when you meet someone for the first time
you ask them their name hello my name is
Rachel Harry and invariably without fail
the second thing you ask is what what do
you do very good what do I do
I I do theater what does that mean
I do theater well I teach I write
scripts I direct plays musicals I create
performance art I do a lot of design
work my furniture can be seen on stage
my children and my dogs have been
incorporated into some of my productions
my son
many years ago provided the recorded
voice of a wailing infants Helen Keller
stricken with scarlet fever for my
production of The Miracle Worker
and sometimes from time to time I can be
seen performing on stage which is
actually the original reason why I
became enthralled in this artform as a
six-year-old you see I’m the youngest of
a large family right you can guess I
found that dance and acting were
terrific ways to get a little attention
and contrary to what my siblings will
tell you I was not showing off I was
performing this is my life and this is
my world I learned how to be human in
the theatre my first kiss was a stage
kiss alright my first three kisses were
stage kisses I learned how to view the
world by reading plays I learned about
life by doing theater and my students
will tell you when asked over the years
what they learned in my classes that
they learned more than just theater
pedagogy they learned about life life
lessons and this is important to me in
fact it’s probably the most
important reason why I teach theater you
see when I find that when I teach
theater concepts I’m also teaching how
to cope with a life now this is of
immense value to my students it’s also
of immense value to the world you see
what we learn in theater is a terrific
way to interact with a very diverse
world now you might wonder what does
this woman teacher in her classes well
I’m gonna give you some concepts of
theater when I talk to my peers about
diversity in theater they all nod yes
yes theater includes people of all kinds
ethnicity sexual orientation and that’s
true but I’m referring to something else
theater teaches one to communicate to
diverse to create to communicate to
diverse skills sets of thinking skills
there we go I know I get that out you
see theater is the only art that
actively collaborates with all the other
art forms theater needs visual arts it
needs music it needs dance
it needs the written word and the
artists from all these genres they think
differently but there’s more theater
also depends on science and technology
to promote or to produce its productions
to create a play requires not only a
diverse set of population but a diverse
set of thinking communication skills you
see a theater program draws on students
from all programs all departments in a
school and each is recognized and
respected for what they bring to the
table I have a wonderful story of
collaboration between these different
thinking skills my stage manager decided
last fall that I needed snow to fall
from the ceiling in the final scene of
the first act of the musical so I
described to her how a professional
theatre with fly space and rigging such
as New York City
creates the snow for their productions
of Nutcracker now my stage manager is
also a dancer and a member as well of
our acclaimed robotics team she is
incredibly skilled at communicating with
both artists and scientists she
collaborated with my lighting designer
who is also a member of the robotics
team and using their familiarity with
our agricultural base devised a 35 foot
long snow machine made of PVC irrigation
pipe multiple drilled holes a very
elegant rigging system and of course the
obligatory duct tape to teach this I
actively teach this by using a process
in in how we would critique student
scene performance my student critique
errs are only allowed to say this works
keep it this works this or this does not
work how can we make this stronger and
as a class we brainstorm ways to help
strengthen that scene we consider what
works for us and then we modify that to
fit the individual onstage embracing
diversity requires just that the ability
to acknowledge and accept the strengths
and weaknesses of others without
judgment and to accept the strengths and
weaknesses within ourselves what if all
the countries of the world could
acknowledge and accept both these
attributes and then collaborate to help
strengthen each other theater teaches a
student to develops one’s own voice over
the course of development of the human
being there evolves a desire to fit in
to belong and this desire is so strong
we’re willing to subjugate our own
feelings our own needs our own thoughts
so we can conform in class when we’re
working on acting or improvisational
skills we actually have exercises that
promote original thought we practice
games that help us to stop listen to our
instincts not judge them but allow them
out there’s an actor’s term called flash
now flash occurs when you’re on stage
listening to someone and if you’re
really listening to someone a
recognition a realization a flash of an
idea will pop into your head we learn to
listen to those thoughts because they
are important they are your own and they
have a value in an improv scene an actor
will have these responses occur to her
and instead of shutting them down or
stifling them she learns to give those
thoughts of voice and often these are
the best lines the audience responds to
them because they are honest in class we
work on enhancing our creativity through
just these kinds of exercises and we
learn to enhance our creativity by
simply freeing up the student’s
imagination what if a country
specifically trained its citizens to
enhance their creativity to solve
problems and to have courage and
confidence in their own voice to speak
up when the need arises last concept
finding a character demands empathy now
in class I work on providing tools for
the students to develop an honest
character on stage you see when an actor
is cast they’re given a script and all
it contains is the dialogue of a story
and they must explore that character by
creating a backstory or history that
motivates the character to say and act
as they do as an actor I use the
backstory to inform my mood and that’s
how I might deliver a line
I must seek out similarities between
myself and that character and then
contemplate how I might respond in those
same situations I must also seek out the
divert the differences between myself
and that character and ponder what were
the forces that caused those differences
to find the motivation of a character I
have to define the reasons for her
actions and to teach this I ask my
students to make observations of others
close observations but not to judge to
learn I ask them to initiate a
conversation with someone who might have
similar qualities to the character
they’re studying or perhaps maybe even
emulate some of the aspects of that
lifestyle Dustin Hoffman is famous for
dressing as a woman and living as a
woman in New York City to create his
celebrated character of Tootsie he said
he wished he to explore this character
as a much younger man he said he missed
out on meeting so many interesting
wonderful women because he didn’t know
how to truly value a woman until he had
lived as one what could happen in a
country what could happen in our country
if we were taught actively taught to
truly empathize with others now I’ve had
the joy of spending many years a lot of
years working with a large group of
teenagers from the ages of 14 and 18 and
we have spent classes working on lessons
to help them learn how to view others
without judging to develop diverse
communication strategies to enhance
their character or creativity and their
character and to
to truly understand and have confidence
in their own voice and this is all falls
under the aspect or the title of
teaching theater we have spent countless
hours exploring the lives of people both
fictional and true
now you’re going to if you are familiar
with this production you’re going to go
she uses a lot of pictures from a
musical called catch me if you can that
one and it’s true and I chose this
musical because it’s an excellent
example that expresses the ideas I’m
trying to convey to you today
on the surface this is a fast-paced
glittery Vegas style production of high
kicks and jazz hands it’s also the true
story of Frank Abagnale jr. his parents
and a detective named Hanratty a very
smart detective on the surface we see a
criminal who bilked thousands out of
more than a million 1960s dollars before
he reached the age of 21 but as we
explore the character more deeply we see
a young man reeling from the breakup of
his family and the tragic demise of a
father whom he idolized and as we
explore this character scene by scene we
we see the motivations and so we
understand and we also see a detective
who understands that he’s not chasing a
hardened criminal but rather a very
troubled very bright young man and his
compassion and ability to see past those
actions was discussed in many a
rehearsal now the real Frank abigail
junior sent us some emails and a letter
which my music director has framed in
his office that was exciting and he
talked about that compassion and empathy
that detective had for him
and that Detective ultimately became in
real life his mentor and best friend now
all this happened in a theater program
in a small rural High School in a
community that understands and supports
a full four-year theater program taught
by a teacher with a master’s degree in
theater and I tell you this because it
is rare and I firmly believe we need to
change that fact you see less than half
of all secondary public schools have any
kind of a theater class in their
programs and of that 45 percent 12
percent only 12 have a full four-year
program now most high schools offer an
after-school production and this is
terrific but again realize only half of
those productions are taught by someone
who is a certified art specialist in
theater if we look at these statistics
you’re going to see well first let me
tell you I don’t want to cash aid on
music and visual arts because remember I
collaborate with them we need them but
you’re going to see that music and
visual arts garner far more respect than
theater now is this important
what depends on what you want if you
want students to simply have an
experience performing on stage then this
is enough because honestly theater can
happen anywhere and it can be done
pretty well but but if you want students
to learn the skills to mount a quality
production if you want students to
become better world citizens in any
career they choose well then you need a
strong theatre program taught by a
qualified instructor
Theatre needs to take the stage as the
important art form in public education
that it truly is thank you
[Applause]
you ask them their name hello my name is
Rachel Harry and invariably without fail
the second thing you ask is what what do
you do very good what do I do
I I do theater what does that mean
I do theater well I teach I write
scripts I direct plays musicals I create
performance art I do a lot of design
work my furniture can be seen on stage
my children and my dogs have been
incorporated into some of my productions
my son
many years ago provided the recorded
voice of a wailing infants Helen Keller
stricken with scarlet fever for my
production of The Miracle Worker
and sometimes from time to time I can be
seen performing on stage which is
actually the original reason why I
became enthralled in this artform as a
six-year-old you see I’m the youngest of
a large family right you can guess I
found that dance and acting were
terrific ways to get a little attention
and contrary to what my siblings will
tell you I was not showing off I was
performing this is my life and this is
my world I learned how to be human in
the theatre my first kiss was a stage
kiss alright my first three kisses were
stage kisses I learned how to view the
world by reading plays I learned about
life by doing theater and my students
will tell you when asked over the years
what they learned in my classes that
they learned more than just theater
pedagogy they learned about life life
lessons and this is important to me in
fact it’s probably the most
important reason why I teach theater you
see when I find that when I teach
theater concepts I’m also teaching how
to cope with a life now this is of
immense value to my students it’s also
of immense value to the world you see
what we learn in theater is a terrific
way to interact with a very diverse
world now you might wonder what does
this woman teacher in her classes well
I’m gonna give you some concepts of
theater when I talk to my peers about
diversity in theater they all nod yes
yes theater includes people of all kinds
ethnicity sexual orientation and that’s
true but I’m referring to something else
theater teaches one to communicate to
diverse to create to communicate to
diverse skills sets of thinking skills
there we go I know I get that out you
see theater is the only art that
actively collaborates with all the other
art forms theater needs visual arts it
needs music it needs dance
it needs the written word and the
artists from all these genres they think
differently but there’s more theater
also depends on science and technology
to promote or to produce its productions
to create a play requires not only a
diverse set of population but a diverse
set of thinking communication skills you
see a theater program draws on students
from all programs all departments in a
school and each is recognized and
respected for what they bring to the
table I have a wonderful story of
collaboration between these different
thinking skills my stage manager decided
last fall that I needed snow to fall
from the ceiling in the final scene of
the first act of the musical so I
described to her how a professional
theatre with fly space and rigging such
as New York City
creates the snow for their productions
of Nutcracker now my stage manager is
also a dancer and a member as well of
our acclaimed robotics team she is
incredibly skilled at communicating with
both artists and scientists she
collaborated with my lighting designer
who is also a member of the robotics
team and using their familiarity with
our agricultural base devised a 35 foot
long snow machine made of PVC irrigation
pipe multiple drilled holes a very
elegant rigging system and of course the
obligatory duct tape to teach this I
actively teach this by using a process
in in how we would critique student
scene performance my student critique
errs are only allowed to say this works
keep it this works this or this does not
work how can we make this stronger and
as a class we brainstorm ways to help
strengthen that scene we consider what
works for us and then we modify that to
fit the individual onstage embracing
diversity requires just that the ability
to acknowledge and accept the strengths
and weaknesses of others without
judgment and to accept the strengths and
weaknesses within ourselves what if all
the countries of the world could
acknowledge and accept both these
attributes and then collaborate to help
strengthen each other theater teaches a
student to develops one’s own voice over
the course of development of the human
being there evolves a desire to fit in
to belong and this desire is so strong
we’re willing to subjugate our own
feelings our own needs our own thoughts
so we can conform in class when we’re
working on acting or improvisational
skills we actually have exercises that
promote original thought we practice
games that help us to stop listen to our
instincts not judge them but allow them
out there’s an actor’s term called flash
now flash occurs when you’re on stage
listening to someone and if you’re
really listening to someone a
recognition a realization a flash of an
idea will pop into your head we learn to
listen to those thoughts because they
are important they are your own and they
have a value in an improv scene an actor
will have these responses occur to her
and instead of shutting them down or
stifling them she learns to give those
thoughts of voice and often these are
the best lines the audience responds to
them because they are honest in class we
work on enhancing our creativity through
just these kinds of exercises and we
learn to enhance our creativity by
simply freeing up the student’s
imagination what if a country
specifically trained its citizens to
enhance their creativity to solve
problems and to have courage and
confidence in their own voice to speak
up when the need arises last concept
finding a character demands empathy now
in class I work on providing tools for
the students to develop an honest
character on stage you see when an actor
is cast they’re given a script and all
it contains is the dialogue of a story
and they must explore that character by
creating a backstory or history that
motivates the character to say and act
as they do as an actor I use the
backstory to inform my mood and that’s
how I might deliver a line
I must seek out similarities between
myself and that character and then
contemplate how I might respond in those
same situations I must also seek out the
divert the differences between myself
and that character and ponder what were
the forces that caused those differences
to find the motivation of a character I
have to define the reasons for her
actions and to teach this I ask my
students to make observations of others
close observations but not to judge to
learn I ask them to initiate a
conversation with someone who might have
similar qualities to the character
they’re studying or perhaps maybe even
emulate some of the aspects of that
lifestyle Dustin Hoffman is famous for
dressing as a woman and living as a
woman in New York City to create his
celebrated character of Tootsie he said
he wished he to explore this character
as a much younger man he said he missed
out on meeting so many interesting
wonderful women because he didn’t know
how to truly value a woman until he had
lived as one what could happen in a
country what could happen in our country
if we were taught actively taught to
truly empathize with others now I’ve had
the joy of spending many years a lot of
years working with a large group of
teenagers from the ages of 14 and 18 and
we have spent classes working on lessons
to help them learn how to view others
without judging to develop diverse
communication strategies to enhance
their character or creativity and their
character and to
to truly understand and have confidence
in their own voice and this is all falls
under the aspect or the title of
teaching theater we have spent countless
hours exploring the lives of people both
fictional and true
now you’re going to if you are familiar
with this production you’re going to go
she uses a lot of pictures from a
musical called catch me if you can that
one and it’s true and I chose this
musical because it’s an excellent
example that expresses the ideas I’m
trying to convey to you today
on the surface this is a fast-paced
glittery Vegas style production of high
kicks and jazz hands it’s also the true
story of Frank Abagnale jr. his parents
and a detective named Hanratty a very
smart detective on the surface we see a
criminal who bilked thousands out of
more than a million 1960s dollars before
he reached the age of 21 but as we
explore the character more deeply we see
a young man reeling from the breakup of
his family and the tragic demise of a
father whom he idolized and as we
explore this character scene by scene we
we see the motivations and so we
understand and we also see a detective
who understands that he’s not chasing a
hardened criminal but rather a very
troubled very bright young man and his
compassion and ability to see past those
actions was discussed in many a
rehearsal now the real Frank abigail
junior sent us some emails and a letter
which my music director has framed in
his office that was exciting and he
talked about that compassion and empathy
that detective had for him
and that Detective ultimately became in
real life his mentor and best friend now
all this happened in a theater program
in a small rural High School in a
community that understands and supports
a full four-year theater program taught
by a teacher with a master’s degree in
theater and I tell you this because it
is rare and I firmly believe we need to
change that fact you see less than half
of all secondary public schools have any
kind of a theater class in their
programs and of that 45 percent 12
percent only 12 have a full four-year
program now most high schools offer an
after-school production and this is
terrific but again realize only half of
those productions are taught by someone
who is a certified art specialist in
theater if we look at these statistics
you’re going to see well first let me
tell you I don’t want to cash aid on
music and visual arts because remember I
collaborate with them we need them but
you’re going to see that music and
visual arts garner far more respect than
theater now is this important
what depends on what you want if you
want students to simply have an
experience performing on stage then this
is enough because honestly theater can
happen anywhere and it can be done
pretty well but but if you want students
to learn the skills to mount a quality
production if you want students to
become better world citizens in any
career they choose well then you need a
strong theatre program taught by a
qualified instructor
Theatre needs to take the stage as the
important art form in public education
that it truly is thank you
[Applause]
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