One of our focus areas this year was musical theater. We created simple plays for our family to perform. The plays related to holidays, books, and history that we studied.
For Michaelmas, we did a short play to a song about a knight and a dragon. This was an easy first play to do since the kids had no lines to remember...just acted out the scene as we sang. Silks became capes. We needlefelted crowns and used a dragon puppet. One of the cousins joined in!
Later in Autumn, we created an original one-act musical called "Monster at the Door", featuring the whole family. Ricky played the piano and everyone sang to Wilson who was saving the family from the monster. A simple play, easy to do inside the house, and fun!
Our next play was the "Water Witch", based on a Grimm's Fairy Tale. The kids did a great job of altering the story to match the amount of actors that we had, including having some of us play more than one part!
We created the story, made a list of props and made costumes. One day was spent blocking the scenes and trying out the props. The next day, we ran through the play many times, altering wording, costumes and timing to help the play flow. Two songs were written and were sung by the "Child" and the "Witch" throughout the play. We used the front yard porch and yard to show the land, shoreline, sea, and dungeon under the sea.
Our most recent play was "Arachne and Athena", based on the Greek myth which Joey has been reading this year. Ricky played the lyre at the beginning and end of the play and narrated the story. The kids and Mommy lashed bamboo sticks into a pretend tapestry loom for weaving. A large silk served as a hiding place for when Arachne (Mommy) turned into a spider (Wilson)! Joey wrote the play and created the costumes, as well as played the part of Athena.
Our plays were short and easy to remember. If someone forgot a line, we improvised! Including music and singing helped with the flow of the plays.
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5 comments:
So much fun! And you guys did the right thing with improvising missed lines/cues. That's how it's done on the real stage. Great job!
Oh how marvelous! You are so inspiring, Jennifer! Love, Love, Love all that you do with your family!
Hugs,
Jen
That looks like great fun!
Oh how I miss taking part in musical theater. I think I'm going to have to get our kids in on it, if not for them, then for me! :)
It looks like you all did a wonderful job. What a great time!
I want to see a live performance of your plays! I love everything about them.
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