Photo By Sgt. Antonio Rubio | Tenacity Clayton, left, and Dina Roman reenact “Cinderella,” by Rodgers and...... read more read more
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IWAKUNI, Japan - Lights, cameras, action!
Matthew C. Perry High School thespians showcased their theatrical talents to parents and community members at the M.C. Perry Elementary School Gymnasium aboard Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Feb. 8, 2014, as a rehearsal for the 2014 Far East Drama Festival.
The 2014 Far East Drama Festival is a week where students have the opportunity to achieve a greater understanding of literary and dramatic arts, shed light on the complexities and challenges of performance art and provide a context to the personal connections within the interactive process of art programs.
“The theater art program is important for the development of students because not all students learn the same way, not all students are athletes so this gives them a venue to express themselves,” said Lorenzo Brown, M.C. Perry High School principle. “The Far East Drama Festival shows students they don’t have to be a big time quarterback or be able to slam a basketball in order to find a commitment in school and the various art programs provide them that commitment.”
The 2014 Far East Drama Festival consists of 13 Department of Defense Education Activity Pacific schools where students present their performance in a one act play with all cast members participating, followed by two individual events being either a monologue, a duet, or a trio scene, and view other performances from other schools, as well as participate in theater arts workshops.
Mary O’Connell, the Far East Drama co-director, seized the benefit of having community members with theatrical experience under their belts to afford the drama students the opportunity to rehearse in front an audience, be judged, critiqued and to eliminate any anxiousness before the festival begins.
“Today was a run-through, so parents and community members can see what we do at the festival and it gives the students a chance to practice in front of an audience,” said O’Connell.
“Community members with a history of performance drama were given a grading rubric, similar to the one Far East judges will be using to evaluate their performance, to allow students a wider range of experience and knowledge in performing arts.”
The drama students took each critique to heart and intend to apply methods to enhance their performance during the festival, as stated by Koudai Franklin, the only senior on the team, who participated in drama arts for six years and three years in the Far East Drama Festival.
“We will take the critiques as a chance to improve our abilities to perform and incorporate different things, such as not stumbling or looking up when we forget our lines, to give the audience the best show possible,” said Franklin. “We feel honored because some schools don’t offer art programs, so we like to give the joy of acting back and we can’t think of any other way to spend our high school career.”
O’Connell said the Far East Drama Festival is another opportunity for students to positively express themselves while interacting with other students who share the same passion for drama.
O’Connell also mentioned extracurricular activities act as an incentive for students to excel academically because any students who is failing is prohibited from participating in secondary activities such as football, basketball, drama, etc.
Brown said that in 25 years of teaching, he noticed art programs that are administratively supported have higher participation rates because the school is able to provide money for a theatrical facility, transportation and maintenance items needed throughout the year.
| Date Taken: | 02.08.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 02.13.2014 23:09 |
| Story ID: | 120618 |
| Location: | IWAKUNI, YAMAGUCHI, JP |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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