Announcing a New Tradition!
School Drama Division
HistoryThe first Middle School Drama festival in Massachusetts was held in the spring of 1995 at the Belmonte Middle School in Saugus, Massachusetts. John Gould, drama coach at Belmonte, had wanted to institute a drama festival so students from across the state could share their productions with children from other schools. The festival started with a theatre workshop for all students, followed by a monologue showcase and concluding with performances by participating schools. For the first few years, the festival was held after school, but as interest grew, the festival was moved to Saturdays to allow for more participants. The Massachusetts Middle School Drama Festival, Inc. was formed to assist in the preparation and planning of the yearly event. Having expanded to approximately 18 shows per festival, the Board knew that the time had come to expand to include more festival sites and more opportunities for middle school programs and teachers. During the 1998-1999 school year, the Massachusetts Middle School Drama Festival, Inc. and the Massachusetts High School Drama Guild, Inc. merged. With this merger, the middle school division has aligned more with the high school festival, offered workshops for middle school teachers and students and has begun the process of instituting a networking resource for directors. We are pleased to continue to offer theatre opportunities for the middle school children of the state of Massachusetts.
As members of the Massachusetts High School Drama Guild, you and your students can participate in all of the exciting activities planned for our upcoming season. And you'll be in good company! You will join enthusiastic students and directors from over 30 of the Commonwealth's public, private and parochial middle schools who annually take advantage of the Guild's special programs and events.
* Theatre Training - a variety of workshops designed to enhance students' and teachers' performing, directing, and technical skills.
* Incentive Grants - designed to provide financial and/or technical assistance to qualifying schools and new festival host sites.
* Drama/theatre curriculum workshops for teachers.
* Access to Guild information and links to other theatre-related resources at its Web page.
* A weekly email newsletter of theatre
happenings in member schools, sharing of theatre material and other information.
Organization
of Festival
The Middle School Festival will be held on Saturday, May 9 2009. No more than 8 schools will perform at any one site. All schools will receive either a gold, silver, or bronze medal based upon their standing. Other awards will be given for the best of each performance in acting and technical work done by students. The two judges will provide a written critique to each performing school
The Festival will allow students to see a variety of theatre performances, interact with other students with similar interests and learn what other schools are doing in drama. Also, teachers will receive feed back from professionals for their work. A certificate of participation towards PDP points is also available to directors.
A mandatory director's meeting to organize the festival will take place at the Lynnfield Middle School on March 21 2009.
The deadline for entry submissions
is February 1, 2009.
Wanted: Host Sites
So that all schools wishing to participate may be included, we are looking for schools to host the one-day festival. Packets of information on how to host will be provided. Admission is charged. Schools split the proceeds with the Guild. All profits from the sale of food remain with the school. The Guild will reimburse losses of approved expenses. Anyone interested in hosting please contact the Guild Administrative Assistant:
Linda Jean Smith, MHSDG Administrative
Assistant
P.O. Box 93
Chelmsford, MA 01824-2021
Phone: 978 256 3101
Fax: 508 448 8270
Email: mhsdg@mhsdg.com
Middle
School Executive Council
If
you have comments or suggestions, email us at mhsdg@mhsdg.com
