True to Poe...

Must be honest -- the Muppets are woven into the historical fabric of my family. I did not miss one weeknight show...its time to get things started on the Muppet show tonight!

So my first show at Atlanta's Center for Puppetry Arts was highly anticipated, however, not what I was expecting. First off, I was completely unaware of the puppet manipulated by visible actors on-stage technique. I was very resistant to the performance at first, however it became more interesting as the piece unfolded. Ultimately though, three performers operating a small, inanimate, figure was not fulfilling to me. These days it just seems like wasted energy and space. I was more intrigued with the performance of each actor. The Poe puppet was just not that compelling. I thought the performance was incredibly well-crafted, scripted, and set. The props were captivating. The music and sound effects were superb. I just think I would have been more satisfied watching the actors play the roles. They were really quite good and I didn't see any added benefit of the puppet.

In addition, I can see the irony of these gruesome love stories in February, but I found it sort of off-putting. I would have rather enjoyed this display of the grotesque on a brisk fall night to get me in the mood for a spooky October weekend.

Canterbury Tales

This performance at the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern was really the one I surprisingly enjoyed the most so far. Orlando, my hometown, has a vibrant and lovely outdoor annual Shakespeare festival on the shores of a lake in the middle of the city. I love and hate Shakespeare because I find the material (the language) difficult but the performances enthralling (if they are good). Chaucer scares me even more. But these stories were delightful. I could follow the story easily. I got the jokes. And the performance allowed me to enjoy literature that I usually find very intimidating.

Our conversation after the performance with the actors was also fun. It is so interesting to perceive someone onstage and then see them emerge from their character into a regular person. The company had so many helpful and thoughtful suggestions for teaching Shakespeare and theater.

The rooster story was the best. The costumes and actors for this part were incredibly fun.

The chocolate cake was good too.

Workshop Day

I was very clear about how much I was looking forward to doing improv and drama exercises with my classmates. Let me be even more clear about how wrong I was about all of that! Our visitors from Dad's Garage and the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern were excellent. I feel that day of work equipped me with more practical, classroom teaching techniques than most any workshop or conference I have ever attended. And I was dreading every second of it!

I did not hesitate to jump into planning my lessons with a focus on performance, theater, and sonnets! Yes, Dr. Hubert...sonnets!

Stay tuned for the real life experiences of a teacher implementing these techniques in her class!