MAR VISTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL THE BEGGAR AND THE WOLF Between October and December of 2010, Pisces Moon produced The Beggar and the Wolf at Mar Vista Elementary School in Aptos, California. The play featured 18 fourth, fifth and sixth grade student actors, whose parents built the set, gathered props, and created costumes. Students learned stage directions, comedic timing, correct use of emotionality, as well as diction, projection, and character development. In order to understand the play more deeply, all actors participated in conversations relating to class, poverty, love, courage, fear, and integrity. The project culminated in three performances for family, faculty, staff, and fellow students and impacted 800 people.
CESAR CHAVEZ MIDDLE SCHOOL THIS PHN 2.0 During the months of March and April, Pisces Moon worked with Cesar Chavez Middle School in Watsonville, California to produce the play This PHN 2.0. The play used humor and a middle-school perspective to assess the nature of technology and how it has affected our lives. To prepare for their roles, six students in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade engaged in conversations about playing video games versus playing outside; their views of society in the past and society in the future; and how technology is affecting their personal lives and relationships. They performed the play six times over the course of two days, for their own school as well as another school in the district. The project impacted between 600 and 700 students, family, faculty, and staff.
MAIN STREET ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ORIGINAL PLAYS From the months of January through May, Pisces Moon artist-instructors worked with five classes of fourth and fifth grade students. Throughout the course of this residency, the children in each classroom learned the fundamentals of story creation, which they then implemented in their very own collaborative stories for the stage. Students made props and costumes, and delved deep into their own character analysis while learning and employing the basics of stage craft. The project culminated in a performance of five original plays for the school, faculty, staff and families, impacting between 700 and 800 people.
