Prop-making IV: lava!

For the play we were preparing in this summer's workshop, we needed to represent a lava-filled planet as part of a journey through space. We wanted to find something the children could hold and move in time to Holst's "Mars the bringer of war" but we had to take into account the limited stage space we had available (with 22 kids taking part in the workshop). We looked at many different possibilities: giant flags, pool noodles, fans... and decided to use strips of lining material in different shades of red, orange and yellow.

We used a big black bin as a recipient for the "lava". Having drilled holes in the side,  we threaded strips of silky, shiny cloth through the holes:

The older kids took turns to slowly pull out the lava strips:

The smaller kids stood round the edges with lava flags, swirled in time to the music:

The lava strips were flapped up and down in time to the music. The children also moved round in a circle.

The scene really needed the outer circle of kids moving round the inner "volcano". The music (and the setting - a swirling, volatile lava planet) seemed to cry out for more movement, but the scene worked (if not completely perfectly) and, if nothing else, there was a lot of visual impact in having 22 kids of all ages on stage at once.

See the whole play here.

Prop-making III: light sabres!

No play about aliens and space travel would be complete without a light sabre or two. And if you are doing a play with 22 kids, you are obviously not going to get away with just a couple of them, either! So, this year we had to come up with 20 light sabers. And naturally, since we had access to black lights, they were going to have to glow in the dark!

First thing to remember about black light: normal white paper reacts incredibly well! So, all we had to do was to wrap our light sabers in white paper and keep the lights on during the battle scene.

We wrapped lengths of irrigation tubing in foam (for safety!), leaving a handle length at the end. Then we glued on strips of white paper (papier maché style) with runny white glue.And voilà!


Rehearsing with the light sabres:

To make the light sabres glow, we had the black lights on throughout the whole performance. The paper reacted even with the other lights on, giving the sabres a very "realistic" glow.

We turned the lighting on and off during the alien battle scene (like a very slow strobe effect) and the children assumed different fight poses every time the lights went off. In these moments, all you could see were the sabres glowing spookily:

See the whole play here.

Making props: getting everyone involved!

This blog is essentially about the theatre workshops we run for kids in the Alpujarra mountains in southern Spain. The workshops themselves are all about helping the kids work as a team and encouraging them to see things through to the (bitter!) end; to see theatre as something they can relate to (and take part in) and to get them thinking visually and relating to music emotionally...

However, slowly over the years, a growing number of adults have been getting involved in the plays we put on. Many of them are parents of the kids taking part and others enjoy the plays we put on and just want to get involved. As far as I'm concerned, this is great news! It has made the whole project much more of a community thing - and it has opened people's eyes a bit to just how much work is involved behind the scenes (which is never a bad thing!).

So, prop making has become quite a social affair. We get together at the weekends during the six weeks of the workshop and mass produce props with impressive gusto. If you are planning a prop-making session with a group of volunteers, it's worth bearing a few things in mind:

• not everyone considers themselves "artistic" (and can sometimes feel intimidated by the idea of getting "creative") so:

• give clear instructions and think through strategies beforehand (stencils, pictures as examples etc.)
• save the basic jobs (painting base coats, cutting, sticking) for these people
• find creative ways of getting people involved (for example, someone may feel happier kicking a ball round with the kids outside, which is a great way of helping out but doesn't involve paint)

• make an extensive list of props needed several days before the first workshop (this is your chance to make some serious progress with the props, so get the most out of your help!)
• make sure you have enough scissors, paint brushes, hammers, glue... etc. for lots of volunteers to get involved
• divide up the list into jobs and if you know who is coming, think about who can do which job
• make sure you have all the necessary basic materials
• it will help your "morale" considerably to feel you are making progress with the props, so use your prop sessions (and helpers!) to tackle the bigger (or more time consuming) projects (and save easy snipping jobs for in front of the telly!)
• if your volunteers are bringing kids with them (as is often the case) think through some entertainment options - having pens and paper on hand will cut down on the number of extra volunteers pestering you to help (unless you are planning on getting the kids involved); a ball or hula hoops if there is an outside space; is there someone who would volunteer to help keep them occupied? -  and perhaps have a few teatime snacks to hand for later.

La galaxia, los hula hop y la luz negra

La obra del taller de teatro de este verano fue ambientada en el espacio. Como el año pasado, utilizamos la luz negra para realzar las escenas "galácticas". Después de la obra del año pasado, nos había quedado el gusanillo de utilizar la luz negra con colores vivos: El año pasado experimentamos mucho con el color blanco (qué remedio, ya que la obra se trataba de fantasmas) y este año, el universo, las estrellas, los planetas parecían igual de idóneos para la representación con luz negra... ¡pero igual de blancos! Así que, buscamos la manera de meter un poco de color en esta escena, que hace homenaje a la icónica serie de televisión americano, "Star Trek":

 

Para los saturnos psicodélicos, forramos unos hula hop con chaquetas reflectantes y pegamos un circulo de la misma tela (pero en otro color) a los cuerpos de los niños.

Normalmente al trabajar con la luz negra, se enfoca la energía en conseguir la perfección (en tapar, esconder, ocultar las mecanismos detrás de la ilusión) ya que la magia para el espectador está precisamente en no saber como se ha conseguido los efectos visuales que se está viendo. Sin embargo, esta escena gana mucho con las "imperfecciones" de los niños. Cuando se cae un hula hop, y se nos ve "el plumero", la magia para el espectador se aumenta (curiosamente)... Por esta razón decidimos no esconder a los niños al terminar la escena y de encender las luces un pelín antes, para romper (ligeramente) la ilusión... ¿Funciona?¿Qué opinas?

La obra entera se puede ver aquí.

Juegos en grupo: objetos

Objetos imaginarios

Una actividad que estimula la imaginación y practica el mimo básico.

Con el grupo colocado en circulo, los alumnos se turnan para saca un objeto imaginario de una caja invisible. El primero 'saca' un objeto, lo 'usa' y se lo pasa a su compañero, que a su vez lo cambia a un objeto imaginario distinto.

Todo... menos lo que es

Una variación de la actividad anterior.

El profesor presenta un objeto real al grupo y los alumnos se turnan para imaginar/proponer otro uso distinto para el objeto. Tienen que mostrar a los demás como funciona y aclarar para qué se usa. ¡Animarles a ser imaginativos! 

¿Qué puede ser?

 Otra variación:

En un circulo, los alumnos van pasando un trozo de tela (ej. de 1m por 1m) y cada uno tiene que transformarlo en un objeto. Si se repite una idea, animarle al alumno a buscar una variación original ej. en vez de un sombrero... una gorra.

Hay infinitas posibilidades, pero aquí tienes unas ideas:

• una capa de vampiro o superheroe
• una bandera
• una manta
• un alfombra volador
• un bebé
• una peluca
• una venda
• una cometa
• una toalla
• una balsa 

¿Cómo funciona?

De uno en uno y sin tiempo de prepararse, los alumnos tienen que hacer una demostración del objeto (o proceso) que viene escrito en su tarjeta. La única pega es que lo tienen que hacer en un idioma inventado. Unos ejemplos. Como ...
se usa el fregaplatos/la lavadora, un cajero, una fotocopiadora, un microondas, un taladro, un teléfono móvil...  
O se hace un bizococho/una tortilla. se lava un coche, se monta una tienda de campana, se repara un pinchazo etc.
 

Para más ideas, ver:

Dramagames.info

Creativedrama.com

Dramagames.net

Childdrama.com