Play's The Thing, Even For Boys In Grade 6
The play's the thing, even for boys in Grade 6.
Jeffrey had astonished me the first day of school when he looked at the science fiction display I had put up, nodded with satisfaction and blurted, "Missus B, you're my kind of woman!" I wasn't surprised to learn his favourite T-shirt read So Many Women ... So Little Time! Jeffrey's best friend was Colin, one of the biggest Grade 6 students I had ever met. His chest bore the vaguely intimidating message Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Been.
This comedic pair was responsible for bringing the upcoming music and drama festival to my attention. Moreover, they laid in wait to ambush me at the slightest opportunity. "It would be wonderful if we could do a play in the festival, could we, could we Missus B? We'll be so good for you, honest we will," they said.
With the boys' prodding, I gave the idea of a play some thought, for it would nicely flesh out the shabby little bits that made up my drama education repertoire. It could also enrich the social studies unit about the ancient world that we had been examining. The Roman Empire provided interesting possibilities.
I knew that with this Grade 6 class we would have more success with comedy than serious drama. Now, the Romans were a serious lot, not much given to laughter as they bashed about conquering and enslaving the known world. Then I remembered a readers' theatre script for a Wayne and Shuster skit called Rinse the Blood Off MJJ Toga. It dealt with the assassination of Julius Caesar and it always made me laugh, with its clever puns and Latin references.
Here was the answer! It should be easy to convert reader's theatre, in which the participants perched on stools and literally read their scripts, into a real skit. The students would plan and execute most of the play. I would facilitate and coach my students...