VIRTUAL DRAMA

March 23, 2020

Notre Dame's theatre director and her drama club students get creative in the virtual world.

Like many in Notre Dame's faculty, Meredith Scott, who is NDPMA's theatre program director as well as the middle school theatre and English teacher, entered into the virtual-learning world not 100 percent sure of how it all was going to roll out for her and her students. In particular, Scott worried about how her Drama Club students would be able to learn and perform in this new remote educational environment.

"But I just knew I had to come up with something different to keep them engaged and creative," said Scott, who's also a 2002 Notre Dame Prep grad. "There are a number of students who work with me on shows year round. When we had to cancel the spring play, 'Puffs,' by Matt Cox, I wanted to offer an alternative creative outlet that would also promote the social part of social distancing."

So when Scott met with her 16 drama students in a Zoom conference last Wednesday after normal school hours, she asked for ideas.

"I was worried that we would be talking over each other, but it actually was pretty easy," she said. "I started with our usual check-in of a 'one rose and one thorn,' which is something we often do at rehearsals where I ask our kids to talk about what is something good that is going on in their lives and something not so good. Then I let them talk about what they wanted out of this virtual drama club." 

Several kids suggested radio drama or a theatrical podcast. Since students couldn't get together in one place to record, Scott wanted to do something that was easier for the students as well as for a potential virtual audience. 

"Our first project is a 'reader's theatre' rendering of a children's book," she said. "We've decided to virtually perform 'The Day the Crayons Quit' by Drew Daywalt. "My hope is to upload it as a virtual bedtime story for our lower school students. It has a lot of characters that would allow more performers to participate. It also will require a lot of editing to put it all together." 

Elizabeth Housey, an NDP 10th grader who also acts on stage and student-directs both the high school and middle school plays, has agreed to do the video editing. 

"I also hope later to read a play and analyze it with my drama kids and perhaps do a virtual viewing of a Broadway play together," Scott added. "We're calling our group now the "Online Drama Club" for the time being or until I can think of a cooler title. Usually I see the Drama Club three or four times a week for several hours at a time. But since it's an extracurricular activity, I wanted to start slow for now as we transition to this new reality."

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

Follow Notre Dame on Twitter at @NDPMA.

About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three school are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.