Highlighted Play:

No Child...

Synopsis:

Teaching artist Ms. Sun embarks on a residency at Malcolm X High School in the Bronx where she intends to direct students in a production of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good. Wertenbaker’s play centers on a group of Australian convicts putting on a play; Sun’s omnipresent narrator, the school janitor, warns the audience of No Child… that they are about to witness “a play within a play within a play.” Ms. Sun strives to guide her students through a professional and enriching rehearsal process while continually questioning her students’ behaviors, the nature of her pedagogy, the direction of her career, and the education system at large. Amidst resistance, nerves, loss, and grief, Sun’s students finally grace the stage and experience the thrill of live performance.

Potential Uses:

Because Sun specifies that No Child... may be performed with anywhere between one and sixteen actors, and the majority of the play's characters are high school aged, No Child... could be performed by high school students. In a high school theatre class, No Child... could be read and explored as an introduction to ethnodrama or theatre for social justice. It could also be studied in a high school social studies, government, or civics class as a springboard for discussion about NYC's education system and the lasting impact of No Child Left Behind. There are also many potential uses for No Child... with adult audiences. The play could be performed for and analyzed by educational policymakers, particularly those who make decisions about arts education funding and learning standards. It could be performed for pre-service teachers as a tool for discussion about biases, assumptions, and expectations surrounding urban education. No Child... could also be performed for parents who are evaluating whether or not to permit their children to participate in educational theatre programming.

Discussion Questions:

• How does the play transform when it is performed by one actor versus multiple actors? Which casting choice is more effective?
• What is the role of the No Child Left Behind policy in the play No Child...?
• How is this play specific to New York City? In what ways does it reflect classrooms across America?
• How does No Child... impact your understanding of arts education?
• Aside performance skills, what other knowledge and skills do the students gain in No Child...?
• What obstacles did you observe to the execution of Our Country Is Good? Which obstacles could be remedied? Which are permanent?
• How else can we finish the sentence "no child..."?

Sample Activity:

For the high school social studies/government/civics classroom:

• After reading the play, students are given a brief overview of the tenets and lasting impacts of the No Child Left Behind Act.
• Students break up into 5 small groups, and each group is assigned a different perspective to take: that of classroom teachers, principals/administration, teaching artists/enrichment teachers, students, and parents. Students assess how No Child Left Behind would have affected each of these groups.
• Each group identifies a scene in No Child... which depicts the influence of No Child Left Behind on that particular perspective. Small groups contruct tableaux to represent these scenes. They may add characters who are related to the scene but are not necessarily shown onstage.
• Small groups share out their tableaux one at a time. Their classmates guess which scene is depicted. Classmates also analyze how each tableau relates to the No Child Left Behind policy.