Our Planet

Roundtable discussion held on: 17.6.2020
Interviewer: Aya Endo

-So what idea brought you all to drama?

C: One of the challenges we had been facing as Akebi was the limited opportunity of teamwork such as getting together to create something and solving a problem together. This is due to our class usually let children choose what activity each child wants to do on the day. And so the drama project was initiated; we came up with the idea of experiencing to listen to what the classmates have to say and work on challenges that require teamwork, as it was also around the time where the eldest two children were almost graduating.

T: It also started from Y-chan’s curiosity in singing and dancing, we ended up building a stage in the middle of the classroom with box chairs and a plank, that then eventually developed into children acting on stage.

C: Our initial plan was to not have a recital. But then some children suggested that they would like to invite their parents to watch them perform, so that lead to the enactment of “Akebi Theatre”.

Picture :Team Swimmy

-There were three teams. How did each team start working on the production?

C: First, children who have loved acting from the start got together as S-san’s team. Then it was my team composed of children who have not shown interest in acting in front of everybody, and T-kun’s team had a mix of both. Each team was composed of children with different motivation and adults with different values. S-san’s team in that sense, we all agreed that children with passion towards acting should get together with her, as she was involved in drama herself for years.

S: I was in drama club from 5th grade until sophomore at college and I am imbued with the whole process of stage production, so ever since this project started I was thinking hard, how should I get together with children to make this successful? I had all my passion on fire like, I want to be part of this and have fun!

Picture: Team Swimmy

-What did you want to focus on, T-san?

T: It was around one of the days where I would be in charge of leading Circle Time and wanted to try out new things with children, and one of them was to enhance communication between children, which I believed that it’s possible. At the very first drama team meeting, I started off with stating “this isn’t my production, it’s yours. I will lend you a hand, but you guys are the ones who will make this happen”. My aspiration was to have children not communicate through help of adults, but talk with each other and experience conflicts.

C: In the first half, children in T-kun’s team seemed to go through some sort of hesitation like, “so are we really acting?” as a result of him not intervening much. It didn’t really take root to some extent.

T: Every child has their own timing to increase their level of motivation. In my team, it was Ka-chan and Ki-chan that were motivated from the beginning. The facilitator of the first team meeting was Ka-chan, and suggestions of basic idea on the production was by N-kun. 

C: It’s a production by children, so many ideas do come up, but casting the ideas into shape is the hard part. That must be why “Three Little Pigs” team struggled many times.

T: I suppose something that’s challenging, but you are fascinated by differs. Kiyoka and Ka-chan for instance, they had high motivation in learning the lines and act, and Ki-chan and R-kun had more motivation in shaping their own ideas. I-kun seemed lively when he is in conflict with the others. To me it looked just about right.
On 3rd March, 6 days before the performance day, I insisted “shall we not do the play anymore?” because children’s minds seemed to be all over the place. Then, Ki-chan and Ka-chan went “I want to do the play” straight away, and when Ka-chan called out “if you want to do the play put your hands up”, everybody except I-kun, R-kun and J-kun raised their hands. So we decided to do the play without these three, but I-kun came back soon after to join the practice.
After we did the run through, I asked the team “What should J-kun and R-kun do?”, and one of the children suggested “Maybe they can be our audience?”. Soon after this conversation along came J-kun, and Ki-chan asked him “Why did you leave us?”. J-kun replied, “Because I wanted to do painting”. Ki-chan asked again, “Is that what your heart tells you?”, and J-kun nodded. Ki-chan then questioned “Are you going to join us once again?”, and J-kun answered “yes I am”. Next, I-kun and Ki-chan went to get R-kun, and he also replied “I want to do it too”. From around this day, N-kun became highly motivated that he insisted after the run through “let’s do the run through again, it’s so much fun”. After that, N-kun started to lead the team.

C: As for Swimmy team, nobody said anything when I asked “what stories do you want to do?” so I took out three picture books, read to them and then everybody agreed they want to do Swimmy for their production. It was a group of children with low motivation towards acting, so I let them start with creating script, costumes and props, hoping that their level of motivation will increase somehow. As we did, children gradually began suggesting more ideas with more concrete image of what drama they want to produce in their minds. We did not make it to the point where they give shape to their thoughts, so I prepared all the materials for them, and children created by using those materials. I suppose they ended up experiencing the fun of acting, as towards the end they said “acting practice is fun!”.

S:The Lion Kingteam had many lines so it must have been quite challenging, but children seemed to be motivated to practice their lines even at home. There was a difference in the level of motivation within the team to some extent, but Y-chan and D-chan, some of the least motivated ones, started to change after mid-term presentation, where they experienced to be watched by other people. It must have been a first time experience to express what they got after practicing day by day for some. Some of the children were having fun from the start, others seemed pushed by momentum. M-chan for instance was in charge of playing the music and pulling the curtain, saying he doesn’t want to do acting. But one day, out of the blue he said he wants to be the zebra, and he ended up rocking his role! Every child had their own trigger in increasing their level of motivation which was really interesting. Y-chan discovered the joy of acting, and established herself as a leader of the team.

Picture: Team The Lion King

-How has this drama project impacted the class as of now?

S: I feel that the joy of expressing with freedom became more common in our daily scenes after this experience. I see the act of expression as something that happens regularly in our daily lives, something like a tube that connects us to our utmost joy. And that tube, I feel, seems more solid compared to the previous times.

T: Previously, I had felt that having an interest in others was always a challenge at Akebi. I felt that we didn’t really have children getting together in the process of creation.
But now that the drama project is over, it seems like more of that is happening these days. I suppose it was the result of not initially preparing an outcome. Those who enjoy acting, those who enjoy the process of planning, and those who enjoy to be in conflict -there are many ways to enjoy a drama. It was successful how, through such educational material, the adults could look closely into what needs each child has.

C: We cannot really claim that this was a very visual re“this was our accomplishment of all”, but surely children are becoming more and more comfortable in sharing their needs to each other, compared to the time where they only did that to adults. The experience of suggesting ideas to each other to gather them up to create a production must have impacted children greatly.

S: It was lots of fun! I hope we can do it again this year. 

 

Picture:Team The Three Little Pigs