The Rashi School | Classroom Blog

 A group of Middle School Students in grades 6-8 were able to attend the American Repetory Theater's production of "Life of Pi" recently. This production is currently in preview before it goes to its new home in New York at the Gerald Shoenfeld Theater in March 2023.  The story was adapted from the novel by Yann Martel for the stage and first opened in London and is the winner of 5 Olivier Awards (equivalent to our Tony Awards).  We were able to see it at the A.R.T. in Cambridge during its North American Debut and after the performance there was a demonstration on how they make and use the puppets for the show. "It was interesting to be able to see different elements of acting, puppetry and tech (lighting and projections) to tell the story of show.  The script was well written and it kept the audience engaged and entertained as well as kept an element of surprise all throughout the show. Not only was the puppetry demonstration interesting, but they brought life to th...

Each year the Middle School students have a Shakespeare residency that progresses through each of the grades.  The work is a collaboration between the Language Arts classes and the Theater Department.  In Grade 6, the students are introduced to Shakespeare, who he was and how his use of language is both beautiful and complex.  The students will work on monologues from various plays, giving them an introduction to the language and characters.  As they work with the monologues in both prose and poetry, they discover how the words can be taken from the page to the stage and expressed with their voices and bodies.  The 6th grade students will be participating in this residency in March. First Rehearsal for Grade 7 In Grade 7 this year, the students studied an abridged version of "Romeo and Juliet" and worked on scenes from that show.  Discovering how the charactes can come alive through the words.  The students shared these scenes this week and gave reflec...