This week we got a little further in the kids’ understanding of the new plot. Only two of the kids really participated, but they were pretty engaged in what we were doing. One of them read out the summary of the new plot and the bullet points that outlined a play-by-play of the act. Both kids then went through the bulleted list and attempted to put them into their own words and set the scene. They were able to relate to the characters in the sense that they were familiar with the concept of ‘playing hard to get’ and spreading rumors. We did not get very far with actually re-formulating each plot point and they had to leave pretty abruptly. Overall it seems that at least a couple of the kids are excited about the project, and we gave them the outline to look over throughout this next week. We are hoping to start drawing within the next couple of meetings. There was a lot of distraction, but we always had at least one kid completely engaged in the task at hand.

Going into our first meeting with the kids, I was a little nervous. I knew it was going to be an adjustment doing the whole thing online, but feel like there’s a degree of separation online that makes it harder for you to connect with others. Despite my initial worry, I was pleasantly surprised by how the whole thing went – the kids were excited and engaged, and seeing them get excited about the play got me more excited to watch it come to life. Despite some small technical difficulties (and the fact that only 2/8 kids actually showed up), it was a good first day. Super excited to see how the rest of the semester plays out!

Week One:

I have been looking forward to meeting the kids ever since we have begun the project earlier on in the semester. I have worked in the theater since I was ten years old and I have been mentoring kids just as long, so this project feels like the perfect combination of both!! The kids are absolutely wonderful. They have so much energy and enthusiasm about learning about the project and play. We asked the kid if they ever heard of William Shakespeare. All of them immediately started rambling about he was probably some old smart dead dude and that they had heard of him but never read him. There answers were genuine and hilarious. We were able to explain the basic project and talk about the scene are group was given. They loved the idea about the prom! I’m looking forward to our meeting this Monday and can’t wait to hear what they have to say.