when i was asked to work with the 5th graders at my alma mater, st. luke's episcopal school, i was told that the previous year, the entire play had consisted of a bicentennial parade. i didn't want to do something baby-ish, but i knew that there needed to be a sense of play about the production. i was very excited when, one slightly inebriated evening on my front porch, the idea of the kyogen popped into my mind.
back in the 14th century, these short comedic plays were used as intermission material between Noh plays, as a sort of refresher for the audience, so that they could get some laughs out before coming back for another epic tragedy. most of the kyogen deal with people playing tricks on each other, and most of them end with one character becoming enraged and chasing another, shouting "don't let him get away! catch him! catch him!"
i made sure the kids knew that whenever they heard the phrase "catch him," they were supposed to shout the second "catch him!" in unison, and with great volume and energy. that part worked really well.
another thing that was fun was using the kids as objects. i have always loved the american tradition of playing an inanimate object as a child. ask people you know, many of them will say, "oh, i've never been in a play, except for that time i played a doorknob in 2nd grade." stuff like that. so i made these 5th graders play doors, trees, tables, fences. that was fun.
they did an amazingly good job with the language, as well, which at times was pretty challenging-- sentences like "I am a wealthy landowner who dwells in this vicinity."
we set up the stage so that there was a red carpet coming out to make an aisle down from the stage into the middle of the audience, which led to a sort of pagoda-like umbrella at the far end of the audience. so that the action was more integrated into the audience. i think that helped a lot.
costumes were basic accessories on top of a black t-shirt/pants base. lots of hats and jackets.
it was fun.
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