Student Profiles

brendan

In the first session, Brendan began as a self-focused, precocious boy who wanted all of the attention or he would act up and run around the room. As time went on, he began friendships with only the male participants and engaged in making faces when the girls talked or exclaiming “why did she say that?” When read-throughs of the play began, Brendan had difficulties with a line that referred to a girl as his best friend. He had a tantrum because he didn’t want anyone to think that he had a female best friend. He called Marie his cousin and added that she was not his friend. At the performance, Brendan used the line as written and helped Marie with her lines when she forgot her cues.

In the second session, Josh entered as a young teenager of 14 who seemed annoyed that some participants were half his age.  He grimaced often and distanced himself from a boy who screamed or cried on occasion.  Josh seemed particularly annoyed when one of the participants had a difficult time coping or focusing on the acting exercises. At dress rehearsal, Josh reached out to console Seth while he was crying, getting down on the floor to help him cope.

In the second session, Josh entered as a young teenager of 14 who seemed annoyed that some participants were half his age. He grimaced often and distanced himself from a boy who screamed or cried on occasion. Josh seemed particularly annoyed when one of the participants had a difficult time coping or focusing on the acting exercises. At dress rehearsal, Josh reached out to console Seth while he was crying, getting down on the floor to help him cope.

Owen was another young teenager of 13 who constantly interrupted by asking questions of the adults, as if he were the only one in the room.  The questions were totally off topic like “why is the moon sometimes visible before the sun goes down ?” or “what Foo Fighters’ songs do you know the words to?  He also chose to pass and not participate in some of the acting exercises or prop improvisations regularly.  Special coaching from Miss Bri and talks with his mom were implemented to get Owen to see why his interruptions and self-centered actions were distracting and a disruption of the theater process.  By the end of the session, Owen was volunteering to lead one of the acting exercises and demonstrated this during the introduction at the final performance.

Owen was another young teenager of 13 who constantly interrupted by asking questions of the adults, as if he were the only one in the room. The questions were totally off topic like “why is the moon sometimes visible before the sun goes down ?” or “what Foo Fighters’ songs do you know the words to? He also chose to pass and not participate in some of the acting exercises or prop improvisations regularly. Special coaching from Miss Bri and talks with his mom were implemented to get Owen to see why his interruptions and self-centered actions were distracting and a disruption of the theater process. By the end of the session, Owen was volunteering to lead one of the acting exercises and demonstrated this during the introduction at the final performance.