Starting Stories

After having completely exhausted the work of Oedipus through performances, masks, and discussions we decided to move on to explore another aspect of theatre. And so storytelling was next on the list. Each student was asked to bring in either a foreign fable, folktale, or fairytale so that we could delve into other cultures as IB is meant for students to attain this international aspect. As we were divided into various groups, I decided to work with different students than those that I had generally gravitated towards. When we got into our groups, we started sharing the different folktales that we had prepared and finally came to the decision to choose this folktale about a boy who had this magical blanket and magical stick. Once the decision was made, I began to ask the other members of the group for input on how to create our storytelling performance. These particular students didn't appear to be completely enthused by the assignment and thus displayed indifference towards the performance. Because of this, I ultimately planned the performance in regards to the number of scenes that we would perform as well as which scenes to actually perform.

In having to work with such students, it helped me realize that I won't always necessarily be paired with those who share the same views and work ethics as myself. This allowed me to realize that oftentimes, things don't work out as we plan or anticipate in our heads. And so I understood that in order to make this assignment and experience worthwhile, I needed to make the best out of this situation regardless of the challenges that I faced.