Children's drama workshop
“Let's write a script for a play”

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Schedule/Program

2023/11/23 (Thursd/holiday)
10:00-12:00 Class 1 (1st graders to 3rd graders)
13:00-15:00 Class 2 (4th graders to 3rd graders) Day 1

venues　G/PIT
1st Floor, Chukyo Building, 1-23-30 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi 460-0008

Workshop lecturers　Kaname Yuki (theater company Aokiri Mikan)

What is the summaryHere

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The small theater G/PIT, located right next to Misonoza-san in Fushimi, Nagoya, is like a home ground for Aokiri Mikan.
It is a project where the theater company Aokiri Mikan, which has numerous community-based workshops and performances in the Tokai area, conveys the fun of writing “plays” to children.

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There were also many participants who were canceled due to influenza, etc., and in particular, the lower elementary school classes were small, but even so, they provided enough time to learn the appeal of “playwriting,” which is very dense.

When I entered the venue shortly before the lecture started, the support members of the theater troupe came together, such as putting stuffed animals on the table and drawing cute illustrations on the whiteboard so that the children could enjoy working on it without being nervous, etc., and they went well from creating the atmosphere. Even after the lecture began, I felt that the teaching method was unique to experienced Kaname, who is also in charge of directing children's theater companies in Nagoya City and Toyota City, while letting them speak as they think, clearly conveying what they want them to do, and making them understand that it is interesting.

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Originally, they were children who were interested in writing stories to some extent, but once again, they taught them carefully, starting with the basic structure of the play, and especially in the upper grades, by telling them the rules to be followed, and the level of seriousness of the participants increased dramatically. It was strongly conveyed that I was trying to write something even a little interesting.

During this workshop, the children who participated were supposed to be treated as “artist teachers,” and the supporting troupe members also took good care of the children in order to maintain their motivation.
It was actually quite a practical workshop, explaining to older students that they can activate their brains by moving their bodies before starting to create, and also gave them light exercise.

And when it's time to explain the play, what kind of stories do you usually read to the participants? What genres do you like? After asking questions such as, I'll let them write the plot of “When, Where, Who Did What,” which is the basis of the play. And it was recommended that you always decide on a “title” first. There was also advice that I would like aspiring professionals to listen to, saying that by deciding on a “title,” you can create a “place to come back” when you get lost while writing.

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Next, I will take a longer period of time and start writing time.
Most of the children were writing plays for the first time, but even so, when writing time began, they all headed for manuscript paper with tremendous concentration, and that figure was already the artist's teacher.
To children who don't exchange lines smoothly, which is also a characteristic of plays, Kaname asks, “Who speaks first?” “Who says anything about that?” There was also a scene where they were gently guided, and the children seemed to gradually get on the brush from there.

Once I've finished writing it, it's time for the troupe members to read it. I read the work I've just written right away, so it's hard for the troupe members, but it was really cool to see how the children worked with full professionalism to make what they wrote as interesting as possible.
Naturally, when they saw it, the children who are writers were also overjoyed and seemed very satisfied. One boy had dinosaurs as characters, and he was able to experience being a director for a while, teaching the actors basic dinosaur poses and how to walk.

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As I've been talking about since the beginning, when children are made to write plays, situations and developments that adults can't think of come up, and that alone is interesting enough; however, once again, when I witness that freedom of thought, I feel that what adults write has a big meaning and is something that has always been common. I felt that this opportunity was probably a great stimulus for Kaname himself, who is usually a professional writer.

This workshop will be held again on November 25, and several plays were selected from there, and on December 22, troupe members will seriously work on that play and hold a presentation at the same theater. The children will also work hard to get their work picked up. This experience will be a major guideline for talking about its appeal when watching theaters in the future and when involved in future stages.

I'm looking forward to seeing future great writers from among the participants.

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Report: Fukunaga Mitsuhiro