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The prospect of stepping up to middle school is a mini-milestone for fifth graders, and those at Hamilton Avenue School are no exception. Thanks to a first-time collaboration between the school and the Westport Country Playhouse, these students will be presenting a play of their own creation at the playhouse on Friday, June 6 in honor of their upcoming graduation.
The performance of "The American Revolution" will be a history lesson of sorts, chronicling events leading to the American Revolution. Students will recreate such events as the Boston Tea Party, the Stamp Act, the Sugar Act and the Boston Massacre. The play will culminate with the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The production is almost entirely student produced, including the writing, with a little help from their teachers, plus director Kel Haney and her fellow teaching artist Gabe Davis. Both Haney and Davis are volunteering their services in conjunction with the playhouse.
Students will also assume backstage chores, such as working the lights, soundboard and curtains. Parents are pitching in to help with the production by making the costumes. Rehearsals for the play are slated to begin soon at the school's temporary location
The idea for the play came to fruition late last year, according to teacher Cathy Byrne. Her class, along with that of fellow fifth-grade teacher Darlene Angotto, is participating in the project. "We wanted to do something special for the fifth grade, so Darlene and I got to talking about it," she said.
Their students, 48 in all, were studying the events leading up to the Revolution, hence the play's evolution. Picking a venue to present the play came next. "We had a connection with the Westport Country Playhouse because we had taken our third through fifth graders to see 'A Christmas Carol' there two years in a row," she said. "We thought it would be a great place to have the play."
Byrne said that the students are approaching the script from both the U.S. colonists' and the British perspectives. "I wanted them to have a deeper, better understanding of the Revolution, and I really love the fact that they understand it from more than one point of view."
The students, to that end, have been reading biographies and writings of historical figures from that time, such as Abigail Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
"This way, they get an idea of how to create character profiles and this helps bring forth the play's dialogue," she said.
One such example Byrne cited is a conversation that the kids envisioned between Revolutionary hero John Hancock and British Prime Minister Lord North, talking about their perspectives on the Boston Massacre.
The Westport Country Playhouse is presenting the play in conjunction with the Kennedy Center Partners in Education program.
"The partnership with the Kennedy Center is so valuable," said Jeffrey Spector, Ed.D., district coordinator of music, visual and theater arts, Greenwich Public Schools. "What makes it special is that it allows teachers to use the arts to help teach other subjects, such as math and social studies."
Debra Baron, education director of the Westport Country Playhouse, echoed Spector's sentiments. "The Greenwich school district is really supportive of this," she said. "This is our inaugural project with Hamilton. We had a meeting last year with the principal of the school, Dr. Damaris Rau, and the vice-principal, Dr. Deborah Cline. We wanted to plan something artistic that the fifth grade could call their own. We talked to their teachers and teaching assistants as well; more people got into the mix, and this project became a reality."
Baron went on to say, "The fifth-grade teachers have an amazing amount of requirements for their classes, and so this is an extraordinary thing for them to participate in because of their time constraints."
The play is part of the class's curriculum, so its creation requires class time and is not extracurricular. Baron said that the play is an important tool in the students' learning process.
"Our hope is that this production will instill a greater sense of confidence in them that they can do something creative together and learn from it," she said.
Citing the school's recent history, she added, "It's traumatic enough that these kids have been dislodged from their classroom due to their school's unfortunate circumstances, so this is something positive for them."
Hamilton Avenue School's fourth and fifth graders currently call Western Middle School home. Ham Ave. has had a well-documented turbulent history stemming back earlier this year when it was closed due to mold infestation. Current plans, after much delay, are to have the rebuilt school reopen on the original site sometime this year.
The school offers free and reduced lunch to its students, many of whom are from low-income families. The school has not been financially able to offer a drama department to its students, which makes this performance all the more significant.
Director Haney is impressed by her budding actors and playwrights. "There is an excitement among them about creating this play," she said. She and Davis have been visiting the school once a week as part of their collaboration with the students. Haney, who has been working with the playhouse in an assistant director capacity since summer 2005, said that she derives inspiration from the fifth graders as she sees the play evolve.
"There really is a truthfulness that emanates from them as they collaborate on this play," she said. "It's nice to work with them, because they have that sense of wonder and curiosity that we tend to lose as we get to be adults. They are so honest with their ideas. But, at the same time, they are old enough to have the capacity to understand the whole playmaking process."
Performances will take place the evening of June 5 at the Western Middle School for parents, family and friends, and during the day June 6 for fellow students.
