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“Middle Stage Drama Fest” proves a success
  
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Middle school students perform monologues, duets at eighth annual festival
By Katie Freeman - Citizen Staff Writer
Theatre students from all over Northern California gathered to showcase their talents on Valentine’s Day for the California Educational Theatre Association “Middle Stage Drama Fest.”
The day was broken down into four hour-long “sessions.” In the four sessions, student actors performed monologues in front of students, judges, teachers and parents.
There were dozens of classrooms, which held sessions. Each student or duo was allowed ample time to receive feedback from the judges.
In the first two sessions students were given feedback from each of the judges. In the last two sessions, students were scored on their performance.
Scores were tallied. At the end of the day students were awarded gold, silver or bronze medals. Every student received a medal.
The day’s schedule included a welcome assembly, lunch, workshops and an awards ceremony at the end of the day.
Every kid goes home happy because everyone leaves with a medal, said Middle Stage founder, director and theatre teacher Carolyn Elder.
Theatre arts are about much more than just acting, Elder said.
“I also think theatre is about humanity and the relationship between people,” Elder said. “The arts teach collaboration and cooperation and creativity. All of those three things are important for any career, in the arts or not.”
She founded the fest eight years ago. With the help of the California Educational Theatre Association (C.E.T.A.), strong support from the administration, and the dedication of theatre teachers, the festival was made possible.
Elder noted that C.E.T.A. is devoted to improving arts education and theatre arts education in California. The group doesn’t look at these events to make profit– they hope to expand their membership, Elder added.
Samuel Jackman Middle School Principal William Del Bonta said the event allows students to become better actors and meet other students.
“It’s to give them an opportunity to hone their craft in front of people who are objective,” he said. “People who are professional actors, directors, people who have more years of experience.”
C.E.T.A. member for 15 years, David Krassner echoed Elder’s philosophy regarding acting – that it brings people together through understanding.
“There’s a common humanity that is really developed and supported within these festivals,” Krassner said.
The festival instills passion in students, but mostly it helps students to learn from others.
“I think the best thing about festivals is to get kids outside the bubble of their own world,” Krassner said.
Elder founded Middle Stage when she realized that there were no festivals in Northern California like this one.
“I really wanted to create something where middle school kids could see other middle school kids and what they were doing in the arts and interact with them,” Elder said. “Kids have lots of opportunities to do that type of thing in sports.”
There’s almost no opportunity to interact with other young kids their age and see what’s going on artistically in other schools, she added.
With the help of 100 volunteers Elder found through C.E.T.A., by calling friends, family and even her hairdresser – the festival went as planned.
“We really want to encourage them to do more theatre,” Elder said. “This is a positive day.”
Keeping with the positive attitude of the day, judges are trained on giving constructive criticism.
Judges receive a packet of information and are also given a detailed scoring guideline sheet. Each judge panel consists of one trained theatre professional as well as high-school drama students.
Heather Radovich is a senior at Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward. She was a judge at the Feb. 14 festivities.
Radovich said she has been involved in judging at Middle Stage since she was a sophomore. In her own school, she is involved with stage management, which allows her to view many plays.
Having fun is part of the draw of the festival, Radovich said.
“I like seeing people that are starting young in theatre build up their confidence,” she said.
Radovich gave constructive criticism to Albiani Middle School eighth grader Maggie Fisher after her monologue.
Maggie’s teacher, Ruth Gallo from Albiani Middle School in Elk Grove, started bringing her students to the fest two years ago. Gallo sat in the front row to watch Maggie perform the monologue during Session I.
Gallo teaches drama, creative writing and debate at Albiani. She said kids who excel in drama are often the class clowns or sometimes the “odd” kid, or students who do not earn good grades in other subjects.
This festival gives students a chance to showcase their many talents, Gallo said.
It’s important for kids to have an area to succeed in, she said.
Maggie started practicing for the festival about a week prior, after her teacher suggested it would be a good idea, Maggie said.
“I would definitely encourage other kids to do this if they want to boost their confidence,” Maggie said.
Some monologues and scenes were funny, some were disturbing, and some were very sophisticated.
A scene addressing such heavy topics as rape, abuse, alcohol and neglect was performed amazingly well by one junior high student.
A classical scene from “The Glass Menagerie,” was performed by a two-girl duo.
Two students from Smedberg Middle School in Elk Grove performed an original monologue.
The two best friends, Meghan Feenstra and Maddie Lee edited the piece written by Meghan and another friend.
The duet titled, “The Plan,” is about two stepsisters who hate each other and try to get their parents to divorce.
They practiced the piece one week before the performance. Both girls agreed that the most difficult part of the scene was pretending to hate each other.
Overall, they agreed that acting is enjoyable.
“It’s fun to be someone else for a bit,” Maddie said.
During Session III when one room ran out of time, the group played an improvisation game called “television.”
Four actors and one dad from the audience played the “channels” while a student actor pretend to be watching TV. “Flipping” from channel to channel the actors would make up shows, commercial and news.
After the last session, everyone went to the gymnasium for workshops.
Doug “Bald E” Cembellin, who was a judge for the duet “The Plan,” conducted workshops in the gymnasium. Cembellin, who owns and runs a drama camp, had all the students gather on the gym floor to play games and icebreakers.
Cembellin had the kids pretend to use their heads as paintbrushes and spell their names on the floor.
After the workshops, the student actors sat on the gym floor for the awards ceremony.
The students went wild when their school names were called to receive trophies.
Samuel Jackman Middle School, Albiani Middle School and Smedberg Middle School were awarded with trophies.
Their teachers were also awarded plaques of appreciation.
Every student went home with a medal.
CETA gave away four scholarships to gold medal-winning students who performed monologues to attend the “California Youth and Theatre” on March 24 in Sacramento. Students will perform for legislatures to promote funding for the arts.
This was the first year C.E.T.A. gave away scholarships for the event.
The day ended on a positive note, with lots of clapping, cheering and proud students.
The day was broken down into four hour-long “sessions.” In the four sessions, student actors performed monologues in front of students, judges, teachers and parents.
There were dozens of classrooms, which held sessions. Each student or duo was allowed ample time to receive feedback from the judges.
In the first two sessions students were given feedback from each of the judges. In the last two sessions, students were scored on their performance.
Scores were tallied. At the end of the day students were awarded gold, silver or bronze medals. Every student received a medal.
The day’s schedule included a welcome assembly, lunch, workshops and an awards ceremony at the end of the day.
Every kid goes home happy because everyone leaves with a medal, said Middle Stage founder, director and theatre teacher Carolyn Elder.
Theatre arts are about much more than just acting, Elder said.
“I also think theatre is about humanity and the relationship between people,” Elder said. “The arts teach collaboration and cooperation and creativity. All of those three things are important for any career, in the arts or not.”
She founded the fest eight years ago. With the help of the California Educational Theatre Association (C.E.T.A.), strong support from the administration, and the dedication of theatre teachers, the festival was made possible.
Elder noted that C.E.T.A. is devoted to improving arts education and theatre arts education in California. The group doesn’t look at these events to make profit– they hope to expand their membership, Elder added.
Samuel Jackman Middle School Principal William Del Bonta said the event allows students to become better actors and meet other students.
“It’s to give them an opportunity to hone their craft in front of people who are objective,” he said. “People who are professional actors, directors, people who have more years of experience.”
C.E.T.A. member for 15 years, David Krassner echoed Elder’s philosophy regarding acting – that it brings people together through understanding.
“There’s a common humanity that is really developed and supported within these festivals,” Krassner said.
The festival instills passion in students, but mostly it helps students to learn from others.
“I think the best thing about festivals is to get kids outside the bubble of their own world,” Krassner said.
Elder founded Middle Stage when she realized that there were no festivals in Northern California like this one.
“I really wanted to create something where middle school kids could see other middle school kids and what they were doing in the arts and interact with them,” Elder said. “Kids have lots of opportunities to do that type of thing in sports.”
There’s almost no opportunity to interact with other young kids their age and see what’s going on artistically in other schools, she added.
With the help of 100 volunteers Elder found through C.E.T.A., by calling friends, family and even her hairdresser – the festival went as planned.
“We really want to encourage them to do more theatre,” Elder said. “This is a positive day.”
Keeping with the positive attitude of the day, judges are trained on giving constructive criticism.
Judges receive a packet of information and are also given a detailed scoring guideline sheet. Each judge panel consists of one trained theatre professional as well as high-school drama students.
Heather Radovich is a senior at Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward. She was a judge at the Feb. 14 festivities.
Radovich said she has been involved in judging at Middle Stage since she was a sophomore. In her own school, she is involved with stage management, which allows her to view many plays.
Having fun is part of the draw of the festival, Radovich said.
“I like seeing people that are starting young in theatre build up their confidence,” she said.
Radovich gave constructive criticism to Albiani Middle School eighth grader Maggie Fisher after her monologue.
Maggie’s teacher, Ruth Gallo from Albiani Middle School in Elk Grove, started bringing her students to the fest two years ago. Gallo sat in the front row to watch Maggie perform the monologue during Session I.
Gallo teaches drama, creative writing and debate at Albiani. She said kids who excel in drama are often the class clowns or sometimes the “odd” kid, or students who do not earn good grades in other subjects.
This festival gives students a chance to showcase their many talents, Gallo said.
It’s important for kids to have an area to succeed in, she said.
Maggie started practicing for the festival about a week prior, after her teacher suggested it would be a good idea, Maggie said.
“I would definitely encourage other kids to do this if they want to boost their confidence,” Maggie said.
Some monologues and scenes were funny, some were disturbing, and some were very sophisticated.
A scene addressing such heavy topics as rape, abuse, alcohol and neglect was performed amazingly well by one junior high student.
A classical scene from “The Glass Menagerie,” was performed by a two-girl duo.
Two students from Smedberg Middle School in Elk Grove performed an original monologue.
The two best friends, Meghan Feenstra and Maddie Lee edited the piece written by Meghan and another friend.
The duet titled, “The Plan,” is about two stepsisters who hate each other and try to get their parents to divorce.
They practiced the piece one week before the performance. Both girls agreed that the most difficult part of the scene was pretending to hate each other.
Overall, they agreed that acting is enjoyable.
“It’s fun to be someone else for a bit,” Maddie said.
During Session III when one room ran out of time, the group played an improvisation game called “television.”
Four actors and one dad from the audience played the “channels” while a student actor pretend to be watching TV. “Flipping” from channel to channel the actors would make up shows, commercial and news.
After the last session, everyone went to the gymnasium for workshops.
Doug “Bald E” Cembellin, who was a judge for the duet “The Plan,” conducted workshops in the gymnasium. Cembellin, who owns and runs a drama camp, had all the students gather on the gym floor to play games and icebreakers.
Cembellin had the kids pretend to use their heads as paintbrushes and spell their names on the floor.
After the workshops, the student actors sat on the gym floor for the awards ceremony.
The students went wild when their school names were called to receive trophies.
Samuel Jackman Middle School, Albiani Middle School and Smedberg Middle School were awarded with trophies.
Their teachers were also awarded plaques of appreciation.
Every student went home with a medal.
CETA gave away four scholarships to gold medal-winning students who performed monologues to attend the “California Youth and Theatre” on March 24 in Sacramento. Students will perform for legislatures to promote funding for the arts.
This was the first year C.E.T.A. gave away scholarships for the event.
The day ended on a positive note, with lots of clapping, cheering and proud students.
