Our objective is to improve and refine participants’ communication skills in speaking, reading, and expression. Our dual purpose is that this opportunity will create a renewed interest in the theater arts within the Perry County School System and the Black Belt. Secondly, we hope that this project will also increase interest in the preservation of historical events that occurred within Perry Count
y and the Black Belt region of Alabama. OUR MISSION: The all-embracing mission of the project is to encourage imagination, to help students learn how to display emotion on stage - what they are feeling or have felt - and to use their intellect to discover meaning and vision in the works of playwrights, and to embrace the material as their own. Students will develop an understanding of the craft of acting, and understand that there is a disciplined approach to voice, speech, and movement and not simply utterance. Students will learn how to decipher text, subtext, as well as style. We expect to create an atmosphere that encourages the students’ sharing of his/her self in front of classmates; they will be expected to learn how to bring body, mind, and experience to the stage in a way that is honest and believable. Students will be encouraged to move beyond social boundaries and to use new diction and syntax based on the requirements of characters and understand how both are important to the interpretation of narrative. METHODOLOGY:
• Theatre exercises and games targeting text and sub-text
• Voice/Speech/Movement exercises that support and enhance text and give dimension to all three techniques
• Visualization exercises
• The in-depth examination of scenes from plays (mostly 1945-present day)
• Active student analysis and commentary in response to reading the plays
• Active student participation and discussion
• Monologue preparation & presentation
OUTCOMES:
Upon completion of the program, we will have a cohort of students – from Perry County and the Alabama Black Belt - who can act in the historical productions created to highlight the rich culture and legacy of the Alabama Blackbelt. Students participating in the program will have the opportunity to perform before an audience at least once during the project.
