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How to learn the history of theatre, drama, musical and opera? Read lots of books? Watch records from decades ago? Or you may just watch this: The Complete History of Theatre (Abridged). On April 15th and 16th, students from Boston International School performed the amazing show that impressed all the audience.
Complete History of Theatre (Abridged) is a one-act play that focuses on running through the origins of theatre and everything that it has become in the past 4000 years. The show was opened by master playwright William Shakespeare, theatrical diva Sarah Bernhardt and the indelible intellectual Constantine Stanislavsky, who led the audience on a wild and wacky journey through the history of theatre from the beginnings of Greek theatre, Aristotle’s Poetics, the fine art of Kabuki, to the history of mime, the gladiators of Rome, speculation on the real author of Shakespeare’s plays and Broadway 2019.
The show then went on to pays homage to the world’s best-known and beloved plays and musicals by alluding to dialogue from Anton Chekhov, Henrik Ibsen, Andrew Lloyd Weber, Oscar Wilde and many more.
What surprised the audience most was that the cast interacted with them for seeking their help in finding a creative conclusion to the show. Therefore, it was actually the audience’s decision of what kind of ending you were going to enjoy!
The two-day show went a great success. Drama BE students got together in early September to audition for parts and have worked hard to put on this production. Together with Drama advisors Janine Bezuidenhout and Amy Darden, this group has worked to create stage movements, props usage and most importantly – telling a story in a creative and performative way. Students have learned through experience that there is a lot more to performing than standing up on stage and saying lines. This year, they had the opportunity to take a story from the page to the stage successfully.
Let’s see what our major characters would say about their fantastic performance:
I did not expect that I would get a lead role. I thought that I was going to get a smaller role. When I first got the role, I already started to memorize my lines because I was scared to mess up. When getting closer and closer to the day of the play The Complete History of Theater I was forgetting more and more of my lines. It was a stressful process to memorize all my lines because, when forgetting your lines during the play it can mess up other people’s ques. But also getting closer and closer to the day of the play I had amazing support with the other two main casts Eloise and Yoyo. Being apart of this was like being a part of a new big family. It was also an amazing opportunity to have Ms. Janine and Ms. Darden.
“We know what we are, but we know not what we may be.” As the theater is illuminated and the music starts, a little surge of perturbation and excitement would flow through my body, making my eyes light up along with the stage. The perturbation shall be well understood by performers alike, whilst the excitement stems from the longing to be someone else for a little while. A someone— a man, to be exact—with a modicum of wit and a handful of pride, a slightly high temper and…a tendency to scream. The audience saw the blazer and sweatpants and the seemingly natural arguments and frustration, but they did not see the unsettled faces and could not feel the clenched hearts when all went wrong but the show had to go on. In the end, All’s Well That Ends Well.
When I first auditioned for the role I had very high hopes and as my luck would have it I got the role. For the first few months we started off by having a whole cast reading session and then we started blocking for the show. All through the process I worked hard on becoming my character and when it came to the opening night I was very proud of how far I had come in becoming my character. One of the main struggles for me was memorising lines. As a main character it was essential that I memorised all my lines so I could give cues to my fellow cast members. I loved this play and I would encourage others who are interested in theatre to try to get a main part too.
Boston International School has always lay great emphasis on performing arts as it was acknowledged that performing arts helps with the building of confidence, creativity and working collaboratively, which are the essential skills for students’ future life. As an important part of performing arts, drama is seen as an important subject. At Boston International School, we offer IB Theatre course from MYP, and also opened Drama Clubs in Boston Explorers for all drama lovers.
