Hello Week Two

Hi every one, great to see you all back again this term.

Last week was a hoot. I was really impressed with your ad-libbing during our improvisation "Health and Safety". There was some great characterisation too. Well done.

This week we start our first mini-script - "Clear Up This Mess". The unusual thing about this script is that one person is going to be playing the part of a waste paper basket. I am already looking forward to how you are going to work on this one. Will it be funny, serious, weird, have a hidden message???

Remember to check with the Prop list posted last week for what you may need to bring to each class.

Have fun

Cheers

Helen

WELCOME TO TERM 3

Hello everyone.

I hope you have all managed to have a good rest over the holidays. What about the snow?? Exciting. We had lots of lovely white snow here  at Waikouaiti which was really amazing, it even snowed on the beach.

Well here we are ready to start Term 3. First of all I would like to thank you all for the really hard work you all put into our presentations last term. I was very proud of you all. 

This term we go back to the normal format,

Introduction activities, speech, mime and movement, and our improvisations although every now and again I will throw in some miniscripts just to keep you on your toes. 

We will be focusing on our ad libbing skills this term also, in preparation for our end of year play. 

As the school terms have been changed this year, we will begin work on the end of year play in week 7, so we have plenty of time to master it before the rush of term 4.

Below I have included the themes of each lesson improvisations, so if you want to dress up or bring props please do.

Have a great week

 Helen O’Grady Drama, TERM 3 Prop and Costume Suggestions:

UPPER PRIMARY

LESSON: DATES: THEME:

 8^th – 12^th August              Miniscript: “Clear up this mess!”

                                                      Nothing required

 15^th – 19^th August            Class Improvisation: “Stop Thief”

                                           Bring any old fashioned workers’ or beggars’ clothes .

 22^nd – 26^th August             Class Improv: “The Trial”

This continues last week’s story with the trial

of the thief. You could be the judge, a lawyer,

a convict, a guard, or an onlooker in the court.

 29^th Aug. – 2^nd Sept          Miniscript: “The Latest Song”

                                            You’ll be a parent or a teen.

                                            Nothing required

 5^th – 9^th Sept                    Miniscript: “When I Grow Up”

Nothing required

12^th – 16^th Sept               Class Improv: “Oops! Wrong Plane!”

                                        You could be cabin crew or any type of traveler:                                          holidaymaker, business person, unaccompanied

                                         child etc. Bring small hand luggage.

19^th – 23^th Sept          Miniscript: “Mapreading”

                                      On a hike: Bring a small backpack

26^th Sept. – 30^th Sept  Miniscript: “The New Robot” If you can think of

                                     any simple robot accessories, bring them!

 3^rd – 8^th October       Class Improv: “The Audition”

                             If you like, come as a singer  or dancer (any style)!

Week 5 Already!!

Hello everyone. I cannot believe that we are half way through the term already. My appologies for not updating this site earlier.

A big welcome back to all my returning students. It's great to have you back and thank you for taking the time to help our new students.

A big welcome to all our new students this year.  It is wonderful to see so many new faces and I can already see a difference to your performances even though we are only 5 weeks into the school year.

I am very impressed with the way all of you are working together in speech, mime and movement and improvisations. Keep up all your hard work.

Well that's all for today.

Have a safe week.

A Very Happy New Year

Hello Everyone

Congratulations to our students on their fantastic efforts at the year end shows, and thank you parents for your enthusiastic support and appreciation. We look forward to seeing all of our students back in class this coming term.

COMMENCEMENT OF CLASSES – 2011

Please note we have had to make changes to a couple of our venues and start times for 2011. I hope this won't inconvenience anyone. Our classes will commence the week of February 7^th and run for a 10 week term.

Monday: Wakari School Hall, Helensburgh Road 3.45 – 4.45 pm

(We unfortunately are unable to use the St Johns Church Hall this year. Class time has been moved back for those of you who may need more time to get to class.)

Tuesday: Musselburgh School Hall, Marlow Street 3.30 – 4.30 pm

Wednesday: Oamaru School Hall, Torridge Street 4.00 – 5.00 pm

Thursday: Green Island School Hall, Howden Street 3.30 – 4.30 pm

Invercargill - James Hargest Junior Campus 3.30 – 4.30 pm

Friday: DNI School Hall – The Gardens 4.00 – 5.00 pm

Youth Theatre: Thursday Evenings – 7.00 – 8.00 pm

New Venue St Clair Womens Hall – 47 Albert Street – St Clair (Last road on the right off Forbury Road, going towards the beach.)

Unfortunately, we are no longer able to use the Mary Hopewell Theatre, at the University. However, this new venue provides a great working space and a good stage.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday. See you all in February.

With kind regards

Helen Wilson

Fantastic Performances 2010

Well, we are at the end of the last term for 2010. This year has just flown by and I can't believe it will soon be Christmas.
I would like to thank you for all your hard work this term getting our productions up and running.
All your performances were fantastic and I know your parents are so proud of you and your achievements. I have attached some photos of the different studios and you all look splendid in your costumes.
My thanks also to Mums and Dads, for the support you have given me over the year.
Well done all those who received their certificates this term. A great effort. A special congratulations to those of you who  received their 100 lesson plaque.
A reminder that we will be starting again in Term 1 of 2011, the week beginning 7th February.
I look forward to seeing you all then. We have lots of new exciting activities to look forward to.

In the meantime I wish you all a very happy and safe Christmas and a great holiday.

See you next year.

End Of Week Five

I can't believe we are half way through the term already. Where has the time gone. We are now in that difficult phase of learning our plays.
Some of the excitement has worn off and we are counting down to the performance date. As we will be performing in Week 9, that means we only have 2 more full lessons before dress rehearsal, so we really need to concentrate on our characters over the next 2 weeks and work hard to fix any problems we are having with the play.

Dress Rehearsal - is just that. When we make sure the costumes are right, the props work and the last time we have a chance to fix those niggly little problems.

As we are performing in week 9 the last lesson  in week 10 will be a mixture of movement, snippets and miniscripts. I will choose some from over the year  and we will just have some fun putting them together.

Youth Theatre - I have been asked to move our performance date forward to Thursday 9th December. Does this suit everyone. Please let me know if there is a problem.

Lastly for this week - The Helen O'Grady Star of the Week goes to ..............  Simon - from Green Island Studio. Thank you Simon for being an excellent role model for my younger students.

Have a great week.

Another Week Come and Gone

Hi everyone

What a great week it's been. Everything is starting to come together now. Well done all of you for the hard work you are putting into learning your lines and becoming your characters.
The next couple of weeks may be a bit messy as we start to fine tune everything, words, moves, songs, music etc but we all just need to be patient and concentrate just a little harder.

Performance dates will be:

Musselburgh      Tuesday 7th December
Oamaru              Wednesday 8th December
Green Island       Thursday 9th December
The Gardens      Friday 10th December
Roslyn               Monday 13th December
Youth Theatre   Thursday 16th December

If for some reason these dates don't suit, please let me know ASAP as I may be able to rearrange things. This time of year is a busy one for all of us.

The Helen O'Grady Drama Star of the Week goes to Elizabeth from Oamaru studio, for being such a cute baby elephant. Well done Elizabeth. Keep up the hard work.

That's all for now.

See you all next week.