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2016-2017 Reflection Tractor Shed Theatre

From New York Publisher Playscripts, Inc. Blog -

AUG 19, 2016

Teacher Spotlight: Molly Rice of St. Stephens High School

drama, Molly Rice, Peter/Wendy, St. Stephens High School, teacher, teaching, theater, Tractor Shed Theatre

We bring you another installment of our Teacher Spotlight series, where we chat with teachers from around the country, picking their brain about their theater program and the art of teaching theater. This month we spoke with Molly Rice of St. Stephens High School Tractor Shed Theatre program about her recent production of Jeremy Bloom’s Peter/Wendy, where she finds design inspiration, and the importance of presentness in both theater and life. What made you decide to teach theater? Theatre literally saved me. I had a rough upbringing, and when I found theatre my junior year in high school, I had come home. Theatre took me off a very dodgy path, and fueled my creativity, and gave me a haven. I started off as an actor/singer, and found out that I was a director. I always wanted to teach, though. I had

some amazing, encouraging teachers who pushed me in the right direction. So it is the old adage, “There was a teacher . . .” Theatre transformed me, and I wanted to help share that love with others. What has been the biggest surprise of your teaching career? While I believed in the magic of theatre, I had the opportunity to see its full glory while doing peace work in Northern Ireland. My husband, Northern Irish Poet Adrian Rice, and I had been doing cross-community work across the North, and had worked with students of all ages and abilities up to old-age pensioners. We were working in what was called a “special school.” A particular student was in a wheelchair, and not very responsive. Her teacher had noted that Orla wouldn’t be able to participate much in my project. We did thematic work, and the chosen theme was friendship. I storyboarded a music video to go along with Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend,” and used the student, regardless of the naysay. I had a very eager Down syndrome student act with Orla. And once we started, and I noticed that Orla probably wasn’t getting anything from it, I started to slightly doubt its worth. We invited parents in for tea and toast and to watch the video. We gathered around a TV on a cart, and pushed play. Once we got to Orla’s part, for the first time ever, she started verbalizing and moving! She had recognized herself! What a beautiful

surprise. What an amazing gift theatre gave us. From that experience, I know to trust the healing powers of the arts. The Tractor Shed Theatre takes pride in all the continued civic engagement work, knowing that it isn’t shocking what the arts can do, but it is shocking how little they are valued in our school systems. Why did you connect with Peter/Wendy? The Tractor Shed Theatre is known for its civic engagement work. We were invited to be part of a Holocaust Remembrance Day event, and chose the one-act version of I Never Saw Another Butterfly by Celeste Raspanti, as we were looking for a play that would also

be about childhood, and could balance the seriousness of the Holocaust play. We were delighted that Peter/Wendy by Jeremy Bloom could also be produced in the one-act

version, and it was a perfect fit. We incorporated physical theatre elements in both shows, and loved the ensemble feel. We used Peter/Wendy as our second act, leaving them with the “happy thoughts” piece.

We were drawn to the aesthetic of Bloom’s Peter Pan. We loved the space he provided to play in—such a vast possible playground! We are a creative program, and usually produce shows that give us scope to fashion our own stamp on the piece. We also loved the way that Bloom kept dialogue from the original novel, and added some of Barrie’s novel The Little White Bird for an ethereal effect. We adored his poetical push. What was your favorite part of the rehearsal process? Collecting “happy thoughts” from our community was a real treasure. Peter/Wendy broke apart beautifully for French Scene breakdown, and putting it back together was exciting. Working from small groups of trios (the leads, the mermaids, the lost boys, the pirates) to full ensemble gave the student actors a cog to wheel experience. We tripled the characters and thought it was interesting to add a trinity feel to the mermaids, lost boys, and pirates. Exploring the physical aspects was my personal favorite. The full struggle of first blush efforts, to the final victory of physically flying, capturing, sailing, playing (we added a garden of children’s games for an improvised beginning), tumbling

and stunts, and fighting. (We kept the childhood element going, and our fights were pillow fights.) How did audiences react to your production? We used audience participation. Three times we approached the audience for happy thoughts. The first two visits with the audience we asked and wrote down their replies on our set, floors, and doors. The last time we asked for happy thoughts, we said, “Tell us your happy thoughts . . .” and were quiet as they in ensemble shared out loud. It was a very special moment each night to hear what makes people happy. It also gave us an opportunity to call on members we knew. The last night of the show I asked Jude, our youngest audience member who is two years old, “Jude, what makes you happy?” His reply was simple but profound: “My happy thought is happy.” The audiences were captive and captivated by this fun and meaningful piece. My favorite evening was a beautiful tandem experience between players and audience when our power was knocked out in a storm. It was during intermission, and I gave the audience the chance to leave, but they wanted to stay to see Peter/Wendy. My actors were very nervous to perform in no light. A parent provided a cell phone light, and eventually the power company gave us a big flashlight. I ran around and lit each part of the show. Our happy thoughts included words like lights, power, sound/music, etc. which induced big belly laughs. The actors fully played, and the brilliance of Bloom’s piece made us all feel like we were watching children in a basement performance, so afterwards we reminisced about childhood. Your production had some really unique design elements. What inspired the visual aspects of your production?

We use Pinterest in our dramaturgy, and through digging and meet-backs with student-led design teams we carefully discuss and design to tailor-fit our productions to our Tractor Shed Theatre style. We were drawn to the dreamy quality of Peter/Wendy, and wanted our show to look and feel like a beautiful slumber party. Our set was

simple, with the bedroom on an upper level, the lagoon on the lower with hanging hammock, firefly-lit jars; the lost boy land was a simple separate platform, and the pirates had their own ship. The set was all black, with over 1,300 collected happy thoughts. We love to design our shows, and spend a lot of our time on designing our entire theatre space. Our house design included a mobile of handmade light-up clouds, stars, and butterflies. Even Tinkerbell’s shoes lit up the space! I first fell in love with designing through one of my former students, Andrew Licout. We worked on his portfolio for the School of Design and Production, and the University of NC School of the Arts. He was accepted on the spot. For Peter/Wendy, I wanted my budding photographer, Irvin Maldonado, to have beautiful photographs for his portfolio. It is not an easy task though designing a fresh take on Neverland, but we hoped not to disappoint our Peter Pan fans. https://www.pinterest.com/sshstst/ What advice would you give aspiring teachers? Each student needs you. Your subject is second to your student. Connect in a meaningful way, and get to know each student. It is difficult to be a teacher these days when data is king. Focus on the student, not their stats. Learn how to communicate well. Read educational articles and books. Really listen to your students, and you will gain great insight. Be patient and firm. Balance. Find time to recharge your batteries.

Take care of yourself. Regardless of your subject, save time for character education. Save time for conversation. Embrace diversity, make it important that others do in your

classroom as well. Remember your favorite teacher, and make a list of their qualities, and see if you can emulate them. Do the same for a teacher you didn’t like, and don’t emulate them. The art of teaching is assisting discovery. Don’t forget to also be a student, and make discoveries which will keep you in awe of understanding and moving forward. If you could offer one lesson to your students, what would it be? We are perpetually living in the death of the moment. Ten minutes ago is gone. Essentially, memory is paramount. Art encapsulates memory, thought, imagination, and creativity— the human experience. Art is important. Learn to advocate for it. Keep creating and inspiring. Appreciate the otherness of others, and strive to friend someone totally different and diverse. Be kind and courageous. We are all on loan

here, and we should learn to love in our brief time together. Don’t be jealous or envious. Push each other forward instead of trying to hold each other back. Make no excuses, and do the work. Limit your use of social media. Unplug. Be present. Be unashamedly you. And remember: “The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” ― J. M. Barrie,Peter Pan —Top photo: Eckard Photographic Production photos: Irvin Maldonado

2 responses to “Teacher Spotlight: Molly Rice of St. Stephens High School” Marion Clarke says: AUGUST 23, 2016 AT 7:25 AM What an inspirational interview – thank you for sharing! marion REPLY

Brenda Smith says: AUGUST 23, 2016 AT 9:37 PM Molly– this was truly inspirational. Thank you for being who you are. REPLY

Molly Rice is North Carolina Theatre Arts Educators’ (NCTAE) Teacher of the Year for 2016-2017 NCTAE’s (www.nctae.com) mission is to advance the quality and scope of theatre education in North Carolina schools through professional development, collaboration, and empowerment of Theatre Arts Educators. At this year’s Fall Sharing event held at Central Academy of Technology and Arts in Monroe, Molly was chosen by drama teachers across the state as their third Teacher of the Year. Molly was recently showcased by the New York Publisher Playscripts for their “Teacher Spotlight” series. The series chats with teachers from around the country, picking their brain about their theatre program and the art of teaching theatre. You can find the interview here: https://www.playscripts.com/blog/2016/08/teacher-spotlight-molly-rice-of-st-stephens-hi gh-school/ In Molly’s eleven years directing the theatre program at Saint Stephens High School (SSHS) lovingly called “The Tractor Shed Theatre”, she has been chosen as a Nobel Claes Educator of Distinction, a “Hometown Hero”, Hickory Daily Record’s Notable Neighbor and Top Ten to Watch in Hickory in 2015, St. Stephens High School’s Teacher of the Year, Hamilton & Herring Orthodontics Teacher of the Year, SSHS Wachovia’s Teacher of the Year, the Hancock-Settlemeyer Award for contribution in the field of prevention of child abuse and neglect. Alongside her student actors they’ve won regional and state awards at the North Carolina Theatre Conference One-Act Play Festival, National Championship winners of the Media League Online Creativity Contest, winners of a video/film contest celebrating black history month, Champions for Kids winner for Simple Giving projects, top five in the state for eight years in the National Poetry Out Loud Recitation Contest, The College Board Civic Engagement prize, Norton Anthology Poetry Video Contest winners, and the eInstruction Classroom Makeover Music Video Contest worth $30,000 in technology.

NCTAE is proud to represent the best teachers in North Carolina! Each year at our Fall Sharing event, NCTAE awards a nominated theatre teacher from North Carolina with the NCTAE Teacher of the Year Award. This award is presented to a theatre teacher who has achieved a high standard of quality in their pedagogical endeavors. This person also has gone beyond the call of duty to provide an exceptional program that benefits their students and community and has shown their passion and dedication to the profession of theatrical arts. The Teacher of the Year must be an active NCTAE member and is nominated through a letter of nomination that is submitted to NCTAE prior to Fall Sharing.

First Fall Play Production Project: Palimpsest Tractor Shed Theatre students share memories through art ●

BY JOHN BAILEY jbailey@hickoryrecord.com

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Thursday October 13th 2016

St. Stephens High senior Kariey Smith (right) offers some advice to fellow senior Carson Gant in preparation for the Tractor Shed Theatre's special presentation at the Hickory Museum of Art Sunday.

Jackson Shoe, a senior in St. Stephens High's Tractor Shed Theatre group, reads over the response he wrote to the PALIMPSEST collection at the Hickory Art Museum. He will share his work during a special performance at the museum this Sunday.

Members of the Tractor Shed Theatre group at St. Stephens High School think about how they want to interpret the Palimpsest exhibit at the Hickory Museum of Art during a special presentation Sunday. Pictured: Sophomore Anthony Badillo, junior Josh Killian and sophomore Oliver Gonzalez.

HICKORY â€“ Sharing social commentary and reliving childhood memories top the list of objectives for students in St. Stephens High Schoolâ€™s Tractor Shed Theatre group on Sunday at the Hickory Museum of Art (HMA). They will present an artistic response to Palimpsest: New Works from Fanjoy-Labrenz with Sculpture by Tom Shields currently being shown at the museum.

The installation by Sally Fanjoy and James Labrenz features photographic prints and projections, and furniture sculptures by Penland, N.C. artist Shields. The exhibition’s title – Palimpsest – refers to something reused or altered, but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form, an HMA press release said. “Throughout this exhibit, we consider the recurring themes of memory and time – how we process what we see and how what we see changes us,” Fanjoy and Labrenz said in the release. “As artists, we are challenged to both resist and embrace this progression.” Fanjoy and Labrenz are friends of Tractor Shed Theatre Director Molly Rice and Fanjoy wrote Rice to ask if her class would like to collaborate on an interpretive presentation. The students will be responding to the images mostly in monologue, spoken word and poetry. “This class for me is all about what they want to do and they agreed they would like to do it,” Rice said. “It was great to watch them respond to the piece just visually and get to live with it for a short time. For me, it’s about helping them learn to be an artist not just an actor.” “Everyone in this room will become a writer, so they need to practice writing. They need to tap their creativity and imagination so I have to give them opportunities to write.” She added the images in the Palimpsest exhibit match well with the civic engagement projects the theatre group enjoys taking on each year. “We try to talk about advocacy and activism and what can we do in the face of negativity in the world,” Rice said. St. Stephens High senior Kariey Smith is working with a group focused on producing a spoken word presentation in response to a photograph of a homeless man with a woman walking past him. “It stood out to me personally because I’ve always been intrigued by homelessness because I’ve worked with helping them in the past with Tractor Shed,” Smith said. “It’s such a huge stigma, homelessness and it’s important for us as a community to stop that stigma.”

She has been with the theatre group all four years at St. Stephens and the charity work they do has elevated the group beyond just another class for her. “It’s taught me empathy and humanity, and I’m just so honored I get to work with these charities every fall semester and see what it’s like through somebody else’s eyes…and raise awareness to our community,” Smith said. Jackson Shoe is also a senior at St. Stephens and he’s also been with the Tractor Shed Theatre group all through high school. He was struck by the very first piece in the Palimpsest collection at the museum. “It caught my eyes because it’s a bunch of dolls and different types of other things from childhood memories that really brought me back to my childhood,” Shoe said. “I don’t even think I saw any other piece because I literally could not walk away from it.” The work made him realize how much of his own youth he didn’t remember because he simple didn’t revisit those memories. He saw an image of a toy truck in the piece he had as a child and it instantly flooded him with happy thoughts from past years. “People just always talk about the future and in life you don’t have the time to go back and reflect,” Shoe said. “When I started writing I just got to spoken word and just preaching about how much we’ve lost and we become the same person…we’re all the same and we’re looking towards the future when we should be embracing what we have right now and what we did have.” The exhibition, Palimpsest: New Work by Fanjoy Labrenz with Sculpture by Tom Shields, runs through Nov. 13 at Hickory Museum of Art. The Tractor Shed Theatre presentation on Sunday is from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Shuford Gallery at the museum. For more information about the performance or exhibit, visit hickoryart.org.

Awesome! So proud of you and our students!

Candace Barlowe Johnson, MA, LPC

PR Video for Palimpsest: https://tstphotography.smugmug.com/Palimpsest-/PR-Video/ Hickory Daily Record Front Page! http://www.hickoryrecord.com/gallery/tractor-shed-theatre-group-interprets-palimpest-at-hickory-museum/ collection_697c706c-947a-11e6-82d1-63bc24f54812.html

Tractor Shed Theatre group interprets Palimpsest at Hickory Museum ●

Oct 17, 2016

BY JOHN BAILEY/HICKORY DAILY RECORD: The Tractor Shed Theatre group from St. Stephens High School filled the Hickory Museum of Art with honest and emotional artistic responses to Palimpsest: New Works from Fanjoy-Labrenz on Oct. 16. The installation by Sally Fanjoy and James Labrenz features photographic prints and projections, and furniture sculptures by Penland, N.C. artist Tom Shields. Along with helping each of the students find their own voice in the written word performances, Tractor Shed Theatre Director Molly Rice – who was recently chosen as the North Carolina Theatre Arts Educators’ Teacher of the Year – also allowed the group to create the choreography for the entire presentation.

HICKORY – The Tractor Shed Theatre group from St. Stephens High School filled the Hickory Museum of Art with honest and emotional artistic responses to Palimpsest: New Works from Fanjoy-Labrenz on Sunday. The installation by Sally Fanjoy and James Labrenz features photographic prints and projections, and furniture sculptures by Penland, N.C. artist Tom Shields. The exhibition’s title – Palimpsest – refers to something reused or altered, but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form, according to a HMA press release. Many of the works deal with personal loss and national tragedies. The students’ individual performances reflected this as well as an understanding of the need to understand our own emotions.

Photos & Video of Palimpsest: https://tstphotography.smugmug.com/Palimpsest-

Along with helping each of the students find their own voice in the written word performances, Tractor Shed Theatre Director Molly Rice – who was recently chosen as the North Carolina Theatre Arts Educators’ Teacher of the Year – also allowed the group to create the choreography for the entire presentation. “Once they chose their image, we came back to the Tractor Shed and we started to digest, have conversations about the images and what they meant,” Rice said. For Sally Fanjoy, it was a satisfying moment, seeing the mature responses from the students. “One thing I thought as I was watching this…I felt like there was this really in-depth investigation of the work,” Fanjoy said. “People, I think we tend to breeze by things quickly and we kind of walk into a gallery and say ‘that’s nice, that’s nice’ and we didn’t want our show to be that, individual images. “We hoped it would be seen as a body of work that spoke to some issues going on, gun violence specifically for one.”

St. Stephens High senior Olivia Howard interpreted a stormy scene that related to the 2012 theater shooting in Aurora, Colo. “I connected the water and the waves showing the rage of the man but there was still a sort of calmness,” Howard said. With her part in the group ensemble, she also illustrated how she thought the mind can be drawn between calm and rage, how they can go together. David Rubino, a St. Stephens junior, was drawn to the image of a tree because of its simple beauty. “I was just thinking that there is so much bad stuff in the world but we still have to focus on the beauty and this struck me as that beauty in the world,” Rubino said. This unique theater experience helped him discover a new level of creativity within himself. Fanjoy-Labrenz Video of the Palimpsest Show Highlights: https://vimeo.com/188412788

Halloween Project: Nightmare Before Christmas Trick-or-Treating Extravaganza!

Over 2,500 Trick-or-treaters came through our streets and saw our show. The show consisted of acting, dancing, and singing. The actors performed “This is Halloween”, “Sally’s Song”, “Kidnap the Santa Claws”, “Oogie Boogie Song”, and “Jack & Sally’s Song”. The actors performed the show on a loop and started at 5pm. The show ran about 20 minutes and they ended up performing it thirteen times! A Hickory resident filmed our opening and shared it on Facebook. It went viral with 79,828 views with 1,699 shares, 115 comments, and 800 likes. Here are our videos from the show: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLts3R5JRR72Kg_K2BrqqFLtDo8lBE5Y6z

Photos from the show: https://tstphotography.smugmug.com/Halloween-at-717/Nightmare-before-Christmas/i-M3xDwD7

Mock Trial for Coach Cook’s class (Business Law): Actors portrayed

characters from the Harry Potter movies for interviews of witnesses as it relates to the death of Dumbeldore in the last movi in this cross-curriculum project.

Dodgeball for Cancer We played a co-ed team to help raise money for cancer research. Several students went to support LRU Playmakers: THe Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)

TST Coffeehouses

Twice a month students and the community gather in the tractor shed theatre for Coffeehouses. This year, Olivia Howard’s parents enthralled us with their band called The Monroes. Check Photos and Videos here: https://tstphotography.smugmug.com/Coffeehouse

Mrs. Rice chosen for “8 Teachers on the Benefits of Theatre Education” Playscripts Blog (New York) Dec. 21, 2016 https://www.playscripts.com/blog/2016/12/8-teachers-on-the-benefits-of-theatre-education/?utm _medium=paid-social&utm_campaign=blog&utm_source=facebook-ads&utm_content=8-Teach ers-on-the-Benefits-of-Theatre-Education

Fall Civic Engagement Project Honored to share the amazing compliments of Catawba Regional Hospice in regard to Saint Stephens H.S. Play Production students. For the last two days, we have been visiting the Hospice House. We have been meeting, visiting, interviewing the people of Hospice - the amazing man who donated his land for Catawba Regional Hospice, volunteers, nurses, patients, family members of patients, and grieving widows and children of patients who have passed away. We are collecting their stories and experiences to create art while torch-bearing their precious memories. My students

have received highest compliments in their professionalism, flexibility, listening skills, interview questions, mature demeanor, and capability of carrying conversations without awkwardness and showing tremendous caring hearts. â€‹Sadly, students received a huge lesson in Hospice Care as we went to speak with a patient on Wed. but by the time we got there, that patient had passed away. We had also just gathered the life stories of a patient via her daughter and her mother passed away after our interview. Carson G. has been selected to do a home visit of a 23 year old patient along with her mother next week. Several of my students are also completing the application process of become Volunteens! Over Christmas break, we will create an original play based on our collaboration and an anthology based on the collected memories and stories. All proceeds of our show will go to Hospice.

Life Lines PR Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=12&v=lXy_lWdRt4Q Read our Life Lines book here: https://issuu.com/tractorshedtheatre/docs/online_life_lines_booklet

On the Radio with Hal Rowe WKHY First Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49xdupmMOHY

Photos & Videos from Life Lines: https://tstphotography.smugmug.com/Life-Lines/

Theatre students step up to support hospice ● ● ●

John Bailey Jan 14, 2017 Members of the St. Stephens High Tractor Shed Theatre group: Coleson Berlin, Kayla Staff and Jackson Shoe practice their part for Monday's show which is focused on shining a light on hospice care.

John Bailey/Hickory Daily Record: The St. Stephens High Tractor Shed Theatre group rehearses the opening act to their benefit show on Monday. The performance is meant to bring awareness of hospice care and raise funds for the Catawba Regional Hospice.

HICKORY – For some, the word hospice means the end. Students in the Tractor Shed Theatre group at St. Stephens High School learned differently as they did research for a special performance coming Monday.

"Talking to the patient I got to be with, she talked about how much more she got to do," St. Stephens High senior Carson Gantt said. "She learned more about life and how it should be lived rather than about dying and that's what hospice is really about, learning how you should live."

Along with raising awareness the show will raise funds to help support Catawba Regional Hospice. The performance will be at First Presbyterian Church in Hickory at 7 p.m., and tickets are $10. This project is part of an annual series the theatre group does every fall focused on civic engagement and community outreach. The students use their talents to bring awareness and financial support to different community support organizations. Hospice was at the top of the students' choices this year. "We decided to broaden our approach and keep the awareness aspect to it, to make people aware of what hospice actually does in general," St. Stephens High Theatre Arts Director Molly Rice said. "It meant not only did we do the stories of patients but we also got the experiences and stories from the staff members of hospice to the bereaved to the donors, and a home patient. "We got this beautiful full circle of hospice instead of just patient stories." The students spent time with all those different lives connected to hospice care to get a clear picture of the story they wanted to share through their show. They planned to use poetry, spoken word, storytelling and monologues. "There is an opening that we do and through research we found the actual last words of hospice patients and the show starts with those last words and there is a song," Rice said. Gantt had a unique approach to her part of the show. She was able to video an interview with a young woman in her twenties who was at home for hospice care. Clips of the video are part of the show.

"We got to talking and I asked her what her favorite kind of music is and that got her talking about her faith and she loved Christian music," Gantt said. "She was so in love with God and that had gotten her through her whole life because she'd been in care 16 years." Going home became the theme for Gantt's part of the show. Hickory Daily Record Jan. 14, 2017 http://www.hickoryrecord.com/news/theatre-students-step-up-to-support-hospice/article_b6fcbc8 7-a009-5a78-b400-825adbe6a4ce.html Catawba Regional Hospice: Thank you to the Tractor Shed Theatre for the creative expression and talent exhibited by all of the artists in Monday night's performance about hospice! The moving stories they shared not only had an impact on the actors but now on all those who witnessed this great performance. Thank you again!

To Whom it May Concern: Some four years ago, I was involved in promoting a community service program initiated by Tractor Shed Theatre, the resident performing arts program at St. Stephens High School. The eminently imaginative students, led by theater instructor Molly Rice, were eager to translate the lives of PACE@Home participants (seniors enrolled in a program to keep them out of nursing homes) into art, adjusting, adapting, editing, and distilling information they gleaned from one-on-one interviews. It was a powerful experience for the PACE men and women to see their memories given new life and validation, invigorated by and made relevant to a group of high-schoolers who had the vision and the respect to lift up personal history as truth and legacy. The families of those profiled and those performing were awed by the collaboration, and our connected experiences as human beings, albeit representing different generations, were happily confirmed. The stakes have been raised with Tractor Shed’s latest efforts, which employ a similar creative process but showcase hospice patients, whose lives haven’t the expectancy of most. There’s an urgency to tease out the stories, transform decades-old recollections into act and scene, and present them as a gift of youthful vigor and gratitude. Even so, the task has been shouldered with determination and is delivered with finesse. For some patients, delving into distant memory is more rule than exception; for others, hewing to recent events is easier managed. Nevertheless, the resultant substance, refined and staged in a minimal environment with maximum impact, offers a bold

witness that not only grants a measure of closure to a life but removes, if but briefly, the taint of disease, restoring potency to a person previously defined by uncertainty and waiting. Song, dance, spoken word, dialogue – the tools of awakening language – flesh out the tales. Patient and student, past and present, inspiration and realization, come together as at a fulcrum, momentarily balanced, until momentum wins out, propelling this hard-won craft, this artistry, this personal tribute into a future where it always continues forward. Ars longa, vita brevis, the aphorism claims. For many seasons, Tractor Shed has worked metaphorically with this idea in mind, erecting a fortification against the onslaught of time and transience. With this latest set of performances, that age-old reality draws closer than ever. And for the patients and families who witness it bear fruit, a satisfying comfort comes just as near. Kelly Sigmon, Director of Communications, www.CatawbaRegionalHospice.org

Super Saturday at UNC-G Feb. 18th, 2017 Olivia, Josh, Jackson, Carson, & Kariey attended Super Saturday at UNC-G. Students take workshops in puppetry, dialects, auditions, mask work, the profession, backstage tour, watercolor technique for scenic designs, drawing techniques for costume design, hands-on lighting and stage armor construction techniques. We saw the college’s version of Antigone. Teachers also met and discussed teaching practices and the production process. It was an educational and enjoyable day in Greensboro.

Super Saturday 2017: Olivia, Josh, Jackson, Carson, Mrs. Rice, & Kariey

TST LIVE! Brain-child of comedian Jackson Shoe to build TST Coffeehouse attendance. Students transcribed several SNL skits to perform on Feb. 16th, 2017. Famous SNL Skits included: Van down by the River, Iâ€™m Your Mother, Banana Board, & High School Theatre Show.

See Photos & Videos of TST Live here: https://tstphotography.smugmug.com/TST-LIVEPoetry Out Loud March 4th, 2017

This was our ninth year competing in the National Poetry Out Loud Recitation Contest. Fall semester includes Beginning Theatre Arts and Fall Play Production in this competition. Over sixty students at the classroom-level perform a chosen poem from the poetryoutloud.org website. Students analyze, memorize, and perform their poem with scoring on a national rubric. Sixteen of those students advance to the school-wide level where guest judges BettyGrace McDermott O'Hearn, Lindsay Barrick, Abigail Taylor Chose 10 students to compete at the district-wide level: Kariey, Carson, Addie, Olivia, David, Coleson, Josh, Nora, Addi, and Melanie. Honorable guest judges: Kim Stinson, Robert Canipe, Tim Peeler had a tough time when Olivia & Josh tied. The contestants had to battle it out! In the end, Olivia won two to one. Olivia represented SSHS at the State-level of the National Poetry Out Loud on March 4th, 2017 in Greensboro.

Photos and videos of POL 2017: https://tstphotography.smugmug.com/Poetryoutloud/POL-2017-Olivia-H/

Olivia performed three poems: John Lennon by Mary Jo Salter; Sonnet 55: Not marble nor the gilded monuments by William Shakespeare; America, & I Sing You Back by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke. Here is part of her interview:

What have you learned through competing in Poetry Out Loud? Poetry is part of the human condition. I have learned that when it comes to poetry and speaking, we don't write because we have something to say, we write because we feel no one is listening. Through competing in Poetry Out Loud, I have learned that we need better words, words crafted to height to fight for what we believe in - to sculpt a better world. The pen is mightier than the sword. Our words can keep us fighting the good fight.

What was the most memorable aspect of working toward this competition and Poetry Out Loud? Looking through the eyes of these poets and seeing how they saw the world. It gives me a new perspective on life and the way that humanity has formed over the years. Growing up, I saw the world in such a black and white way. I was brought up in an incredibly small town in the North East of England, and I wasn't brought up seeing a lot of people who weren't like me. From learning of the perspectives of people who may be a different ethnicity than me and have been through completely shattering experiences, it has shown me that I must be an advocate and I must continue to educate myself.

What interests you about poetry and the arts? Fewer than 7% of Americans polled in 2012 that they had read a piece of poetry. However, we use poetry in our daily lives. Think of all the great poetical lines you have heard in your life: â€˜Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Do not go gentle into that good night. To be or not to be, that is the question. We are being programmed into consuming fast food language and we are becoming overwhelmed with its venue - tv, movies, music, video games, sports and the Internet. Poetry can help us slow down and reflect and relish our language, our words. Poetry is used at milestones of living - birth, marriage, and death. I'm interested in increasing the 7 percent.

Has this experience had an impact on other aspects of your life? How?

This experience has had an impact on other aspects of my life by making me become an activist and advocate for those who live on the margins. While reading and learning about America, I Sing You Back, I can now see how important it is for me to join others

to voice my concern for the rights of Native Americans and the rights of their land. I feel a responsibility using my privilege and my pen as a writer to show others that being silent is driving us to complacency.

Do you participate in other extracurricular activities? Share them with us. I participate in the Tractor Shed Theatre at Saint Stephens High School led by Molly Rice as an actor, singer, and writer. I have acted in Antigone, I Never Saw Another Butterfly and Peter/Wendy. I also do civic engagement work which has included me working with Catawba Valley Behavioral Healthcare to stop the stigma against mental health, and Catawba Regional Hospice torch-bearing the life stories of those facing death. Our original work has gained us national awards for civic engagement.

What are some of your favorite things to do? I have devoted my life to the Tractor Shed Theatre which is mainly what I love to do. I love bringing to life the creative visions of our director and cast. We are empowered to create meaningful art together. I have been writing poetry since I was at least twelve years old and I've moved into more of a place of spoken word. I am also in musical theatre-which is an extension of the Tractor Shed Theatre. I am an LGBTQ+ advocate and I fight for women's rights, marriage equality, Black Lives Matter and the ability to show that we as human beings can be better. We can strive for a better tomorrow and a future with civil rights being the main part of our society. I love to appreciate the “otherness of others”.

What are your aspirations for the future? I wish to earn my bachelors degree in English literature, publish a chapbook or full manuscript of poetry and perform spoken word in venues across the states. I also wish to travel the world and discover the stories of incredible people. I’d also like to help others find their voice and archive it as “ars longa vita brevis”. Art is long and life is short.

Top Seven in the state of NC for poetry recitation.

Oliviaâ€™s support team at the state-level.

#Theatreinourschools Project: Read an article quoting Mrs. Rice regarding the importance of the arts in schools

March is Theatre in our Schools month. To celebrate the arts and arts’ advocacy, the Tractor Shed Theatre put together a video to highlight theatre students. The video was well-received. Have a look at our amazing video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwQYYdxPjac&t=332s

Paige Putman: I'm so blessed to be able to have a handful of these students in my class. They are truly beautiful and I can see how theater has influenced their life when they stand in front of the class, confident and strong. Thank you for dedication and love for these kids. :) They are beautiful. muchos bendiciones! TheaterImpossible: Tractor Shed Theatre looks really cool! Wish I could see it live! We're a small theatre group in western Montana, and are always looking for new talent. If you wanna check out our channel, it's a show about all the struggles we go through as a small community theatre group... Hello Ms. Rice, I wanted to let you know that I watched the video you and your class created and was floored by the quality of the video, and the creativity of each student in the Tractor Shed! Please pass this onto your students as well! Great work Tractor Shed!!!!! Matthew W. Stover, Ed.D. Superintendent Catawba County Schools

Hamilton & Herring Orthodontics March 15

Olivia H. entered Mrs. Rice from St. Stephens High School 12 Grade in our "Love Our Teacher" contest: "She has inspired me to find the importance in "The Otherness of Others". Using my words, I have discovered how important it is to be an activist for people on the margins. I never would have learned how incredibly significant it is to let my voice be the voice of others, without Mrs. Rice's guidance."

Giving G.A.L the Quilt At the event, this year’s quilt was revealed. It is created each year by volunteer Linda Henson, who uses T-shirts that are decorated by Hickory High School art students to symbolize each child in the state who died as a result of abuse or neglect by a parent or caretaker in the past year. This year’s quilt has a Noah’s Ark theme and is titled “Fleeing the Storm.” Each year, the previous winner of the Hancock-Settlemyre Award decides where the quilt will be displayed during the next year. Molly Rice, theater teacher at St. Stephens High School and director of the school’s Tractor Shed Theatre, chose the Guardian Ad Litem program to display the quilt.

Read full article here:

http://www.hickoryrecord.com/news/hancock-settlemyre-award-presented/article_4c223 e52-2880-5fed-b1f3-88088ec50983.html

The Adventures of Beekle the Unimaginary Friend Spring Play Production embarked on an original production of the much-loved childrenâ€™s book written by Dan Santat. We created it for the First Graders who were reading the book in the Little Read project. The play was very creative and included over 20 handmade puppets to help bring the images in the book to life.

See the photos and videos of Beekle: https://tstphotography.smugmug.com/The-Adventures-of-Beekle-the-Unimaginary-Friend

Drama Workshops with the First Graders of Oakwood Elementary

I worked hard advocating a bill HB13 to help save the arts and PE in NC public schools. Currently, Hickory City Schools do not have theatre arts in their elementary schools. Spring Play Production decided that not only would we create an original play for these students to see but also that we would provide them drama workshops.

See our fun photos of our session here: https://goo.gl/photos/oPguBskALkHzMtcv7 Watch the kids in action here: https://goo.gl/photos/Z3gGDSUcvDkM1gCB9

Seniors 2017

Carsonâ€‹ was the Tractor Shed Theatreâ€™s seventh student accepted into the prestigious School of the Arts. Phillip Atkins, Sydney Shepard, and Ruby Osorio attended and graduated from the high school drama program at UNCSA. Sydney Shepard graduated the undergrad program for acting, Andrew Licout graduated from the Design and Production program for Scenic Design, Mackenize Patton was accepted into the Wig/Make-up program for undergraduate studies. And Carson Gantt is the seventh student to be accepted. Carson will study Stage Management this fall. Carson was awarded the senior Theatre Arts Department Award and a Tractor Shed Theatre Scholarship.

Kariey Smith was accepted into the acting program at Greensboro College. Kariey received a hefty half-tuition scholarship for acting! Kariey was also the first to receive the new â€œAmelia Loweâ€? Scholarship. The Amelia Lowe Award was presented at senior awards day and will be given each year to an outstanding theatre student. Amelia Lowe was an alumni of the Tractor Shed theatre Program.

Addie Ocasio also received a Tractor Shed Theatre Scholarship for her studies in technical theatre at Lenoir-Rhyne University. Addie wants to minor in tech and become a Nurse.

Olivia Howard will Attend Catawba Valley Community College to start her career studying Creative Writing especially poetry. CVCC has some Fine NC writers as professors.

Jackson Shoe will also attend CVCC to pursue his education and transfer to an university. Jackson would like to further his passion in entertainment with a focus on comedy.

Musical Theatre Class Nine young ladies turned this yearâ€™s Musical Theatre Revue into girl power! They worked hard on solos, duets, group songs, and monologues. We sold out to a fun audience. Some of these ladies had never performed on stage before. Super proud of their work.

Top (L to R): Kariey, Nora, Natalie, Franny, bottom (L to R) Gourni, Addi, Olivia, Melani, & Kayla Photos and Film Coming Soon:

https://tstphotography.smugmug.com/Musical-Theatre-Revue

Spring Production

Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: 30 Neo Futurist Plays in 60 minutes by Greg Allen Published by Playscripts, New York What a fun way to end our spring semester by choosing this honest, fast, and short show. We loved all becoming Neo-Futurists. The students especially with the heavy help of an amazing stage manager, Carson Gantt, worked hard in dramaturgy, props,

set design and crew, lights, sound, technology, public relations and graphic design, and the sheer organization and teamwork to pull off 30 plays in 60 minutes! The pre-show party touted fun and giant games in Uno, Connect Four, Twister, Flickin Chicken, Ring

Toss, Air Hockey, Corn Hole, Checkers, and Tic-Tac-Toe. The party goers brought in a party favor depending on the day of the show - whistle Wednesday, Top Thursday, Finger Puppet Friday, Skateboard Saturday, or Stamper Sunday. The party started the show. Once inside the theatre, seniors took over. Each night a different senior explained the how the show works and ended the show with curtain call and their favorite song. A sports clock counted down from 60 mins and we raced the clock to perform 60 comedic, philosophical, poetical, dramatic, experimental, and meaningful well-structured plays.

First Talk with Hal Rowe #TMLMTBGB (Carson, Kariey, & Addie on the air!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bncTis9ADIM&feature=youtu.be

View Photos & Film here of TML: https://tstphotography.smugmug.com/TMLMTBGB Watch fun Promotional Video here: https://tstphotography.smugmug.com/organize/TMLMTBGB/TML-posters/i-jmGVt4n

Tractor Shed Theatre hits the accelerator in spring's last performance ● John Bailey

● Jun 8, 2017 Updated 13 hrs ago

View Gallery of John Bailey Photos here: :https://tstphotography.smugmug.com/TMLMTBGB/John-Bailey-Photos-of-TML/i-thFvSNk JOHN BAILEY/HICKORY DAILY RECORD: St. Stephens High senior Kariey Smith performs in play five, "Ten Years... and Six Months" of the Tractor Shed Theatre's spring production of "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind." JOHN BAILEY/HICKORY DAILY RECORD: Oliver Leonardo performs play three, "Henry VI, Act IV, Scene II, Line 86" during St. Stephens High Tractor Shed Theatre's spring production. JOHN BAILEY/HICKORY DAILY RECORD: St. Stephens High's Olivia Howard performs, play 13: "An Apology" as part of the Tractor Shed Theatre's final spring production, performing 30 plays in 60 minutes.

JOHN BAILEY/HICKORY DAILY RECORD: Coleson Berlin and Jackson Shoe perform, play 15 - "Love, Jackson" during the St. Stephens Tractor Shed Theatre's production of "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind." JOHN BAILEY/HICKORY DAILY RECORD: David Rubino and Amelia Hawn perform, "Voices of Walter Schuman" in St. Stephens High's Tractor Shed Theatre production of "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind."

HICKORY – St. Stephens High School’s Tractor Shed Theatre Company accomplished a nearly impossible task Sunday. It wrapped up its spring performance schedule with “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind,” 30 plays in 60 minutes. Theatre arts teacher Molly Rice said she and her students wanted to do something fun at the end of the year after the serious work the group did, especially with its civic engagement projects. “I looked at my cast, and I had a lot of kids who had never acted before and thought the best way to start off is they get to be themselves,” Rice said. Each short play in “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind” is honed by the ensemble and randomly collaged with 29 other plays through high-energy audience participation, creating one-of-kind living newspaper collages of the comic and tragic, the political and personal, and the visceral and experimental, according to a Tractor Shed Theatre’s release. The production is an original concept by Greg Allen and written by the New York Neo-Futurists and opened in 1988. “It’s super high energy, and it’s kind of improv but not really,” St. Stephens junior David Rubino said. “Stuff can happen with 30 plays, so it’s just really fun.”

Rice explained before the final performance Sunday, the actors use their own names and react as they would in each one of the plays. There were 90 plays in the production package Tractor Theatre Shed received from Playscripts publishing. The students had to trim down the list from there to get to the 30 possible plays. The group also did random casting with the students and interchangeable roles. Rice said it was a “fun way” to send off her seniors. “Because we were looking for a comedy, we weren’t sold on this when we started with it because it was philosophical, sometimes serious, sometimes experimental,” she said. “We decided after reading it, we found ourselves asking what does this mean. They didn’t know who was Rodney King for example.” The students ended up doing research on several plays. Carson Gantt was the stage manager for the production and is a senior who plans on attending the UNC School of the Arts. The final performance of the final play she was involved in with the Tractor Shed Theatre Company was emotional. “It’s really hard to let it go. This has been a huge part of my life, and I think I wouldn’t stand a chance of going to a school of the arts, I wouldn’t even know what I wanted to do if I didn’t have this experience here,” Gantt said. She said she learned more about being confident, being patient and accepting others for who they are because of her time in theater.

Fellow senior, Kariey Smith plans to pursue acting at Greensboro College and said her time with Tractor Shed changed her life as well. “I am a better person. Throughout my time in elementary school I was bullied because I have cerebral palsy,” Smith said. “Theater has really helped me grow and made me more proud of who I am with my cerebral palsy. The art of theater is what I really love. Because of it, I’m a well rounded artist. I’m more than just a student who fills in bubbles on a test.” Her advice to incoming freshmen is to not let others “stomp on your own beliefs.” “Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something,” Smith said. Both David Rubino and Anthony Badillo were apprehensive and excited about the idea of 30 plays in 60 minutes. Badillo admitted he wasn’t onboard at first with the idea of trying to prepare 30 plays for a production. “The play overall for me is very energetic, lots of movement and at the same time you have to think,” Badillo said. “It’s just a really fun show. You’re going to laugh, going to think.” Rubino will be finishing school early next fall, so he got to see a review of his journey with the theater group during senior night of the production. “I got to see the video of my audition for my first spring production and saw who I was and who I am now, and it’s just this vast change over the three years and all of that is because of the Tractor Shed,” Rubino said.

He and the rest of the Tractor Shed Theatre cast completed their final spring performance with just over 4 minutes to spare. For more information about the St. Stephens High Tractor Shed Theatre group, visit catawbaschools.net/ststephenshs. Kudos for TMLMTBGB From previous Arndt drama teacher, Jackie Flannigan: So I just want to publicly gush about you for a moment.

Throughout the years, when I would visit The Tractor Shed, I would have multiple students tell me how grateful they are for the experience of your class. How grateful they are for the arts, and, essentially, you.

You're honest, warm, nurturing, ambitious, and creative. You create this space that pushes students past what's expected. You take what they're naturally geared towards and you teach them how to hone it. You gift them with discipline and show them how to honor themselves.

Going to their performances I get to see snapshots of how much they've grown as actors and people ( self-confidence, self-awareness, etc). Hearing them talk about their futures, worries, and hopes before and after the show I can see, yet again how they've grown.

You give them such a great place to grow up.

From Mrs. Kipp: Dear Molly and cast, I always thoroughly enjoy whatever you present to the public. The kids amaze me with how much they have to memorize , how well they preform on their small stage and after their play I drive home thinking " Wow!, man they were terrific." I've never been disappointed but Friday night presentation

( I'm not looking up the proper title of the lightbulb plays) was the first for seeing how talented you each were being yourself. I Don't know if I said that well enough. I saw it as you being natural, being yourself , dressing as you do daily, expressing your self more naturally and it made you kids just pop with talent . In some of you ,I won't say who, I saw a maturity and blooming that threatre brought out in you since you started at SSHS. I wish the Seniors all the best and the rest of you I hope to sub for you again at SSHS. On Sat, Jun 3, 2017 at 1:40 PM Tammy Cordeiro wrote: Bella loved it! I have to admit when I first told her we were going, she was way less than impressed, but then she had a blast! Kudos to Molly and the TST! It's hard to create entertainment that impressed appealing to the 9-12 age group AND their 40 something moms! On Jun 3, 2017 11:39 AM, "Pamela Kiel" wrote: Last night, I took my son Luke to see TST's spring production. I wasn't sure what to expect, although the reviews promised it would be entertaining. They were spot on! It's an outstanding production fast-paced, energetic, and extremely clever. It's not one of those plays that only an English or Drama teacher can enjoy (and we all know those plays exist); it's an experience everyone can enjoy. Luke and Tammy Cordeiro's daughter Bella laughed as much as we did. Honestly, it's the best 90 minutes I've spent in a very long time, and I'm sure the rest of the audience would say the same. (If the idea of 30 "plays" in 60 minutes seems overwhelming, think of them rather as short unconnected episodes or scenes - none of them run more than 3-4 minutes, some are as brief as a minute, and all of them are witty). If you have the chance to see it, you won't regret it! From student Leah Brooks: Hi Mrs. Rice, I just wanted to tell you how FANTASTIC the show was tonight!! Not only was I laughing, I was agreeing, I was scared, I was smiling, and I was feeling. Your actors were excellent and I absolutely loved it; one of my favorite Tractor Shed shows I have seen. I am so glad you brought this crazy show to Hickory and I am so glad I got to see it opening night!! Congrats to the cast, crew, and incredible director (of course). Break a leg on the rest of the run! Brava!!!

From Diane Gantt: This is a great show! Unlike anything else I have ever seen the Tractor Shed!

We went opening night. It is fun, funny, thought provoking, unique, and high energy. 30 plays in 60 minutes! Please come out and support this hard-working group of students and our Theatre program!

From Student Ashley Yang: Hello Tractor Shed! I would just like to inform you guys that my friends and I truly enjoyed the show Thursday night! It was amazing!!! You guys all did a phenomenal job! One of my friend(someone who didn't know SSHS at all) also texted me this right after the show: "They did a EGGcellent job. I really did enjoy the play and the actors/actresses were all amazing. I wouldn't be mad even if I spent $15 on this play. It was so worth it! They deserve a award for that play. It was funny and entertaining. Definitely wasn't disappointed!"