Theatre Tour

Since many of the students have never been to the theatre, it seemed time to go on a little field trip. Kim is directing Steel Magnolias for the Sioux Empire Community Theatre at the Orpheum Theatre. It was a perfect opportunity to introduce the students to the actual stage. The students poked around the Steel Magnolias set, the dressing rooms and the scene shop. They asked great questions as they uncovered the backstage realities.

The students were treated to a tour of the other spaces in the complex. The were welcomed into the City of Sioux Falls television station - Channel 16. Also, they were shown the Annie Zabel black box theatre.

After touring, I (Ashley Schwab) took the students back to the black box theatre where we worked on a little improv. We began with the game “Freeze.” The students got into a giant circle and I re-explaining the rules and demonstrating “Freeze” for them. Two students volunteered to go in the middle. From that moment, the game excelled. Many of the students were willing to jump in there and just go for it, while some preferred to watch. It was fifteen minutes of nonstop improvisation. The student’s willingness to participate was inspiring.

We then switched to “kitty wants a corner.” “Kitty wants a corner” is a game where everyone gets in a circle and one person stands in the middle. While the people on the outside attempt to switch places with members of the circle on the opposite side using only eye contact and facial expressions to communicate with one another, the person in the middle watches and tries to steal one of those spots. We got into two smaller circles for this game and played this game for the rest of our time together.