Blog

Holly Adams in her studio recording an audiobook

“On the Spectrum” and On the Stage

My wonderful and amazing students from “A Class Act” with The Magic Paintbrush Project performed on April 27th (a play they wrote!) and hit the ball out of the park. They were amazing, they were incredible, they brought the house down. And every single one of them has a disability. I wrote about them last fall, when we were just beginning our process (see “Life is Washable”), but as a result of the show, folks have been asking about children, challenges, and performance, especially children who are on the Asperger-Autism spectrum. I last posted some specific observations and activities about working

Read More »
Gary as Scrooge for Mystery & Adventure Agency

Enter Up Left with Holiday Cheer

I write this from a large house in Pennsylvania that my beloved extended family has rented for the week so that we can converge upon our newest member and rejoice in each others’ sweet, silly, insightful and rambunctious company. That we are the types who like to make our own fun or enjoy things somewhat off the beaten path has prompted me to include two links to good cheer best enjoyed in such excellent company at Christmastime. Although Chanukah, Diwali, and Eid are all past, I also include some links to family-oriented and fun activities for each, including plays. Hopefully

Read More »
Holly Adams in her studio recording an audiobook

Group Playwrighting with Kids!

There are at least three excellent books on playbuilding: Playbuilding by Errol Bray, Building Plays by Michaels and Tarrington, and Theatre, Dialogue and Community: The Hope is Vital Training Manual by Michael Rohd. In a nutshell, there are three steps: I. Building a common skill base and creating a project outline. III. Filling in the scenes and developing the script. IV. Troubleshooting/Keeping the faith (rehearsing). Most of you have your own rehearsal practices and probably have targeted performance skills you/your artist are teaching, but I have learned that the idea of having the kids ‘write the play’ is still daunting.

Read More »
by 3rd graders about Chaos Theory and Fractals

Playwrighting and Playbuilding: How to bring the arts to life

Playwrighting: from the words “play” and “wright”. Play: (2) brisk, lively activity involving change, variation, transition, or alternation: dynamic action; (3) the representation or exhibition of some action or story on the stage or in some other medium. Wright: (1) to create, shape or a person who does so, usually in wood in combination (shipwright); (2) to work into shape by artistry or effort; (3) to fashion with particular adherence to form or style. The arts are in effect the Rosetta Stone for transition, possessing both ontological and technical knowing. They also require a process approach that really works only when

Read More »
Holly Adams in her studio recording an audiobook

Veterans’ Day and Armistice Day

Whether we have family members of the past or the present in war zones, or live in countries affected by war, Veteran’s Day and Armistice Day focus our reflections, thoughts, research, hopes, actions, wishes, and prayers. Myself, I am drawn to war memorials, war histories, parades, and the stories Veterans and others who have experienced war have to tell. My own brief war-zone experience brought home what I have heard many say: there is no way people who have not been in the midst can understand. Artists, though, can bring us closer, can make us smell the aroma, see the

Read More »
Skip to content