Come see the 6th Grade Play this Saturday!
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! (A Medieval Tale)
Saturday, January 14th at 7:00 pm, Auditorium
The 6th grade class will be performing Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village written by Laura Amy Schlitz. A librarian at a Baltimore County, Maryland school, Ms Schlitz wrote this engaging book as a piece to be performed by children. It contains nineteen monologues and two dialogues spoken by young members of a medieval village, making it the perfect ensemble work. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! was well received and won the 2008 Newbery Medal for excellence in children’s literature.
Mark your calendars, support the fine actors of this ensemble, and learn about what life was really like in 1255–fleas, poverty, hard manual labor, and more! See history come alive through this costume drama, with song, dance and the fine art of the monologue.
Canamac Productions Presents “Defamation” at CWS
Monday Oct 24th at 1:30pm
Performed for 9-12th grades
in the CWS auditorium
Defamation, written by Todd Logan, is a take-no-prisoners drama exploring the timely issues of race, class, and religion. In the play, Regina Wade, an African American businesswoman from Chicago’s south side, sues Arthur Golden, a Jewish real estate developer from Winnetka, for defamation. And there’s a twist: the AUDIENCE IS THE JURY. This compelling play offers a fresh approach to generate constructive dialogue about the ways we continue to be divided along the deeply personal, highly charged issues of race, class and religion, as well as how they impact the legal system.
“In a speech in February 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder made the ‘controversial’ comment that in spite of Obama’s election there continues to be a serious racial divide in America. I believe Holder is right,” said Logan. “For several years I’ve been trying to write a play that deals with the question ‘what does it really say about ourselves about where we go to bed at night?’ I finally found a dramatic way into the subject through a story about a professional African American woman, a successful Jewish businessman and a watch.”
This event is open to all members of the CWS community and our neighbors, the students and faculty from the Global Citizenship Experience High School who will be joining us for the play and interactive discussion sessions. This Fall, Defamation is on tour throughout the Chicagoland area. For more information, visit their website www.defamationtheplay.com
This event is sponsored by the CWS Inclusion & Diversity Committee. In partnership with the Global Citizenship Experience High School. If you would like more information about the Inclusion & Diversity Committee contact Jennifer Zielinski at jzielinksi@chicagowaldorf.org
Sharing Some Words of Appreciation
Thank You to All Who Supported the 12th Grade Play
Many thanks to all who attended the senior play, You Can’t Take It With You. It was wonderful to see so many of you supporting the work of our seniors in one of the culminating moments of their Waldorf education. I also wanted to thank those who contributed so much our production:
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set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . music & sound effects . . props . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . costumes . . . . . . . . . . . choreography . . . . . . . . . photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . hair and make-up . . . . . . mural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cameo appearances . . . | Rick Paul Jeff Spade Iris Pavelic and Talia Adams Chris Chapin Nancy Melvin and Caitlin Laingen Melissa Reesh Liz Heavenrich Michele Preysler and Ali Lindquist Frances Vig David Massie and Jim Kotz |
…and to the families of the seniors, and the faculty & staff at Chicago Waldorf School.
I also wanted to thank everyone who donated and bought refreshments at the play. Your support helped make the senior’s service learning trip to Mexico possible. As you read this, they’re working in an orphanage in the Yucatan and learning about the culture of the Mayan people.
Warmly,
Colleen Everhart, Chicago Waldorf School High School Theatre Faculty
See The 12th Grade Play
You Can’t Take It With You
Thursday May 19th – Saturday May 21st
The twelfth grade will present Kaufman and Hart’s screwball comedy You Can’t Take It With You Thursday-Friday, May 19-20 7:30 pm and Saturday, May 21 3:00 pm. You Can’t Take It with You opened in New York in 1936 to instant critical and popular acclaim, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize that same year. The 1938 film version of the play won the Academy Award for best picture.
You Can’t Take It With You is moonstruck from beginning to end. The Sycamore family, a glorious group of madcap eccentrics, meet up with the uptight, conservative Kirby family and sparks ensue! Come join us for a fun, heart-warming evening full of dancing, fireworks and many surprises. Suitable for grades 3 and up.
Admission is free with donations gratefully accepted at the door. Proceeds will help fund the seniors’ upcoming service learning trip to Mexico.
7th Grade Field Trip in 2011
EUREKA! (The Life and Times of Archimedes)
Goes on the Road to Midwest Schools
The 7th grade will be embarking on its class trip in the last week of May. Like most 7th grade field trips at CWS, the current 7th grade will be engaging in the high ROPES, team challenges, and a climbing wall challenge. These adventure events are set to occur in Howell, Michigan. The 7th grade will also visit Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan where they will see the resurrection of Thomas Edison’s lab, the Wright brothers’ bicycle shop, the workings of steam engines revealed, slave and masters’ dwellings from the 19th Century American South, and many other remarkable expressions of our colonial and early industrial past.
The 7th grade will be remounting its production of their original play for three Michigan Waldorf schools.
The heart of our trip, however, will be two performances of Eureka! (The Life and Times of Archimedes) – yes, it has been re-titled from Archimedes since our November performances at CWS. The play opens as the commanders of a Roman army, eager to secure the city of Syracusa in Sicily as a strategic prize in Rome’s war with Carthage, debate the strategy whereby they can take it. Their efforts have been stymied for years by the war machines devised by Archimedes of Syracusa.
The means and opportunity to overcome the siege are at last determined when two personal slaves of Archimedes are brought before the Roman general Marcellus. Through them we learn about life in Archimedes’ household and the palace of his friend and supporter, King Hieron of Syracusa some forty years earlier. We are witness to his famous experiment with the gold crown of King Hieron, as well as his infamous clothes-less run through the streets of Syracusa. Marcellus, moved by the slaves’ account, seeks to rescue Archimedes and his family in the inevitable sacking of the city. His efforts, however, prove insufficient to restrain an overzealous Roman soldier, who murders Archimedes, and the play resolves with a lament and tribute to this remarkable human being, whose achievements we experience and benefit from (usually without knowing it) throughout our lives.
Both performances will take place on the beautiful stage of the Detroit Waldorf School. The first performance will take place before parents of the Detroit Waldorf School; the second will be a day-time performance before twelve classes, collectively from the Detroit Waldorf School, the Oakland Steiner School, and the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor. The dates of these performances will be May 25th and May 26th.
The play itself is the product of collaboration between class teacher John Trevillion and music director Jeff Spade. The transformation of the play into a production required the efforts of all of the 7th grade parents, but key among them have been those of Mary Spalding, Liz Heavenrich, Isabel Liss, and Anne Libera. The “road show” sets have been “down-sized” from their ambitious November proportions, but the drama and songs remain intact. Mr. Spade will travel with us and provide piano accompaniment. Most importantly, the 7th grade is excited and eager to perform their play once more.
High School Drama Club presents “The Ages of Man”
The High School Drama Club presents:
An Evening of Monologues, Scenes & One Acts
Thursday-Friday, April 28-29, 2011 at 7:00 pm
In the CWS auditorium
Come see The Ages of Man as performed by our High School students. Inspired by Shakespeare’s famous monologue about the ages of life, the drama club has selected a variety of monologues, scenes and one acts that chronicle the human journey from infancy through old age.
Come join us for an evening of humorous and poignant insights into the human condition!
Voluntary donations will be accepted gratefully at the door.
The 8th Grade presents: As You Like It, by William Shakespeare
Friday, April 1 (no foolin’) & Saturday, April 2 at 7 pm
in the Auditorium
Come one, come all to the 8th grade presentation of As You Like It by William Shakespeare. Join us for this love story wrapped in comedy as two young women are banished from their courtly life to the Forest of Arden where their own clever plan and a cast of characters show them that country life can offer more joy than they have known.
The play features one of Shakespeare’s most famous and oft-quoted speeches, “All the world’s a stage,” and is the origin of the phrase “too much of a good thing.” The play remains a favourite among audiences and has been adapted for radio, film, and musical theatre.
This play, running well over two hours and with a bawdy bent, is best for children sixth grade and up. Refreshments will be available during intermission. Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated as they will make our foray to the Four Corners area on our 8th grade trip possible. We are looking forward to sharing our story with you and your friends!
10th Grade Presents Aristophanes’ The Birds
Thursday & Friday, February 17 & 18 at 7:30 pm
In the school auditorium
This play was first produced in ancient Greece in the 5th century BC. The original production featured two Athenians who were fed up with government corruption, high taxes, a litigious society and a protracted war with Sparta (sound familiar?). These fellows hear about a legendary Athenian who has reincarnated as a bird and they go off in search his otherworldly paradise, Cloud Cuckoo Land. Their search results in a hilarious, madcap romp complete with music, dance and many surprises!
Come see the 10th grade production of this Greek classic which has been updated to the present (wherein the word, Twitter, takes on a whole new meaning…).
Recommended for grades 5 and up. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted at the door to support the 10th grade’s Service Learning Trip.
Chicago Waldorf School Bulletin 