Saturday, April 14, 2018

The Big Bad Readers Theater

    I was asked by Sunny (Chen Chu-Kuei) to visit Guang-Zhen Junior High School in Dali on September 22 to review their presentation for the 2017 October Readers' Theater contest. Sunny had chosen a scrip herself and most of the children from the 2016 troupe that did "Child Labour" participated.  The theme of the production, “The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig” was not to stereotype and or build a wall around yourself when you've been hurt before. 
      When I returned on September 29, I saw that they had taken my suggestions  and added some musical interludes to their Readers Theater production. Despite having chosen the script, the deep theme  was unrealized by the staff and troupe; it merely seemed cute. I explained what I thought it meant and added comical tones to the production. 
     I was surprised on my first visit by the ten teachers that had come to see the rehearsal; I made my suggestions in public and it felt awkward; the confidentiality was lost. Instead of focusing on the children, I had to consider the teachers' opinions and see their facial expressions. It was a distraction and unnecessary  at that stage of the production. The children had higher expectations put on them since they had done so well in the competition the year before. 
     The Sam the Sham song The Hair on My Chinny Chin Chin holds it together with a modified chorus repeated twice and a coda with a moral modified verse: “If you want to let a new love start don’t build a brick house around your heart or we’re gonna keep coming around till we huff and puff and blow your little house down.” They bow out at the end. 
     There are still unnecessary roles (like a flamingo that sells bricks) that will be noticed and may be confusing to the judges. My suggestion of throwing confetti to represent flower petals and bouquet air freshener spray for a lasting impression might be a winner. I tried to bring out the nuance and body language of the construction material truck driver screeching to a halt hearing the wolves calling for supplies and other latent hooks. 
     I'm not sure if the props or song excerpt was used in their
presentation; we were gone to the States and not available for further consultation. I learned later on that the troupe didn't place in the finals but I am sure that they must have tried hard and practiced; Sunny is an inspiration. I only wonder if the convoluted story may have been its drawback. In any case, the experience of preparing for an English Readers Theater  for Taiwanese students cannot be beat for motivation. Like the Sam the Sham follow-up to the "Little Red Riding Hood" hit, it was too fat for its own good. 

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