Theatre without Borders

Theatre at Mountain View is quite different in the way that it welcomes diversity and works with students to develop talent or interest in acting.  Students are greatly helped in learning English by the use of dialogues with each other. Our program is called Theatre Without Borders for a number of reasons; We have students from over 10 different countries and we break down the walls of fear by creating confidence.  We can grow in our abilities through the trust of community.  We have a good audience that helps elevate actors with their confidence and teachers that help them prepare for the act by involving them and working diligently to support them with outside mentors from the larger community. We are not limited by our small auditorium that has much the same appearance for nearly 100 years since it was built in the 1930s. Being a small space for Theatre at our Mountain View doesn’t show that it is lacking something.  Instead, our actors and students at Mountain View make that space filled with their presence that brings a good show alive to the audience.

Here are some perspectives shared after the show 

Teacher- “As a teacher, I felt a sense of pride and happiness for my students who were doing so well on stage. It is always a treat to take a break from the normal school day to enjoy a special event like a student theater production.“

Teacher: “I was proud to see a few of my students on stage performing.”

Student: I was excited because I had new classmates to teach the basics of theater to and explain how it works. I am very happy with the result and the level of commitment of all the members, they did an excellent job of which I am very proud. Thanks to our teachers who taught us everything we demonstrated in our play.

Student- “I was nervous and excited at the same time. The auditorium was full with many people. It made me feel nervous at first and then it gave me energy and motivation to perform well. I played a main character and I had only 10 days to prepare because it was a last minute request. I said yes to the role because I was needed and the show would not have happened without that role filled. This was a good lesson for me. It showed very powerfully to me and others that each of us are needed; we all have a presence that matters.“

Student- “it was cool, my favorite part was when Dracula was biting the actors for blood then how the nurses came out and tried helping but didn’t know what was going on. It reminded me kind of of the vampire diaries.”

Student- “I was a wife and sister. The play gave me confidence in English and I had fun with my friends.“

Student- “After watching the play at school, I felt really happy and laughed a lot. The actors were so funny and did a great job making everyone laugh. The jokes and funny scenes made the play exciting and entertaining. I like how the characters acted silly and made the story so fun to watch. It was a great way to spend time and I enjoyed it! ”

Student- “I think this theatre experience was interesting and different for us students. For me it would be like a little break to laugh and not be boring.”

Student-“Even though I was not able to participate, I think having theatre at school helps everyone get more involved.”

Student- “nervioso, feliz…New and good experience”.

Student- “I didn’t know much of the story before watching the play so I had no knowledge of what the play was about.  All I knew was dracula was associated with a vampire but didn’t know why until … I found out it was a story about relationships and trust.  Now I know its a story from Europe written in 1924 about an old man who has a thing for young girls blood. 

 The students who played as the actors in this play were still learning English. I couldn’t help but find it funny how during some scenes in the act the cutaway music was so out of pocket which made me laugh. Also how they were being kids and having fun with their assignment and probably knew some people would judge or criticize them but still didn’t care so I respect them.

Dracula, the main character, caught my attention because I know the student who was playing as Dracula. He’s actually one of my friends at MV. The role Dracula was also the most entertaining and funniest to watch because the scripted interactions Dracula would have with the other actors.”

Survey Results

90 % of students and teachers who responded to our survey said they were involved in the Theatre production directly in some way.  50% reported being part of the live audience, 25% were playing a character on stage,  10% were members of the stage crew who also shared talents as artistic support, 5% gave technical support and of the 10% who reported that they did not attend they all expressed interest in seeing the recording.  The auditorium was full of school and community members who all thoroughly enjoyed the energy of the show.