Yesterday I received production photos of my devising project at Hendrix College,  *Hope for the Honeybees*.  For four weeks in September, Hendrix theatre students and I devised this family-friendly play exploring the issue of disappearing honeybees for Hendrix’s Family Day.  The play centered on four child protagonists who discover a renegade flower in a post-honeybee world.  Without any prior knowledge of “flowers,” the kids launch an investigation through which they discover a cover-up that disrupts their entire understanding of their place in society and the concepts of “reality” and “truth.”  Even with only four weeks to devise and produce an entire production, this project was by far my easiest devising experience because the cast exemplified three keys to devising success—strong work ethic, positivity, and collaboration.

I have facilitated a lot of devising processes. Through these facilitating experiences, I have learned to be very transparent about the process.  I tell participants how challenging the process can be as well as how rewarding it can be.  This Hendrix cast was the most patient, diligent, and positive group of students with which I have ever devised.  They worked hard and never complained.  It was an honor to work with such a dedicated and mature group of students.  And, of course, the Hendrix staff isn’t too bad, either. It was actually humbling to collaborate with former my former professor (Danny Grace) whose work I so much admire.  He and the entire staff truly made my time at Hendrix enjoyable.  Thanks to everyone at Hendrix!

*Choosing Sides* ran at Horace Mann Middle School on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week.  We were so fortunate to get some great publicity from KTHV Channel 11 on Monday night.  And, as luck would have it, this publicity resulted in heightened interest from Mann staff.  I was thrilled that two counselors came to the show on Wednesday and want to meet with me next week to discuss follow-up activities.  In spite of this positive response, I know that the show needs additional revisions, and I look forward to making those revisions before our May run at Mann for the rest of the 7th grade class.

One of the primary revisions I want to make includes increasing the number of active exercises.  As stated in my previous *Choosing Sides* post, I played it really safe last year--relying almost entirely on the *Choosing Sides* booklet.  In this run, I added some active work as seen above.  The students were a little more unruly during this work, but I know that embodied learning strategies achieve better results because they more effectively engage emotions.  Our active work attested to this fact.

I continue to think of how we can clarify the learning objectives.  For the May run, I intend to rework the sequence of content covered and add a gender-specific component.  Additionally, I'm going to add to our set, so that it actually evolves to reflect those learning objectives.  I can't wait to test our revisions out in May.