Happy Holidays everyone!

Check out our silly Elton John LIP DUB  !

MUCH ADO AUDITIONS

Auditions for Gunston's Main Stage Spring Production
are Monday January 13 in G 53

Sample Auditions pieces will be available outside Ms. Chapuis' room  on Thursday, Jan. 2

A NEW YEAR, A NEW SHOW

What a great year! Check out the Performances and Auditions Tab to find out about our next show, Much Ado About Nothing.

BRAVO!

Thank you Gunston for making I Carry Your Heart With Me a huge success! We had a nearly full house and made almost $500 in donations to support the Gunston drama department. BRAVO!  A huge thank you to Mr. Stewart, Mr. Costner and Mr. Banach for all their help and artistic collaboration. Stay tuned for audition information for Much Ado About Nothing coming up in January!

And now back to classes! 8th graders are embarking on a unit dedicated to acting while 7th graders get ready to play a little Shakespeare.

ONE NIGHT ONLY!

Gunston Fall Stage Presents

“ i carry your heart with me ”

an original one act play

THURSDAY NOV. 7

7:00 pm

Gunston Theater One

(tickets free but donations celebrated)

ONE NIGHT ONLY

SO MUCH TO DO!

Thank you actors, filmmakers, costume designers, stage managers and musicians! We had a busy week. Designing costumes for our Wizard of Oz trailers, learning how to work in groups of 8 (instead of the "oh so easy" group of 4) and filming our soap operas. This week we finish filming,  review and edit our work all while 35 young actors build a show after school from scratch. So much to do in G53!

SOAP OPERAS and OZ

This week the 8th graders conceptualized stories that would fit into a soap opera model. Students developed ideas and began storyboarding their episodes.

7th graders watched the film classic, The Wizard of Oz and began work  re-imagining the film. Next week students will work to create their own Wizard of Oz trailers.

Wizard of Oz Story Board

Wizard of Oz Storyboard

Fall Play Cast List

Thank you actors! We had 75 students come and audition.  Each one did an amazing job. I wish I could cast everyone! Congratulations to those cast and to those that didn't please come back and audition again in January!

CAST LIST

SOAP OPERA STORYBOARD

1. Watch this! SOAP OPERA PREVIEW
2. Do this! SOAP OPERA STORYBOARD

FALL PLAY AUDITIONS

Are you an actor? A dancer? An artist? A musician? A poet? Say yes and join the company of Variations on a Theme, Gunston's original fall performance opportunity.

Auditions for the Fall Play are TUESDAY Oct. 15 at 2:30 in Ms. Chapuis's room , Room G53

check out the COMMERCIAL and be part of the magic

(and just in case you want to know what the play is about ...  read I'll carry your heart with me by ee cummings  - dream big!)

Bravo Actors!

Congratulations 7th graders on a great Regie Project Performance!

And of course to my wonderful 6th graders  - what a great first wheel!

 Congratulations 8th graders on a fabulous Poetry Slam!

The REGIE PROJECT

Thank you guest artist, Regie Cabiko! We have had a wonderful time exploring group poetry, writing  fairy tales, crafting WE RUN poems, and playing with costumes.

Join us for a special performance next Thursday, October 3 during your child's class time.

Please email me at caitlin.chapuis@apsva.us for more information.

(videos to come on Monday)

Poetry and Pictures

In preparation for our special artist in residence Regie Cabiko we created tableaus based on single lines of poetry while 6th grade wheel students slammed with 6 word memoirs.

This morning

my coat took a walk

to some place

far away

6 word memoirs

My hat

was run over

by a trolley

yesterday

Puppet Shows and Warriors

This week we continued to work as a company of artists. We focused on the skills needed to work independently as a group and meaningfully rehearse performances in our studio space.

The 7th and 8th graders crafted mini plays retelling the Hindi myth of Shiva and Sati using the choreography of the three warrior poses.

6th graders made puppets and wrote one minute scripts.

A fabulous start to school!

7th and 8th grade students: Please remember to bring a notebook and pen to class on Monday.

What a great week back! We crafted 45 second performances based on 5 wacky characters and 1 unforgiving location. And today, we explored the ideas of kindness, self reflection, physical practice, concentration and the power of breathing through the lens of yoga for the creative classroom.  Outstanding work everyone!

"Welcome to the theater...we will believe in you"
                             -Timberlake Wertenbaker

Welcome to drama class. We are about creating performances that mean something. We will learn to create characters and new worlds. We will make our audience care about what happens.  We will work together. We will create a community of artists. We will build awareness of ourselves and each other. We will do it through video, movement, scene study, Improv, Shakespeare, poetry and sometimes just plain old games.  Get ready… we will be amazing.

What did you do this summer?

I became a yoga teacher, played in the pool, adventured with the little Chapuis and enjoyed the sun!