Spinning Plates

When I was younger we used to watch The Ed Sullivan Show. There was one performer who used to spin plates on top of thin bamboo poles. He would get about 10 plates spinning and then run from one end of a table to the other keeping them in motion. That is sort of what it is like in The Rep’s education department these days.

WiseWrite, a writing literacy program The Rep does in conjunction with Springboard, starts in the schools this week. Fifth grade students from Hudson Elementary and Wyland Elementary will learn to write their own plays over the course of the school year. And I have to say YEAH! for our dedicated volunteers who put together 115 resource notebooks in an hour and a half! The really exciting part of it all is that at the end of the program each young playwright will get a published copy of his or her play, which is pretty cool. If you want to help celebrate all of their hard work, come to our WiseWrite festival on April 8 and see some of the plays on the Mainstage.

Kids ArtStart has its first free event on Saturday, October 2 which will be the Imaginary Theatre Company’s Birthday Bash. You remember those old fashion Halloween carnivals where you went from activity to activity doing crafts and dressing up? That is what the birthday bash is like. In the course of the next week and a half, my office will become a storage place for boxes, spin art machines, tissue paper, dress-up costumes, musical instruments, ribbons, glue, tissue paper and other crafty stuff. However, for those of you who know me, be assured there will not be glitter. Everything will be ready to go by 10:00 on the Saturday, October 2. Again, YEAH! for all of the volunteers who help get it all put together.

Oh, did I forget to mention that The Rep’s Imaginary Theatre Company (yes, it’s 35th birthday is being celebrated at the bash) is getting ready to go into first rehearsal on October 4? And the two Shakespeare residencies we are going to do this season—have we talked about them??

Did anybody hear a plate crashing?

Marsha Coplon
Director of Education

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