Theater oF WaR
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
What stories are important? Where do stories exist in our own community? What do stories tell us about our nation and ourselves? What are the big questions raised by these stories? For this project, students worked as an ensemble to answer these questions and create an original play that they performed together on stage at the San Diego Public Library's auditorium.
Each class produced a script for a play that answered the essential question: How did the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq shape people’s lives? The inspiration for the play was the real life stories students obtained from local war veterans, which were then turned them into scenes of despair, happiness, confusion, and anger. We began by using photographs, news articles, statistics, realistic fiction, poetry, first-person narratives, documentaries, and visits from guest speakers to learn about the war and the affects it can have on the people who are fighting in it and all people connected to them. Next, students generated research questions to further explore the topic, analyzed print and online sources obtained from the San Diego Public Library, and documented their findings in an annotated bibliography. After researching the topic, students reached out to local military organizations and veterans and interviewed those who had experiences in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their stories became the raw material for students to write monologues and dialogues portraying their experiences. Once each student wrote a script based on their interview, they collaborated with classmates with similar stories to create full scenes by combining different stories; these scenes were then arranged together with the use of a narrator to create one play that told the story of a soldier from joining the military to returning from service and starting a new life. In preparation for the final performance, students rehearsed with their scene group, practiced their monologues, built their characters, refined the storyline, and dove into the emotions that the character they were meant to portray. The project culminated when we shared our play with an audience, which included some of the veterans students had interviewed.
What stories are important? Where do stories exist in our own community? What do stories tell us about our nation and ourselves? What are the big questions raised by these stories? For this project, students worked as an ensemble to answer these questions and create an original play that they performed together on stage at the San Diego Public Library's auditorium.
Each class produced a script for a play that answered the essential question: How did the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq shape people’s lives? The inspiration for the play was the real life stories students obtained from local war veterans, which were then turned them into scenes of despair, happiness, confusion, and anger. We began by using photographs, news articles, statistics, realistic fiction, poetry, first-person narratives, documentaries, and visits from guest speakers to learn about the war and the affects it can have on the people who are fighting in it and all people connected to them. Next, students generated research questions to further explore the topic, analyzed print and online sources obtained from the San Diego Public Library, and documented their findings in an annotated bibliography. After researching the topic, students reached out to local military organizations and veterans and interviewed those who had experiences in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their stories became the raw material for students to write monologues and dialogues portraying their experiences. Once each student wrote a script based on their interview, they collaborated with classmates with similar stories to create full scenes by combining different stories; these scenes were then arranged together with the use of a narrator to create one play that told the story of a soldier from joining the military to returning from service and starting a new life. In preparation for the final performance, students rehearsed with their scene group, practiced their monologues, built their characters, refined the storyline, and dove into the emotions that the character they were meant to portray. The project culminated when we shared our play with an audience, which included some of the veterans students had interviewed.
TEACHER REFLECTION
Above all, this project taught me the importance of being flexible over the course of a semester long project. Producing a play from scratch using experiences from the community and students as writers and actors is a process that does not easily conform to a set timeline or a fixed vision of what the final product will be. Starting with my original vision of producing a play about veterans in the style of The Laramie Project, the shape of the play evolved over the course of several months based on the students' interest in specific topics, availability of veterans to interview, feedback from outside audiences and theater professionals, and my own ability as a director and classroom leader. While I had intended for students to create the play using only the words that they gained from interviewing the veterans and their families, this ended up being a significant limitation for the students and their creativity. However, I was thrilled that when the students went to write their scripts that they were true to the stories that their interviewer subjects had told them and worked diligently to be sure that they were telling the stories with care and accuracy to the events and feelings of their subject. In the end, both my students and were I tremendously proud of the final play and the work we put in to make it our best, and I don't think I would have felt this way unless I was able to let go of my preconceived ideas of what the play should look like and go with the direction that the project and my students were leading me.
That being said, I feel like this project missed out on the opportunity for students to engage with the topic and understand the issues on a deeper level. At the beginning of the project, I invested much of my planning time in learning how to produce a play, rather than diving deeply into the topic. Ultimately this is reflected in the quality of the final performance, which benefitted from the help of several teaching artists who worked with students to refine their scripts and their acting skills, rather than the depth and complexity of the story line. Many students chose to focus on the affects that war has on other family members (ex. spouses and children) as well as the psychological tool on the veterans. While this made for good theater, I don't think my students ever had to grapple with why we were involved in these conflicts to begin with and what we should do as individuals and a nation to avoid putting so many individuals and families into the hardship that is caused by being at war. In the future, I would like to build in more opportunities for students to understand the history behind the stories they are telling and to be able to form an informed opinion about what role the United States should play in these and future conflicts. However, I see this more as an opportunity for future growth rather than a failing in this projects, as I continue to reflect on the role that project planning, choice of final products, and even projects themselves can have on student learning.
Above all, this project taught me the importance of being flexible over the course of a semester long project. Producing a play from scratch using experiences from the community and students as writers and actors is a process that does not easily conform to a set timeline or a fixed vision of what the final product will be. Starting with my original vision of producing a play about veterans in the style of The Laramie Project, the shape of the play evolved over the course of several months based on the students' interest in specific topics, availability of veterans to interview, feedback from outside audiences and theater professionals, and my own ability as a director and classroom leader. While I had intended for students to create the play using only the words that they gained from interviewing the veterans and their families, this ended up being a significant limitation for the students and their creativity. However, I was thrilled that when the students went to write their scripts that they were true to the stories that their interviewer subjects had told them and worked diligently to be sure that they were telling the stories with care and accuracy to the events and feelings of their subject. In the end, both my students and were I tremendously proud of the final play and the work we put in to make it our best, and I don't think I would have felt this way unless I was able to let go of my preconceived ideas of what the play should look like and go with the direction that the project and my students were leading me.
That being said, I feel like this project missed out on the opportunity for students to engage with the topic and understand the issues on a deeper level. At the beginning of the project, I invested much of my planning time in learning how to produce a play, rather than diving deeply into the topic. Ultimately this is reflected in the quality of the final performance, which benefitted from the help of several teaching artists who worked with students to refine their scripts and their acting skills, rather than the depth and complexity of the story line. Many students chose to focus on the affects that war has on other family members (ex. spouses and children) as well as the psychological tool on the veterans. While this made for good theater, I don't think my students ever had to grapple with why we were involved in these conflicts to begin with and what we should do as individuals and a nation to avoid putting so many individuals and families into the hardship that is caused by being at war. In the future, I would like to build in more opportunities for students to understand the history behind the stories they are telling and to be able to form an informed opinion about what role the United States should play in these and future conflicts. However, I see this more as an opportunity for future growth rather than a failing in this projects, as I continue to reflect on the role that project planning, choice of final products, and even projects themselves can have on student learning.
STUDENT REFLECTIONS
"This project had a critical impact on my learning overall. It taught me a valuable lesson about how hard it is to be a playwright as well as how much effort really goes into researching a topic. Additionally, in this project I was able to fully conceptualize my skills as a leader. This boosted my confidence in my ability to lead and led me to discover that I am a fair and just person at heart. I would say that my perspective change, however, was not only focused on myself but on the ideals that we practiced while making this performance. I was able to gain key insight into the life of veterans and what they are forced to deal with after the war. I can say that I have more respect for people in the military now, not just for what they are doing, but for the battles they have to face thereafter." ~ Ceiley D.
"This project helped me learn that war doesn't end when the veterans return home, they still fight every second of their lives until it's over. Because of this project I have developed in my acting and performing skills more than anything, but also my research, writing, and revising skills. The Theatre of War project really gave me a different perspective and appreciation for those who fight for our country, and helped me become more confident in my skills that I wasn't before this project. " ~ McKinley S.
"Before this project, I never knew how the war was like in Afghanistan. My perspective of war has changed a lot; I never knew the real side of war, I always thought that it was like in the movies. After being able to see the war from different perspectives, I saw how much war affects soldiers families as well as the families of people living in Afghanistan. With this project, I got to learn and work on many skills. Some of the skills that I learn were how to give a monologue and how to engage with the audience. After this project, I felt that my confidence grew as a person. I have never liked to present in front of a large audience, but since with this project I had the chance to practice saying my monologue in front of an audience multiple times I got used to it." ~ Cesar O.
PROJECT RESOURCES
Project Handout
Graphic Organizer for Scaffolding Interviews
Final Script - A Veteran's Story
Final Script - The American Way
"This project had a critical impact on my learning overall. It taught me a valuable lesson about how hard it is to be a playwright as well as how much effort really goes into researching a topic. Additionally, in this project I was able to fully conceptualize my skills as a leader. This boosted my confidence in my ability to lead and led me to discover that I am a fair and just person at heart. I would say that my perspective change, however, was not only focused on myself but on the ideals that we practiced while making this performance. I was able to gain key insight into the life of veterans and what they are forced to deal with after the war. I can say that I have more respect for people in the military now, not just for what they are doing, but for the battles they have to face thereafter." ~ Ceiley D.
"This project helped me learn that war doesn't end when the veterans return home, they still fight every second of their lives until it's over. Because of this project I have developed in my acting and performing skills more than anything, but also my research, writing, and revising skills. The Theatre of War project really gave me a different perspective and appreciation for those who fight for our country, and helped me become more confident in my skills that I wasn't before this project. " ~ McKinley S.
"Before this project, I never knew how the war was like in Afghanistan. My perspective of war has changed a lot; I never knew the real side of war, I always thought that it was like in the movies. After being able to see the war from different perspectives, I saw how much war affects soldiers families as well as the families of people living in Afghanistan. With this project, I got to learn and work on many skills. Some of the skills that I learn were how to give a monologue and how to engage with the audience. After this project, I felt that my confidence grew as a person. I have never liked to present in front of a large audience, but since with this project I had the chance to practice saying my monologue in front of an audience multiple times I got used to it." ~ Cesar O.
PROJECT RESOURCES
Project Handout
Graphic Organizer for Scaffolding Interviews
Final Script - A Veteran's Story
Final Script - The American Way