Historical April 1988 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
The smell of grease paint and roar of the crowd has come to St. Roch School as theater students prepare for opening night. Last fall, the school formed its first theater club workshop which takes its direction from St. Roch parents Mary Wright and Rose Flynn.
These volunteers share their special talents with the children each Thursday after school: Mary Wright is a master of fine arts in theater from S.I.U. Edwardsville, and a former twelve-year veteran teacher at Pattonville Senior High School where she taught theater classes, sponsored drama clubs, and directed many theater productions including, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Once Upon A Mattress. Rose Flynn is an enthusiastic and talented theater buff who has participated in numerous community and neighborhood theater projects, especially in set design and construction.
She particularly enjoys singing and storytelling with her young students at Grace Preschool, and at the Kiosk branch of the St. Louis Library where she presents storytelling on Saturday mornings.
With such talent in the directors’ chairs, it was clear that the club would be a hit with the discriminating St. Roch kids.
The success of the activity has been well received even though the experience is a new one for most of the children, and in spite of the wide age range among club members. Both Wright and Flynn feel that the workshop experience should include opportunities to build a child’s self-confidence and self-esteem. That is why they have selected Viola Spolin’s Improvisation for the Theater as a working text for the workshop.
Most of the improvisational exercises performed in class encourage group participation, development of the senses, and non-street related activities. “We initially wanted to give each student a chance to feel good about being in front of his or her peers without the pressure of script memorization. Improvisational theater is perfect for that goal,” says Wright. “Our biggest challenge was finding a format that worked well with such a diversity of ages, kindergarten through eighth grade, and a range of abilities, in that some of the youngest children are not confident readers yet.
We seem to have hit on the right formula with this approach,” says Flynn. Though the workshop is not performance oriented, in the weeks ahead, the young thespians will be preparing for their first public appearance.
On April 22, at 8:00 pm in the St. Roch Church Hall, the students will take their first bows at the St. Roch School Association sponsored “A Celebration of the Arts” night.
The evening is a showcase of the theatrical, musical and art talents of the children for their families and friends.
On with the show!
Original photograph caption
St. Roch Theater club members (from left): Elizabeth Mahon, Kevin Davis, Maddelyn Vanicelli, Monica Vanicelli, and John Wright are prepared for opening night. The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, April 1988, page 6. Photographer not credited.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, April 1988.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1988_04.pdf, printed page(s) 6; PDF page(s) 6.
