Each performing arts / theatre workshop is focused on a specific performance developed with audiences of all ages in mind. Students are involved in writing the script, which will be based on a fairy tale in the public domain, designing the sets, making the puppets as well as performing.
“Research consistently shows that creative ownership increases student engagement and persistence in the arts. The National Endowment for the Arts has documented that students who participate in arts programs that emphasize creative decision-making demonstrate stronger motivation, higher attendance, and greater academic engagement than students in rote or imitative models of instruction.
For student performers, designers, directors, choreographers and technicians, non-replica production is where the real learning takes place. They learn to analyze text rather than imitate pictures. They learn to solve spatial problems rather than recreate blueprints. They learn how to collaborate instead of copy.
Those are the skills that translate to every area of study and every career path. If the goal of theatre education is to produce artists, thinkers and problem-solvers rather than tour-stop replicas, then original production choices are not optional. They are essential.
We do not train students to recreate what already exists. We train them to imagine what does not. When you design your own world, you are not just putting on a show. You are teaching students that their ideas matter. Their interpretations matter. Their voices matter.
And that is the point.”***
At the end of each semester, the workshop participants perform what they’ve been rehearsing publicly. Edom ART Lab partners with local directors and/or actors to orchestrate the performances utilizing the best of each participant’s abilities.
Note Edom ART Lab’s puppets are larger than life! Paperhand Puppet Intervention is an inspiration for the types of performances we have planned. The link below is to a short YouTube video showcasing one of their performances.
***Quotes from “Your Production, Your World: Why Non-Replica Productions Are a Creative Gift, Not a Restriction” by Zach Dulli, The Scene