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Please let the question mark title register, for Bully? is meant to provoke self-assessment rather than finger-pointing. As a character says, "Every time you point a finger at some-one else - three of your fingers point back home."

Early on Bully? plays a guessing game with a line-up of suspects. Turns out it's not the three menacing faces but a lad in a T-Shirt Theatre shirt and granny in her walker who quickly over-step the bounds of fair behavior.
Q. So who's a bully?
A. "… a 2-year-old of any age, gender, size, sexual orientation or ethnicity."

How-zat? Quoting family psychologist John Rosemond: "Toddlers are by nature violent, deceitful, destructive, rebellious, and prone to sociopathic rages if they do not get their own way." When that definition is challenged, a belligerent baby and a U.S. presi-dent duet a 1905 hit: "There's no world-ly pleasure, my self I de-ny,
There's no one to ask me the where-fore or why,
I eat when I'm hun-gry, and drink when I'm dry -
For I want what I want when I want it!
I want what I want when I want it!"

Oops, are we in trouble for lambasting a Pres? No, for the statute of limitations ran out on Teddy Roosevelt who fomented the revolution that broke-off the province of Panama from Colombia, and allowed the construction of TR's canal as Congress fumed and the nation knowingly hummed "I want what I want when I want it."

As recent campus violence interrupted education at Farrington HS, we widened Bully? focus to spotlight "the not-so-innocent Bystander." Whenever students run to witness a campus fight, they make it less-likely combatants will reconcile but play to a growing crowd to save face.  Fights are theatrical, but it's side-line bullying that really undercuts the education of many. As senior Mark Cabico reflects: "We all know students who were made to feel so afraid on campus - so unwelcome - that they stopped coming to school." Tati Ramirez responds: "We can't afford that. Take it from an almost-grad, without a high school diploma the future is dark - and it's our tax dollars that support drop-outs."

The answer is the show's hardest sell, to nudge a new name for despised tattle-tales. "In sports you need the guy with the whistle, to insure everyone plays by the rules. So let's update our kindergarten vocabulary, and salute the guardians who blow the whistle when someone's rights are threatened."

The show's evolving, but here's calendar heads-up. Please be with us on Friday, April 27 at 7:30 pm or Sunday, April 29 at 4:30 pm to see how Bully? plays out. Admission is a welcoming smile, but post-show donations are invited. The location? Thought you'd never ask … Farrington HS, 1564 North King Street, in Kalihi, USA.
 

Past Columns

September 2006

October 2005

September 2005

August 2005

July 2005

London Bombing

ADE Home

Dreaming Up SKIDOO! by Walt Dulaney (9/06)

Ever studied Gauguin's sketches of Brittany?  Based on them, I'd have advised Paul to keep his day job (never guessing what passionate art his Tahitian escape would ignite).

In 26 years serving Kalihi George and I have often been amazed to discover unanticipated depths of wisdom and generosity in students we early judged to be hopelessly apathetic or terminally rascal.

So ya' never know what folks are capable of uncorking - given the right stimulus.  The plot of SKIDOO is the work of a confessed optimist.  Enmeshed in 1924 corruption, my young protagonists awaken a coalition of distrustful minorities, senior and newly franchised citizens to oust the gangsters and politicians who have blighted Chicago.

Blatant BAD Guys:  Limited to an hour's tale, my villains are both obvious and comic.  The strategy they use to oppress the citizenry is simplistic:  1) keep 'em scared (cast saw newsreels of burning Klu Klux Klan crosses)  2) keep 'em stupid (company discussed ramifications of economic and historic illiteracy)  3) keep 'em stuffed (we role played the challenges facing unwed moms and their offspring).

What SKIDOO's heroes much overcome is limited imagination.  As they try to build coalition, they must help Chicagoans of different ages, genders, economic circumstances, etc. recognize their common concerns.

A new Senior Tradition???  What if the gift graduating Farrington Seniors made the community was to register to vote before tassel tossing?  Could the next class improv the %??

Why I Buffed the Tiger's Claws

by Walt Dulaney

 [123 years ago Frank Stockton published a short story that grabbed the nation's fancy.  It told of a barbaric King who built an arena with two fateful doors.  Accused criminals opened one to become either dinner for a ravenous tiger or husband to an eager bride.  This November the Alliance for Drama Education will cautiously unleash CLAWS - my re-minting of The Lady or the Tiger? as play, cartoon, outtake and opera to be performed by T-Shirt Theatre for 5,000 students and - hopefully - YOU!]

So what provokes a slow-poke playwright?

For each of the last 15 years I've spent a minimum of four weeks uncorking Stockton's tale in week-long Gett!ng Dramat!c residencies.  Altho' his florid writing can deck 'em, the kids never fail to connect with his premise nor to squawk over the fact that the story ends just before the hero opens his door.  They're positive I must be holding something back.

It took me all this time to discover they were right.  I was withholding pivotal information.  Whatayouknow, the tiger can talk!  Once I realized this, he told me where Stockton's outtakes were stored (in a seldom used lobe of my noggin), and where the cartoon storyboard hid.

Intrigued by my enthusiasm, pal MJ revisited FS's text and roared back to report that this astounding story was ripped from police blotter accounts of "you'll-never-get-away-from-me" domestic violence.  The Princess seriously considers having a tiger's claws rip lover-boy to pieces - rather than guiding him to safe harbor in another's arms.  Zowie, that's occasion to alert teens to the jeopardy of possessive passion …and let our cast go mega- melodramatic!

So, after 100-plus rides on the tiger's tale, I've finally painted my own stripes.  Auwww, go on, grab those tins of orange and black paint and write Friday, November 18, 7:30 pm, Farrington HS Auditorium, CLAWS! on the refrigerator door.  Trade a $5 bill for entrance, then fasten your seat belt … we're in for a bumpy ride!

"The Show Goes On", By George Kon                                      Sept 2005

 When you’ve taught in the Windward district for over 20 years, you occasionally witness a “grade level that makes you lose your hair.”  When they enter as kindergarteners there are a few troubled eggs that infect the lot.  Ordinarily, after a few years, disruptive leaders are tamed or isolated into management programs.  With fewer resources for problem children and no dismissal luxury like their private school counter parts, the DOE schools just put up with these educational roadblocks.  The children behave so badly that they force teachers to seek counseling and sometime early retirement.  The grade level gets a reputation that sweeps the school, so when ADE comes in for the first time at grade 5 and is appalled at the behavior, commiserating nods confirm their greatest fear.

On day one at Ahuimanu School , a fifth grade student puts down her foot and says in body language, "We don't have to do this crap and you're not going to make me."  Her posse picks up her negative attitude and soon half the class is in full resistance.  On day 2, Mr. Bright arrives with the choreography for the finale.  There's a crack in the resistance and even the leader of the student resistance begrudgingly learns the catchy steps to ADE's "I Got Rhythm."   Immediately after that, things go downhill.  Behavior deteriorates so badly that Principal Duca has to appear four different times to reinforce the artists' request for full and civil participation.   Since the artists do their magic in only eight 45 minute sessions, the principal was there practically every other day.

Two days before show time, the artists volunteer their time to do a make up session because the students are so behind on their preparation. Again, the recalcitrant student has told her troops that this activity is "optional" and they can't force you to come during recess. The principal comes to the rescue but the time for the extra session has frittered away. During the dress rehearsal, Auntie Sharon Young, the school custodian who has witnessed years of final preparations for culminations can see this one is far off track. She tells the kids "What you guys doing? Shut your mouths and just pay attention. Try put some feeling in your dancing and singing. You no like make your parents shame tomorrow nite, eh?"

By now, over a dozen students are boycotting the culmination.  The artists work to reassign speaking parts with the students that are committed to performing that evening.  "Even if half the class is absent, we'll be fine," artist Grace Humerickhouse reassures me.  She thinks "It might even be better without the disruptive element."  Come show time, who pulls up in the family car but little Ms. Obstinate.  The artists huddle briefly, then surprisingly, offer to integrate the child into the show even after her maneuvers have threatened the quality of the production.

In addition to the two superbly challenging classes at Ahuimanu, the artists are simultaneously juggling three classes of grade 4-5 combos at Kahaluu, which had threatened to be tough but turned out troopers.  Principal Amy Arakaki stepped in to give encouragement to the class who was missing not only half of their classmates but their teacher, who gave birth only the week before.  The only downside was that many children from Kahaluu had a hard time making it over to Ahuimanu café for the evening performance.

Principal Anne Marie Duca set the tone for the evening with perhaps the most eloquent opening remarks we have heard in 20 years: 

“It seems like everybody from Kahaluu knows everyone from Ahuimanu.  You know my cousin Moani, and Kalani knows Kimo.  So everyone from Kahaluu, ‘Welcome to your cousin’s school!’  We are all part of Castle complex.  We have been doing the CPAC  activities with our 5^th grade for many many years.  I came here 10 years ago and was told that this is a tradition that we want to continue. We have been through innumerable budget cuts yet every year each of the 8 Castle complex schools believes in supporting this program.  It is paid for directly from our school funds. We take the money off the top of our priority funds so we can afford ADE’s two artists to provide this program.  It is a wonderful way to start the year.”  [Thanks to Karen Meyer and annual CPAC allocations, each school’s share is 50% of total project cost.]   “We know that oral communications are an important part of our language arts standards.  Even before we had formalized standards we valued oral communication.  Think about when you were in the 5^th grade and you had to get up in front of your classmates to recite a poem or give a speech. Were you as confident as you see your children in preparing for tonite?  I think it’s a gift to our children if we can help them erase that nervousness.  We can help them realize the value of being prepared, of learning how to project or simply how to talk to an audience.  You value it because you came tonite.  Many of you came for one child, but you’ll discover that you know many more and you’ll be proud of every single one of them.”

Artist JP Tai, who is an alumni of Ahuimanu, set the tone for the audience.  “Tonight we found out some kids wouldn’t be here to perform, so we had to scramble some lines around.  It shows the students’ resilience because not only do they know their own line, but they knew the line of the person in front of them and the person behind them.   If it gets kind of shaky or if you hear this deep male voice, just ignore it and enjoy the show.  These kids have been taught that no matter what, the show must go on and that’s the joy of live theatre.”

Sitting next to me in the front row as the show begins is choreographer and script writer and curriculum designer extraordinaire, Grace Humerickhouse.  On the outside she appears cool and confident but on the inside, she’s especially nervous about tonight’s outcome.   The reason she’s out front is to provide cues on when to stand and bow, when to begin speaking and staying in time with the dance.  Sometimes like a deer in the headlights, a child looks at the packed house of parents and family members and loses focus.  Grace’s reassuring smile and her familiar arm motions gently brings them back into focus until all that practice kicks back in.  The Kahaluu kids with minus half a class and no teacher, pull it off.  There is one little gal on body mic that does solo calling in Hawaiian that pulls everyone together.  Grace is beaming and relieved with one down and four to go.

The students pull the rabbit out of the hat for the rest of the show and exceed expectations of artists, teachers and Principal Duca.  The audience is delighted and the teachers are as surprised and pleased as the artists. As everyone says goodbye, even our doubting student comes up and gives JP a big hug, go figgah?  He's flabbergasted but hugs back.  What was happening with this formerly reluctant performer?  You never know what these kids are up against, what's going on in their families or their personal lives.  Fear wears many different guises.  Tonite, scared kids got a chance to step through that curtain of fear and come out, not only unscathed but victorious, on the other side.  With the help of dedicated teachers and administrators, "ADE is helping young Hawaii rehearse for life."

August 2005

Q.  SWEAT-city! … what's that? 

A.  It's the harrowing audition that sieves Chorus Line's characters.  

In Ron Bright's remounting of the Tony-wreathed musical, the desperation to win-the-job is paramount.  The prize is not just employment, but time out from anxiety itself.   The failed star pleads for a job in the chorus singing Edward Kleban's searing words:  Let me wake up in the morning, to find I have somewhere to go.  Throw me a rope to grab on to.  Use me.  Choose me.  Give me a place to fit in.  I'm a dancer - a dancer dances.

The recent Pearl Harbor closing scare prompted a lot of job musing that had more to do with comradeship and identity than making mortgage payments.   At stake for our conscientious Pearl craftsmen was nothing less than the loss of the stage upon which they practiced their art and the theatre of operations where they wove friendships.

The Alliance's first president was Mr. Bright, and ADE was instrumental in igniting his Castle Performing Arts Center laboratory.  A Chorus Line is peopled with alumni Mr. B. met in 20 years of elementary school ADE residencies. WORK is our 21st season theme.  Briefing day we told teachers:

You shoo your own kids off to school daily so they'll never sport a license plate frame that sighs: I owe, I owe, so off to work I go.  We collaborate to help isle students master the performance skills needed:

1) to win and hold jobs that tap their interests and utilize their talents.

2) to secure justice in our legal system.

3) to find joy in a loving network of friends and family.

Ultra-busy Rona Suzuki agreed to become our El Presidente last year on our pledge to accelerate dormant plans to insure all T-Shirt Theatre students and staff constructed a Life Plan.  Mary Jane Ahrendes is on staff this fall to sys- tematically advance that goal and implement a tradition: on the last thursday of each month each of us will boldly print a new name tag proclaiming "in 2020 I'll be a …."   As ambitions firm up, she'll seek mentors - you?   (So what do you wanna be … next?  Vocation or avocation - lay tracks now!)

Whenever I preview an upcoming performing skills residency, someone asks Why do we have to do this?  My answer is brief, To prepare you to clearly ask the hardest line you'll ever have to utter:  Please choose me.  

Click here for Chorus Line ticket availability.

JULY 2005  (Walt)

Creak, thud, grrrkkk! … This rusty rhapsody plays as ADE's resident columnist shakes off five years' hibernation.  For three years before ADE was born, I circulated missives trumpeting the triumphs of Hawai'i's drama educators.  In 1980 this evolved into the "Go-fer", the Alliance for Drama Education's newsletter.  For two decades we published Gutenberg style, 'til rising print and postage costs mandated electronic dispatch.

I was terminally shy, and folded the "Go-fer" rather than lay my lily whites on a computer keyboard.  But bribery and shame scored a partial victory when our board inquired sweetly why I wasn't answering their emails.  Whatchaknow?  That's kinda fun.  So, da bear is back from five years of silence, and will now and again provide some background on ADE-ventures.

This marks my fourth debut as an opinionist.  Please note that my thoughts are mine, not necessarily those of the organization, board or staff.   If you've another take, enlighten me via email at ade@hawaii.rr.com.  

I am in this business for selfish reasons:  I want to see our community raise youngsters I can trust as neighbors.  I believe drown-proofing, driver-education, and performer-readiness training is essential education.  I've taught one student to drive, two students to swim, and 20,000 to face an audience and provide a supportive house … so guess what I'll chat about?