Drama Teachers: Theatre is Community

Episode 165: Drama Teachers: Theatre is community. Michael Wehrli thought he was going to be an actor.  Then he thought he would be a director.  And finally found a love for teaching and educational theatre - Theatre is process. Theatre is collaboration. Theatre is community building. There is nothing better than the ability to give somebody a community and the ability to provide tools for a student to build their own community. As an example Michael talks about creating a show in which students are not along for the ride in putting on a play, they are active participants in the process. Show Notes Theater Company  - www.newmoonproductions.org Personal – www.michaelwehrli.com We Open Tomorrow Night Episode Transcript Welcome to TFP – The Theatrefolk Podcast – the place to be for Drama teachers, Drama students, and Theatre educators everywhere. I’m Lindsay Price, resident playwright for Theatrefolk. Hello. Hello! I hope you're well. Thanks for listening! This is Episode 165. You can find any links to this episode in the show notes which are at Theatrefolk.com/episode165. All right, my friends. Today, today, we’re going to talk about… I was going to say favorite buzzword. But then, when I formed the word “buzzword” in my head, I’m like, “Well, that’s not my buzzword,” because I think “buzzword” and I think negative marketing connotation and that’s not what I mean at all because buzzwords are slick. I think we can share with one another that I am not a slick person unless there is an oil spill in which case I would be the one who would slick into it. Of course, right? My world is filled with all that kind of slick. I’m talking about a word that I like to hang my hat on, that I like to use, that when I think of this word, the images that come to my mind give me all the warm feels. I think it’s just wonderful and I really think it’s important to use in an educational realm – an educational theatre realm – and that word is “community.” I love the title of this particular podcast. “Theatre is Community.” I love thinking of a production, of a drama club, of a drama class as a community. Our guest today, Michael Wehrli, also loves the word community. When he creates work with students, that’s his keyword or hat-hanging word or his word of the day. You know, the brain goes in weird places. Does Sesame Street still do a word of the day or was it a letter of the day? Oh, you know, maybe I’m just too old to remember the structure of Sesame Street. Let’s go with that one. Too old! Anyway, podcast and community, let’s get to it! LINDSAY: All right, I am talking to Michael Wehrli. Hello, Michael! MICHAEL: Hello, Lindsay! LINDSAY: How’s it going? MICHAEL: All is well. All is well. LINDSAY: Excellent! Tell everybody where in the world you are. MICHAEL: Portland, Oregon! LINDSAY: I love Portland, Oregon. Organ and orligan. MICHAEL: Or again. LINDSAY: Or when the tongue just… Don’t you love it when the tongue gets tripped up? My favorite is I’m a real pro at taking two words in my head and then smashing them together to make something. MICHAEL: Lovely! I do the same thing and they come out. LINDSAY: Awesome! So, now that we’ve established all the things that we do wrong with our pronunciations, let’s start over again.