This week, Sarah and I decided to play games with the kids that would get the more excited about the play. We did not want spend another session reading through the script and wanted to give them a break from sitting and quietly listening, waiting for their chance to read. The first game we played with them was one that allowed them to use their improvisation skills. We all stood in a circle and each person had to say one word to create a story. While the stories never made sense at all, the kids really liked this game and had to focus on what was said before them so that they could supply a word that a least made marginal sense. We played this game a few more times before moving onto one called “Grandma.” For this game, one person stood at one side of the room while the rest stood on the other side. Grandma had her back to the group and while she was facing away from them they had to try to sneak up to her before she turned around and they had to freeze on the spot. If they were caught moving, they had to go back to where they started. The last game we played with them was by far my favorite. It is called “Mr. Fox” and is very similar to the “Grandma” game. The group of kids had to ask Mr. Fox what time it was and when  they were given a time they had to take that many steps closer to Mr. Fox. When Mr. Fox said midnight he turned around and chased them back to the start, if they got tagged they were out. The kids had to ask Mr. Fox “Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox what time is it?” so Sarah and I told them different emotions that they had to ask the sentence in. For example, we used sad, happy, angry, depressed, distressed, sleepy, etc. We also had them say it in ways they thought the characters in the play would.

Both Sarah and I really liked this game because it was a great break from reading the scripts while still paying attention to the play. I absolutely loved seeing the smiles on their faces while they played this game and am looking forward to what we do with them next week!

This week, the kids were a lot more obnoxious that they usually are. A few of the girls in our group like to be rough with one another while a few of the others just sit in chairs in the corner like this is the last thing they want to be doing. It is really difficult for me to see this because I want the kids to have fun with this play and not feel like it is just another chore on there list of things they have to do for the day. Our goal for the next session is to play more games with the kids and be more interactive instead of just sitting and reading through the script. Hopefully they will get a little more out of it this way!

We again had a very productive rehearsal this week at youth life. With only two more rehearsals before the show, there is definitely a sense of urgency among the students to do well in rehearsal so that they can impress everyone durring the show. I can honestly say that I was very surprised by this urgency because up to this point the students had shown little interest in how they performed come showtime. This week at our rehearsal we had three students, however, the three students that were in attendance were those with the largest single roles, thus it was good to have them practice together.

One great thing about this week was that we were able to run through the script through its entirety, and the students were finally able to implement their own stage notes into the scripts. I thought that both of these tasks that we accomplished this week were extremely monuments in moving forward and making progress ahead of the performance. Despite getting a lot done again this week, we had our usual setbacks of the students getting distracted from time to time. However, I have noticed that the students have been getting better and better each week about putting more focus into the performance. Despite only having two rehearsals left until the performance, I am extremely optimistic that our students will be prepared and confident on stage.