School play....why do auditions???

[Schoolmum2468]

It's school play season AGAIN...and again the same old story happening again. (3x DC...always the same story)

I told DH weeks ago when we found out the play who would be given which parts. And low and behold....I was correct.

And my DC has come home in tears because they weren't given any of the parts they auditioned for. Even the extra part the teacher asked them to audition for

The child who told mine not to bother going for part A because it was their part...yup got the part

The pushy parents child got the main part (AGAIN!!!)

"Shy" children who have now come out of their shells now they're the eldest in the school.... literally background scenery.

My DC's friend is also upset because they wanted a speaking part and got 1 short line "no way" type of thing

My DC wanted an acting part and got narrator (again). They've been told in the past that it's because they're a good reader....but now in yr6 after years of being narrator (both in end of year plays and Xmas nativities) they thought for the last play in primary they would try really hard to get an acting part.

So what is the point of asking children which part they want and going through auditions if teachers are going to ignore all that and just chose who they want.

And why not give other children a little bit of a chance in the spotlight if they want it. Chances are the shyer ones are going to be even more lost in secondary and this may be their last chance. It's a school play....why not add lines for children who want them. It's primary school not a theatre production!!!

If any teachers can explain why they do this year upon year....please enlighten me.

My dd was also very academic. She was regularly given harder work to push her. Of course!😂😂

Why shouldn't kids who are talented at sport be pushed and stretched by being on a team? And why shouldn't kids who are talented at performing arts be pushed and stretched by having more challenging roles in a play?

At primary it's better for schools to get all kids to develop a wide range of interests, explore their aptitude and find confidence through experiencing many different things. Primary is not a sports academy nor stage school so those who are already good should definitely get opportunities but not exclusively so at the detriment of the other 2/3 of the class throughout the 7 years.

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves you are obviously very proud of your multi talented, academic, mature, helpful, kind, and self assured, accomplished offspring. But you also sound bitter for having to deal with petty jealous parents of untalented children who fret about also being given a little chance. It must be hard dealing with such entitled losers. 😉

Oh piss off. I haven't implied that anyone's children are losers and I have acknowledged that my dc has areas in which she doesn't excel, such as sport. If it makes you feel any better, she isn't any good at art either. But yes, she is very talented in certain areas and I'm not going to apologise for that or agree that she shouldn't be given appropriate opportunities in those areas, any more than I'm going to argue that kids who are good at sport or art etc should not equally be recognised for those particular talents. I have rarely come across a child who doesn't have some sort of talent for something.

Of course all children should be given opportunities to try stuff out at primary school. Of course school productions should be inclusive. All children should have the opportunity to try a range of different activities and if the school is providing a decent, balanced curriculum, then they will. But does that mean that we have to pretend that we don't notice if certain kids have certain talents in particular areas? Unless you are going to stop all competitive sport, story writing competitions, maths olympiads, art competitions etc etc, and make sure that no child ever gets opportunities that are tailored to their particular strengths, I don't personally see why kids who happen to be good at drama in particular shouldn't have their chance to be stretched.

If you disagree with me and think that parts in school plays should be not be allocated on merit but rather so that everyone has an equal opportunity to do a main role, then that's fair enough. It's a perfectly valid position. However, even then, I don't see why you couldn't argue for that approach without all of the nasty bitter comments about individual children and/or their parents. With that approach, of course I'm going to conclude that it's petty jealousy rather than a well reasoned argument.

The class play is a low priority in the sense that there is little time to get it done. The teacher has to prioritise the SAT'S. They really do not have time for all this drama. Hence the message. Let's face it. You are unhappy with the procedure and outcome. If it was changed another child would then be upset. It is not possible to take back the parts given out. It is therefore pointless for you to moan at the teacher. Maybe she has had numerous moans as other kids didn't get the part they wanted. If I were the teacher I would can the play and focus instead on teaching and learning.

"They really do not have time for all this drama."

😄

@Schoolmum2468

I also often got to be the narrator in school plays (in school uniform with extra pressure to keep it clean all day) so I know the slightly left out feeling that you mean.

Could you contact the teacher again and explain that you understand the parts are allocated and that won't change. However, you don't feel that your DCs expectations were managed particularly well during the auditions. Is it possible for the narrator to wear a costume as this was one aspect which your DC as this would help your DC feel more included?

Eldest is shy but loves singing. They’d never volunteer for school shows, quite happy in the background. After the School’s Christmas concert, which I couldn’t attend due to work commitments, I received lots of messages from other parents complimenting my eldest. Turns out, they’d sang the first lines of the class’s opening number as a solo. They hadn’t told any of us they’d been asked to do it - teacher had approached them. We’re not pushy parents - we rarely make contact with the School. We’re ever so grateful to eldest’s teacher - because of them, & the compliments of parents after the performance, eldest has started a Musical Theatre class. They’re coming out of their shell more & more which is so wonderful to see. I’m annoyed at myself for not being able to attend in person.

And this is why, when I get moved to Year 6, I will be getting the village am dram society in to do auditions. I can’t imagine working the late night hours that I already do and dealing with all of that drama on top.

Our current Year 6 teacher is brilliant. She runs auditions, assigns parts based on performance and then invites any parent complainers to come in and run the play themselves if they aren’t happy. I think she’s secretly hoping someone will take her up on her suggestion and she’ll get a break 😂

It is exactly the same situation at my DD’s Primary School. The same 2 children (with pushy mums who are housewives and always at the playground and at school) are in every play (Christmas Play, Year 1,2,3 etc Talent, Year Assembly etc) for 4 years in a row. The same children are chosen for orchestra, to represent the school in sports, auditions etc.
I am not sure why teachers let pushy housewives run the school? It’s beyond belief!!

It will keep happening until parents stop tolerating it. My kids school does a dance where every child gets to participate equally. You need to get all the parents of the kids that didn’t really get a part to all let the school know it’s not ok and you won’t be participating. Or just don’t turn up for the play. I can assure you it will change if the parents put pressure on the school.

My children's old school made sure by the end of year 6 every child had represented the school at a sporting event. There are ways of keeping records. The OP child is obviously not one who is going to freeze on stage otherwise they wouldn't be the narrator- obviously trustworthy and have a clear voice, they just wanted to have a costume and line(s) as part of the group, they feel disappointed and limited so may at secondary not bother going for the school production- primary is about exploring and trying things and unfortunately often due to academic pressures from SATS children end up feeling failures before the age of 11, despite having other talent.

They shouldn't let children go for specific parts. Say you can audition by singing a song or whatever but you can't request a part.

Drama teacher here (one of my second subjects anyways). It’s tricky. Some kids are just heaps above the rest, talented and reliable and to be honest will carry the production. They are probably doing theatre classes outside of school. I’m sorry to hear they’re being so arrogant about it. Some kids you just can’t hear them, and unless you have a decent sound system nobody will hear them. And probably the teacher doesn’t have time to do loads of 1-1 vocal projection work with each kid to get them to the stage where they can be heard.

Pushy parents never made a difference to me. In fact we used to laugh about them in the staff room especially when they thought their little darling should have been Dorothy or whatever.

Im sorry to hear your DC is disappointed. They should have chosen a better play with more lines spread out between more characters.

It’s the same as the conversation about sport on here the other day. Is the point to produce the best play possible, or to give as many kids the chance to grow in confidence and develop their skills etc. In my opinion it should be balance between those two things, but other will disagree.

This is probably a teacher doing this over and above their curriculum teaching (I imagine?). If too many parents kick up a stink about it they probably will stop bothering.

I know it has been said before but this is why there is a national shortage of teachers! Not everyone can have the main part(s). Teachers are busy but most probably trying their best. Some year 6 teachers don't want to do the bloody play; some love it. Everyone dreads the parental onslaught when parts are given out. Those plays you can buy online where everyone gets a part are godawful and tedious to watch. Your child has probably had hundreds of lovely experiences where their teacher has gone above and beyond. In a year, 5 and certainly ten years this will not matter to you or your child but if you bully all the teachers out then we will all be stuffed.

Yep, at the ripe old age of 9, I was inside a tree trunk, narrating from memory the whole story of Joseph and his Technicoloured Dream Coat when I wanted to be a dancing girl. I know the feeling of that disappointment.qQ

I do think some kids are more natural in some parts though, but I agree speaking parts should be moved around...

I would avoid a school that doesn't go in for enrichment activities like drama. Surely you get similar issues with things like sports, concerts etc? Or do you avoid them as well?

To add to my comment. The best thing you could do if you can afford it is find a local theatre offering a holiday workshop (not the private theatre schools as they’re insanely expensive) and put them in a week of theatre club in the school holidays. It will massively help their confidence and give them something to look forward to after the disappointment of the school play.

From another perspective, sometimes the audition process shows that a child you wouldn't necessarily have thought of being good at acting has skills you were unaware of. My DC is exceptionally quiet in class and would probably be most teachers last choice for a part in the play but being able to audition showed that she actually was good acting and confident to speak when it came to reading lines. The audition process should be fair and open to all of course.

hard one, I guess they choose kids based on merit and reliability. Maybe they only have so many speaking parts.

however, I do agree with OP, the shy kids brave enough to join it would be nice to at some point over a couple of years to get a word or two to say, and not just be someone in the background. To vary the kids involved and give kids a chance.

At my school the yr 6 production has multiple children playing the main parts so they swap part way through the play. It means that more children get to have a chance at a main part and there is less pressure and lines to learn. It has seemed to work really well.

Auditions yes, sensible. Just doing them with the pushy parents children alway being chosen, not.

It will indeed change - teachers will stop doing the plays. Everybody loses.

This is why I'm glad DC went to a 1 entry fairly small school. The teachers and other staff knew all of the children well and made sensible decisions for stuff like this, all children got a chance at somepoint to do their ideal part- whether that was the main part, a non speaking part or helping with the scenery etc (children have different preferences and abilities afterall). Friends who had children at the larger schools would often get upset by stuff like this.

It sounds like a hopeless teacher and a hopeless school for allowing the self intitled conduct of a few. Sorry she’s had this experience. Lament the fact Arts are being marginalised in education & that they don’t have anyone who can direct an exceptional play where everyone feels included, empowered & inspired.

My son was made for the stage but he’s off school so often with basically a crap immune system that even he understands why he doesn’t get juicy parts.

they pick the reliable confident ones every time IMO

That's such a shame, @AbsoIutelyLovely.I hope that his immune system improves so that he gets a chance to use his talents to the full!