Drama drama

The photo is of no relevance apart from it being taken at the theatre they performed at yesterday.

Our kids do a lot of extra mural activities and sometimes this can add a bit of stress and a lot of planning to your week. But we do believe that each of these add in some way to their development as well rounded adults.

Yesterday A participated in her second drama Eisteddfod of the year - this time for unprepared drama. They did great and she has for the first year ever and amazing run of all A++ for the year. They did two items yesterday - one a mini drama scene as they have done in the previous years and one of theatre sport - an item I have never seen before yesterday. They can only do this item from grade 4 onward.

In the mini scene they get a scenario and story, 15 minutes to prepare unaided by their teacher , find their own props from a shelve of available props and go on the stage. This to me is already daunting. Theatre sport is so much more! Get this: they go on stage, get direction from a judge how to arrange the stage and are then fed the beginning of the story which they start to act on immediately. Then the judge will interrupt and give a twist which they execute immediately - and so it goes on until the story reach and end. I was totally astounded once again by my daughter and her friends' courage and self confidence to do this in front of a crowd of people. The judge commended their confidence and courage too.  I would never be able to do this- even now at my age, never mind as a kid. To think we started her with drama to gain self confidence.... Why I do not think drama is for everyone (I can not see my boys really enjoying it for instance) there are so many positives if this is for your child.

So if you ever wondered if you should let your child do drama - here are some of the benefits we have seen:
1. Self confidence - some kids have it, some not. If benefits both types. It is so important in this day and age.
2. Clear speech and voice control. This has benefits way beyond drama right to adulthood. It has never hurt anyone to be well spoken in a business situation.
3. Thinking on your feet - I have many times had to think fast when presenting to a client . This is an excellent skill to have.
4.  Improvisation - connected to the above but not 100% the same. Improvisation goes further than just talking or acting - it is basic problem solution on the run.
5. Creativity - the girls scored very high yesterday on creativity - you have to think creative to make a story play out more interesting than the next group that gets exactly the same story. You create characters and fill them out. Creativity is key to success in my opinion. In almost any work situation creativity can save the day.

So is anybody planning to let their kids do drama or are they doing it already?