8/3/2019 Notes for the Teacher Coordinator

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Notes for the Teacher CoordinatorDocuments on the Website (www.theatreprospero.ca):

Our edited version of the script. Please make a copy for each of the student actors. Student Roles:

Use it as your guide for casting. Please limit the size of the student cast to a maximum of

thirty participants. Please do not cast an actor in more than one role except according tothe directions in Roles for Student Actors. We spend the morning working in groups,with one professional actor per group of students. Even if two characters dont appear in

the same scene, they may belong to different groups, making it impossible for the samestudent actor to rehearse both roles.

Notes:There will be a set of notes for each student actor to help them understand their role.

Make sure they read their notes. Groundplan:

This shows how the gym must be set up for our theatre-in-the-roundperformance.

To prepare for the performance, please: Cast students into the roles. The roles range in the degree of challenge.

The students MUST have their lines memorized. You will need to help them withthis. Parents and peers may also help. If students are unprepared for their roles on

performance day, the professional actors are prepared to take over the roles. This is

preferable to allowing a student to fail in public. Some teachers have foundthat a

memorization and comprehension test worth marks is highly effective. Help them to understand their lines and to speak them naturally (no English accents).

Have them highlight their lines. Student performers will need to wear a base costume with no visible logos. They must

be able to move in their clothing (no low cut or extra tight jeans please, or revealingclothing: no midriff or underwear showing). The students will also require close-toed,

easy to move in footwear. All actors (including non-speaking) should bring their scripts and a pencil to the

morning rehearsal. Find at least three students to do tech work (lighting, etc.). All

should have good teamwork and listening skills, as they will be delegated fairlycomplex tasks.

Make sure that, four days before the performance, the students you have for tech havereceived, looked at, and understood the documents that we will post on the web for them

to make their lives easier on the performance day. These will include cue sheets,instructions, a lighting plot, and a patch chart. We will post these within two weeks of the

tours first performance.

We will need allstudents (technicians and actors, speaking and non-speaking) for

the entire day.

Presentation Requirements:Our performance will be theatre-in-the-round. We will perform in the gym (or

equivalent large, empty space with high ceilings), surrounded by the audience. Pleasesupply the following:

8/3/2019 Notes for the Teacher Coordinator

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Exclusive use of the performance space all day Seating to be set up before we arrive (see Groundplan on website). This is critical.Time

spent setting up when we arrive is lost rehearsal time, which will mean that some studentparts will be cut. If it is not possible to set up completely, then we should at least have

enough chairs/bleachers/mats ready to be put down, and students who are familiar with

the groundplan ready to blitz through a setup before the student actors are scheduled tostart. Access to the gym breaker panels

2-4 rectangular tables for props

A Typical Days Schedule, based on a 3:15 dismissal time:8:15 Theatre Prospero arrives, tech students arrive

8:30 Student actors arrive11:30 Lunch

12:55 Audience called to the gym1:00 Performance begins. The play will run approximately 120 minutes. Allow

an additional 5 minutes for introducing the play.

The audience must be seated at least 2 hrs 15 mins before the end of the school day. If you dismiss your students earlier than 3:15, please adjust the start times of all events

accordingly.Please contact us well in advance if you need to adjust this schedule.

Please check our website at www.theatreprospero.ca occasionally for furtherinformation.