Unfairness in school play

[Seren2013]

My year 3 DS was given one line in the upcoming school play and it wouldn't be a problem if that was more or less what everyone got, but everyone else got paragraphs and paragraphs of lines. Don't know why my DS was singled out for the tiny part or why there was even such a tiny part to begin with! He was really excited to show me his script but when he saw he had almost no lines, he was nearly in tears.

Any suggestions what to do?

When Dd was 4 at primary had the same exp. I recall feeling really sad for her although in hindsight she wasn't aware but the other parents were making a big fuss comparing the number of lines each child had and grumbling over so and so who has 8 lines v 5 lines and feeling sorry for me with a non speaking tree! ( Oh the shame ) School pick up's were a nightmare
Dd finally ended up with the lead role after the girl who had the role was too afraid to sing solo.
So it may well turn out through sickness or nerves your Ds will find himself able to volunteer for a larger role and if he doesn't , try not to feel too hurt , he is only 3, there will be many more school productions ahead. On a positive note Dd continued doing drama outside school and is often reminded how possible it is to steal a show with very few lines.

In any case even in stage and television, casting is as much about the look as talent and teachers, especially Primary teachers, tend to go for the confident ones who look right and will reliably learn and recite their lines even if they do it like cardboard cut outs. They also don't tend to understand that drama might be a separate meritocracy to the academic one and that those that have talent might actually deserve the best parts. Even in Senior School there is still an element of all that.

This shows you have little understanding about what really goes on behind the scenes when organising school plays. You're obviously looking at things from your own child, but you can't see what discussions are held behind the scenes or what value the various roles may have to other students. Your child has had the privilege of attending drama classes and no doubt attending theatre productions. You'll support your child and pay to ensure they get to participate in their chosen hobby. There are other children in your child's class who will never see the inside of a theatre unless they go with the school, and are lucky if they get a hot meal at dinner, let alone attend drama classes. Why shouldn't that child have an opportunity to play a role?

We keep extensive lists of every student and the roles they get. Every student will get a chance to play a major role at some point in their time at our school (if they want to). But no one student is going to get the lead every year, regardless of how much their parent is spending on drama/dance/singing lessons. In fact, I argue that those children who are able to participate in outside performances, exams, etc should be able to step back during the school events and allow someone else to have a turn.

There is also a lot more than which child can deliver a line. We couldn't actually care if the lines are delivered or not. We need to consider which children need the experience of which role. Some might need the confidence boost, some might need to develop some assertiveness, some might have experienced a horrible year and need something good happen. I don't care if every line in the play is delivered incorrectly if the students are getting out of it what they need. That's why we do school plays, not to cater to the egos of parents, but to give students an experience that they will benefit from.

Midnite, how this is arranged does depend on the school.

In dd's school it was the same children taking the lead parts for several years running. But they were very good and I don't think they were particularly the product of outside drama classes: more naturally confident, hardworking children with a certain spark to them. Certainly nothing to do with internal politics, PTA or anything like that. They were probably the children I would have picked myself if I wanted the production to run smoothly.

Then again, the children picked for the football team were also the ones that happened to be both enthusiastic and good at football.

Ds wasn't picked for either. I have to say, I can see why. My job as a parent was to help him not to feel despondent.

OP, just wondering if your DS might be on the quiet side? Sometimes teachers, perhaps understandably with little else to go on, assume being loud and confident translates into 'will be good on stage'. They might be concerned that a quieter child will seize up in front of an audience or won't be able to rustle up the required razzamatazz.

In Y5, DS, a low-profile sort of child, was given the least number of lines in the school play out of the whole class. Knowing the children's personalities, you could see that the size of part a child got was strongly correlated with how extrovert that child was.

The day after the actual performance, a teacher came up to me in the playground and said, 'Everyone in the staffroom was surprised how good DS was - he's usually so quiet!'

When Y6 rolled round, the teachers remembered DS was capable of on-stage pizzazz despite off-stage quietness - and he was given the main part in the play that year.

The moral is, I think, to make the most of the smallest opportunity. If there is only to be one line for your DS this year, let that line be delivered with clarity and conviction. Add a sparkle in the eye and a sprinkling of stardust .... and who knows what next year might bring!

midnite well actually my DD's outside theatre group was where she met those children who were from disadvantaged backgrounds, lots of the children were there on scholarships because of their talent and they went on to the Brit School. We were very glad to be able to pay to give those amazingly talented children those opportunities. No one, least of all them, was under any illusions about the chances they will get as adults but they love singing /acting /dancing and I am sure will find some way to use their considerable talents . She doesn't see it as her future in quite the same way but enjoyed being able to be in productions with them and have the talent rub off.

You are being very patronising. If I had thought the casting at her UK school had worked in the way you describe I would not have been so cynical. It was how it worked at her International School and I had no problem. However it was most certainly not how it worked at her UK school. A combination of pushy parents and teachers who just wanted a reliably competent show so it was the same star all rounder pupils who got the big parts all the time. At her school there was hardly any disadvantage, very low FSM and it was my DD who would have benefitted from the confidence building, she is dyslexic and dyspraxic but because she had had intensive intervention with teaching methods that suited her at her previous school which had brought her up to average level the school would not accept the diagnosis, they had other dyslexic children whose spelling and reading was worse because they had not intervened. They never got her, never valued her talents and she was perceived as the stupidhead put it as "an over enthusiastic puppy who bounces around bumping into things" and she knew it. They were surprised when it was her that got the place at her very selective school when the girls they rated more highly because they were conventionally clever did not.

And whilst she does get big parts in senior school plays there is an element of the confidant girls using their social skills to be the ones who always are in the productions . However as I say that is not a bad lesson.

This old chestnut gets rolled out every year. People object to the same children getting the main parts in the Y6 production as got them in the Y4 production and in the drama club production. Well, it's always the same kids in the football team year after year, isn't it? And nobody suggests they should rotate fairly so that everyone gets a go and never mind if the standard of football plummets! And similarly, nobody suggests they should move around the classroom so that everyone gets a chance to sit at the top maths table even if they can't add 2 and 2! Why can't we acknowledge that children are different, with individual skills, talents and weaker areas? My DS has never been chosen for a sports team, even though he likes sport and tries hard. He knows this is because there are other people who are better than him! It's not such a crushing blow; it's actually good preparation for life. Those children who shine on stage may not be the most academic or the most sporty - why not allow them their chance to be celebrated?

And I do understand the pressures those teachers were under because I did the costumes for the Year 6 production, and my phone rang white hot with parents complaining, even crying, because their DDs costumes were not exactly what they thought they should be ( but only two actually helped)

And Outwith is right - if your child delivers his one line with conviction and projection he will demonstrate that he is suitable for a bigger part next time - it's only Year 3 so there will be other opportunities!

Shootingatpigeons It's great that there's opportunities for students from disadvantaged backgrounds in your area that can attend the theatre groups. I really wish that were the case here. I've got students who are from families that even if the opportunity were presented to them, would probably not be able to do it because of their circumstances. I run a lunchtime Theatresports club, and it's always extremely well attended by students, many who would love the opportunity to get some professional coaching. I also run a dance club, and I get a lot of boys, many of whom are expected to play football or cricket on the weekends, and would love a dance lesson instead!

If schools aren't being "fair" then that is a problem with that school, but please don't assume all schools do the same thing. I do get sick of hearing every year on here that they think someone has got a part they shouldn't have, or their child has been overlooked, etc. Remember the thread about the mother complaining so her part was taken off one child and given to her daughter? There is just so much more that has to be taken in to account than who is going to be the best performer.

I coordinate our school end of year show, and it really is more about parent management sometimes than the students. What parents don't see is the hours we've sat down and worked out how to get everyone some sort of chance, and the lists we have that show every part the child has ever had in any performance at the school, to make sure we are being "fair". Some children may have to wait until their final year to have a main role, some may get it early on and not get it again. But there's always a few parents complaining that it isn't going their way. It does get rather wearing at times.

I always felt that my dd1's obvious talent was being overlooked - though I didn't say anything. By yr3 she just had three barks in one assembly, when I asked more about the sketch she told me that they had written it themselves and she had only wanted to bark! She is otherwise fairly confident, enjoys dancing on stage and I just let her get on with it. still hoping that ds might get a big role in the nativity one year as he is my last chance, why didn't I name him Joseph or Gabriel!

If he is really upset then you could maybe tell the teacher and suggest that they have a word with him and explain why he has the part he has. If there is a good explanation then he might be happy and if it is due to politics then it means that the teacher can see the results of their decisions.