To be unimpressed with this drama class script

[ArchesOfWisteria]

Last week my daughter (10) trialled a drama class. She came out happy and said they’d played games and done activities, all good so signed her up.

The following week she’s come out with a script, a simplified Shakespeare. 8/9 scenes long and some big big parts. Some characters speak in blocks in most scenes. It would be challenging for the age group (yr 3-6) but fun.

Shes been allocated one line in the final scene. I kind of expect this in school plays etc, some kids are picked, some aren’t. I’d expect the same for a staged performance to some extent. The play planned is the whole half term and is only for parents.

I’d expect a paid class to have a much better script picked than 5/6 kids getting huge amounts to do, 5/6 getting one or two lines and a few having unspoken parts. We pay the same, I don’t really expect to pay for dd to watch other children developing and practicing skills for the half term whilst she’s audience for them. I’d expect a reasonable equality, as appropriate and everyone to be learning to the best of their ability. Surely there are scripts out there adapted for this purpose, to give balance. It’s hardly a west end production, it’s just a local drama centre group than doesn’t do staged performances.

For disclosure, dd is one of the oldest. She’s quiet, (high functioning asd) but once on stage goes into role and is pretty articulate and expressive. The parts were picked by the teacher observing them in a game then allocating parts quickly to children. She would be quieter in an improvisation game than in a scripted play, but she’s only been there a week so maybe they haven’t seen that side of her. They do a play every half term for parents only, a quick few scenes. As I said, it’s not that she isn’t picked for a key part that bothers me, it’s the fact there are a number of huge parts for just a handful of children whilst everyone else is on the side. It’s Shakespeare, so not something where they are still dancing etc

I have particularly looked for somewhere without big stages shows in the hope they didn’t focus on a few naturals whilst the rest learn to be a good audience for the most confident children.

The problem with giving everyone a fairly equal amount of lines, is that means there will be so many speaking characters that it will be tricky for an audience to keep track of who is who. Five or six main characters is honestly about as many as a one off stage production can usually use.

Its not ideal, but hopefully there will be more opportunities for her further down the line.

She has only been one week? I assume easing in gently if going to be going for the long term.

She's just joined? Maybe the parts have already been allocated, and they've been rehearsing for a while.

It’s the start of a new term. The drama clubs around here which follow the schools terms start a new little play at the beginning of each term. The OP also said this in her first post. So no, they haven’t been rehearsing for a while. It’s brand new for all the kids.

I didn’t get that from the op.
Is it the start of term, op, and are the other children new joiners also?

After one week the person assigning parts hasn’t had time to get to know her or assess her skills and confidence. I would go with the flow as when the teacher sees her in action over the next half she’ll be assessed properly for the next production.

It doesn’t mean she won’t be doing anything on stage. And things can change - I’d just go with it for now and she might love it

If it's her first week or second - maybe she's only getting the small part because they have no idea if she'll actually stay long enough to be in the performance??

I'd imagine many kids drop out after 3-4 weeks it whatever.

Maybe the 'big' parts are given to the kids who have been there a bit longer and shown commitment? And she'll get a bigger part next half term??

A brand new term, yes. But surely not all the kids joined the same week as OPs kid??

It doesn’t matter when they joined. There is a new script each term. In ours; the first couple weeks of each term is games and a bit more relaxed and then the new scripts are given out. So all the kids, new and old, are all getting the new script. And then parts are assigned.

This isn't a real production though. Not only is it restricted to parents, it's just a 'few quick scenes'. You could even have the same character played by different kids.

Nevertheless, OP it's too early to assume that all she's going to be doing is that single line for the entire term. Personally I'd keep an eye on the situation. If your daughter is learning good technique, having fun and generally being stretched in the class having a small part in the 'demo' play might not be an issue.

I'd expect a bigger part in the next term though.

You're paying, so feel free to ask respectful questions if your child isn't getting enough value.

Op's daughter had only been to one class prior to the script being given out.
Why are you making so many assumptions? It's clearly not yours; they're not all the same.

Yes…. You’ve just agreed with me. A brand new script has been given out to the whole group. Because it’s a new term. So they’re doing a new play. All of them, the new kids and the old kids. None of them have been rehearsing this play nor did they all have parts before the OP’s kid joined.

No reason the other kids should be bored they’re all paying for an activity

No but they’ll know which of the previous kids can cope with lots of lines etc

OP I wouldn’t worry yet - there will probably be a lot of ensemble work, so she will be doing more than saying one line.

I reckon parents wouldn't be terribly impressed if they found it hard to follow what was going on in the production their child was in, because there were too many characters, or the characters kept changing...

They would think that the person running it couldn't produce something worth watching. And nobody wants to pay for that experience for their children.

My child does a similar class. New joiners generally get small parts but all the children learn all of the songs and dance routines. The reason new joiners get small parts is that the teacher doesn't know if they are going to fall apart with anxiety if they don't learn their lines on time, burst into tears on stage, or drop out after three weeks. Nor do they know if the parents are going to be flaky AF, shout at the child if they forget their lines in the performance, or shout at the teacher for giving the child too much to do when they've also got SATs / 11+ / their Grade 27 violin exam this term.

Generally at the franchise my child attends, a small part one term means a bigger one the next time, and at the end of each term the children are asked to express a preference - some children don't want a speaking part and just want to dance, some want a lot of lines, some want a singing solo but aren't bothered about speaking parts and so on. They can't obviously accommodate every child's preference but my experience was that they did their best.

This is a really really smart response.
And if the OP knew a bit more about drama, she'd know that even in non-musical theatre things happen on stage involving non-speaking characters; there is stage business; there is the work that goes on silently. One doesn't just stand around waiting to deliver one's single line!

YANBU. I'm sure they can't have exactly the same number of lines but it's not fair for half the kids to sit bored through endless rehearsals if you're all paying. It doesn't really matter so much about the end result as them enjoying the process, so who cares if it's hard to follow so many characters?

But it's not a 'production'. It's a showcase. Think of it like a talent show, or an audition where the same scene will be read multiple times by different actors. It's not meant to be cohesive. Individual scenes will stand on their own, there should be clarity within them but not as a wholem. Parents are not expecting to see continuity they just want to see their little darlings act.

@MagicTape makes a lot of sense.

It’s far from a play, it a parents attend the last class and the kids do a little show of what they are doing.
A play, something staged maybe there would be an issue. It’s just 9 short scenes from an adapted script, no real story to follow or enjoyment for the audience. Just a show and tell kinda format

It doesn't sound like a showcase to me. It sounds like a simplified and shortened version of a Shakespeare play.

Where did you get the impression that it's not a cohesive production? (I use the word production to mean something that has been produced btw, so I'm not sure how it's not one)

Tbh I’d rather see them all happy and enjoying themselves that a big show off that 5 kids are amazing.
It’s now cheaper if your child isn’t the focus…

There’s no song and dance. It’s not musical theatre. It’s not a staged production. There’s no singing. It’s a simple little script reading tbh

Cross posted with op.

Interesting that Caligurl seemed to know something that the op was just about to post...