Modernizing Fairy Tales

At the beginning of the school year, Jenell Novello and I came together to discuss the option of revamping our school play. We wanted more student ownership, choice and a cross-curricular connection for our 8th grade performance piece. We decided we wanted our students to go through the whole process of putting a production together, from creating a script to costuming and of course, acting or directing.

We next had to decide on a realistic, engaging topic for our students to tackle in their script writing. I love the trend in YA fantasy and science fiction where authors are modernizing fairy tales for today's audiences. From The Lunar Chronicles series to The Woodcutter Sisters Enchanted and Hero, my students are reading these updated classics and enjoying the new spin.

Our guiding questions for this project evolved from these book topics and our motivation for the play revamp:

• How can classic children’s fairy tales be updated to entertain a modern audience?
• What does it take to put on a professional performance? 
• What components are required to make it entertaining and interesting?

After deciding on a topic and the guiding questions, we started looking at creative ways to find the community engagement piece. Each year, we have put together family night around the Renaissance to showcase the projects and art pieces our 7th graders have created. This seemed to be a perfect audience fit for our 8th graders' performances. In addition, we have arranged for three of our acting troupes to visit our NCS elementary school, STAR Academy, to perform for students in April. 

We also wanted there to be a larger real-world connection as well. Working with our Technology teacher, aka our Field Trip Queen,  Jennifer Music, we put together a multiple day field trip to Ashland, Oregon. With the help of some creative fundraising, every 8th grader who wanted to attend the trip was able to sign up to go. Oregon Shakespeare Festival offers both the chance to experience high quality theater productions, but also acting workshops and the opportunity to explore a college campus, Southern Oregon University.