Micronesia Up-dates: WAY Off-Loop Theatre

After an absolutely perfect visit home to Chicago, I’m back to this funny little island in the Pacific, and enjoying my students and my work twice as much as last year, now that I’m not on such a steep learning curve.

Today I started an after-school performance club with my 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students, and I have to say, I can hardly wait til next Wednesday! There is not much that you could call theatre here in Pohnpei, apart from one life-size puppet show public health produces to educate people about HIV/AIDS (though it is rather a good one). The culture is based on oral tradition, but stories are never so much as pantomimed, let alone acted in a full production. So I have the extreme pleasure of introducing acting to the students of Salapwuk.

We started with physical warm-ups, some basic stretching and an 8-count shake-out. They loved it. I mean, if you’ve ever seen a group of actors warm-up before a play, you’ll agree that it’s a pretty interesting sight; but imagine never having seen a play before, never hearing the resounding projection of a classically-trained actor or seeing the physical possibilities of a well-trained body. Then imagine a strange white lady asks you to shake your arms and legs out while counting to 8, and then pretend to chew a piece of bubble gum that grows bigger and bigger as you chew. Of course they loved it: we all looked ridiculous and no one minded a bit.
Vocal warm-ups were next: the rhythmic repetition of consonants—t, d, k, g, p, b, s, z (and because Pohnpeians have trouble with distinguishing these letters), f, v. And wrap it up with a tongue-twister: “When does the wristwatch strap shop shut? Does the wristwatch shop shut soon? Which wristwatches are Swiss wristwatches, since Swiss wristwatches work swell.” (with several explanations about the words wristwatch, strap, shop, Swiss, and swell).

But it was when I introduced a game of charades that I realized I had my work cut out for me. And I’m excited to turn these kids into actors! ;-) I had some actions written down on cards for them to try and act out for the rest of the group to guess. My first student hopped into the middle of the circle, ready to go then . . . nothing. He just stood there, not able to mime holding a hammer and driving a nail in. And that’s when I realized how very foreign the whole concept of acting is here. I got up with him, and together the group figured out that we were building a house. My co-teacher from last year was also in the room; she loves the idea of acting out stories, so she was a big help in getting the kids up and moving. The next few students did a little better, and I’m sure by the end of next week, they’ll be miming everything, probably even miming doing their homework!


I have another exciting opportunity this year to work part-time with Island Research and Education Initiative in producing culturally-relevant, bilingual educational resources and materials. Our first project is to create a set of story books based on local legends. There are social studies, environmental awareness, early phonics and reading skills materials also underway. Please visit our website islandresearch.org to learn more!