After Busy Summer, Changes are on the Horizon for OAP
By Luis Munoz | Monday, August 30, 2010 2:33 PM
I pray that all of you have had a wondrous and enlivening summer break. Some of you stayed home, some traveled, some directed and some acted. It was so good to keep up with you and yours through your phone calls, emails and the ever-enlightening Facebook posts. What a barrage of messages, babies, new profile pics, old profile pics, Farmville, gifts, pokes, surveys, quotes and pictures. From Mark Twain to Mark Pickell, they have all been interesting.
I had the pleasure of working with the Texas Thespians All-State Cast and directing another group of high school students at the Texas Tech Theatre Camp. I also had the opportunity to attend the International Thespian Society’s Festival at The University of Nebraska at Lincoln and be around 3000 students from across the nation and a few other countries. I congratulate Clint Cottom, Bryce Ballew, Toby Drake and the cast of Piece of My Heart from Tomball High School on an outstanding production. It was moving, beautifully staged and well-acted. I also congratulate Marilyn Miller, her colleagues and the Cypress-Creek company on their production of Pippin. I enjoyed the “private concert” at your rehearsal. I wish I had been able to stay and see their production but I had to return to Texas for the TETAAO summer meeting. Denison High School wowed the crowds with ZFX Flying Effects show. Round Rock High School also represented us with a production of This, Uh, Body. All of you made Texas proud. I was inspired, and the importance of our work with the youth of our state was reaffirmed.
TETA’s SummerFest appeared to be a great success. Thank you to Melissa McMillian-Cunningham and Gloria McLuckie for inviting me to be a part of the festivities. It has always been a privilege to be a part of this event each year. I know that every one of us who does this year after year knows that the payoff is in improving educational theatre in Texas. I was shocked when someone asked me if I was paid to do the workshop for SummerFest. “Not a penny,” I answered.
Never have and never will. I thought about it for a while and recalled that St. Francis of Assisi had said, “A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.” The question made me think about the importance of volunteerism for groups like TETA and UIL. My first TETA convention was in 1976. I was a student in college and part of a workshop on bilingual theatre. We got to drive to the convention in a VW van and were treated to a meal. I guess you’re still a volunteer when you get a burger out of it.
Thirty-four years later, I continue to believe that all of you should become a part of the process. Those of you who have just entered the teaching field need to be more than observers and convention-goers. An organization like TETA or UIL cannot survive without new blood. You need to be an integral and vocal part of the League’s activities and TETA.
I realize that educators don’t have an abundance of discretionary time on their hands. It is precious. I know you have days full of classes and forms and faculty meetings, PDAS concerns, parent conferences and rehearsals. I know that you have nights full of classes and forms and faculty meetings, PDAS concerns, parent conferences and rehearsals. Then and only then can you throw in some family time and a few minutes for “just you.” By the way, the occasional shower is desired. That should give you just enough extra time to volunteer your time to a committee or two. Let me know you want to work with us (UIL) or call Kelly Russell (TETA President) or Kathy Powdrell (TETA President-Elect) and let them know you want to help with TETA.
Because things are the way they are, things
will not stay the way they are. ~ Bertolt Brecht
2010 marks the beginning of the League’s second 100 years and my ninth year as Theatre Director. The last few years have been filled with changes to the Handbook for One-Act Play, the creation of the Guide for Contest Managers and the Constitution and Contest Rules (C&CR). With your suggestions and help, we’ve added a fifth crew-member, redefined the sound/ music rule, changed to an online system, modified the standards for defining adaptations, assigned regional judges and introduced scenic disclosure at the state level. The Theatrical Design contest did not exist eight years ago. It has now grown ten-fold. Thirty more students are recognized for their work each year and more and more of these Texas students pursue careers and gain employment in Technical Theatre.
As we enter our second century, the League’s One-Act Play program will be evaluating every rule and policy in the book. Evaluation does not necessarily mean change. It just means what it means. Do the rules or policies make sense for effective 21st century theatre education? Do the goals of our program reflect the theatre of our past or the theatre of their future? Do they promote the educational requirements for the ever-expanding and evolving technology of our next 100 years? Your Legislative Council is already looking at changes in festival attendance, panel judging, the use of alternates and timing rules.
The debate over panel versus single critic judging for OAP began with its inception in 1927 and continues to this day. At the behest of the League’s Academic Committee, we surveyed the directors at our participating schools. Eighty-six percent of the online respondents favored using panels with critiques. The League’s superintendents were surveyed this spring and 97 percent of the respondents favored the change in policy. The Academic Committee gave the amendment its unanimous approval and sent it to the full council. The Legislative Council will be voting on this change to the C&CR in October. If the amendment is passed, panels of judges with a delegated critic and delegated acting judge will be used at the regional and state meets starting in 2012. Paper ballots with short responses also will be provided.
The Academic Committee also passed changes in rules involving OAP festivals. Beginning 2011-12, each member school may attend a total of four OAP festivals sessions each year. Schools shall be allowed to miss no more than three school days to attend festivals.
The Academic Committee has received two additional recommendations for next year. The first involves allowing alternates to participate in dressing room preparation. The second involves providing time warnings during set, strike and performance. Please share your thoughts.
Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine. ~Robert C. Gallagher