The Making of A.B.L.E. Anthology
For the fall 2020 semester, A.B.L.E. hosted 4 ensembles for individuals ages 15 and up with Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities. Over the course of 10 rehearsals, each ensemble collaborated with a team of teaching artists and volunteer facilitators to develop 2 original stories for A.B.L.E. Anthology.
Scroll through to learn more about how we made this collection.
A.B.L.E. Boxes
To help our ensembles feel connected and engaged while working virtually, we made 63 boxes - one for each actor, facilitator, and teaching artist in our 4 ensembles.
These boxes had social stories and visual aids to explain rehearsals. There were also props, crafts, recipes, and activities to help us interact with the myths we learned from our guest artists.
In the week before our first rehearsals, teaching artists Arin, Emma, Katie, Lawrence, and Sean made personal socially-distanced deliveries to ensemble members who live in and around Chicago.
Check out the video to get a peek inside the boxes and see highlights from our drop-offs.
Guest Artists
One of the silver linings of working virtually is that we are not limited by geography. In addition to having ensemble members and volunteers from 5 different states, this semester, we also welcomed 4 guest artists from around the world to join our virtual rehearsals.
These 4 talented storytellers shared myths from West Africa, Greece, Southeast Asia, and South America. Through these myths, we saw how people around the world have used stories to explain the world around them, teach lessons, and solve big problems.
Each ensemble learned two different myths during the first half of the semester, and these served as inspiration for devising their own original stories.
Thank you to Varshini Pichemuthu and Claudia Rebolledo Sanchez from Rootprints Theatre, John Nyrere Frazier, and Myrto Papoulia for joining us from afar. Check out the video to meet our guest artists and see some of the fun we had in these story sessions.
Devising
After exploring examples of myths and basic story structure, ensembles turned their attention to making their own stories. Each ensemble developed 2 original tales.
The first week of devising centered around Theme and Characters. Actors voted for their favorite themes, and then split into groups to create characters using a series of questions to think about the characters personality traits, relationships, and what problem they are trying to overcome.
The next week, actors switched groups to devise the Setting for a story. They thought about different places where this character might feel safe or unsafe, and the various sights and sounds in these locales and created tableaux and soundscapes for their settings.
Finally, actors developed the Plot of their story and the beginning, middle, and end of the tale using improvisation games and a madlib-style version of their script.
Between rehearsals, members of all ensembles signed in for weekly Zoom dance parties every Wednesday night throughout the semester to let loose and socialize.
The Friday ensemble warms up around a campfire
A Jamboard of ideas from the Tuesday ensemble’s devising session for Mal Bublé’s setting. Ensembles were able to create and edit these collages in real time during class.
The Monday ensemble pose as supermodels.
A Jamboard of ideas from the Tuesday ensemble’s devising session for Aldis Radinaher.
A Jamboard of ideas from the Friday ensemble’s devising session for Chloe the cat.
Filming the Stories
A.B.L.E.’s teaching artists took all of the raw material that actors created during the devising process and shaped this into 8 scripts, with each actor taking on the role of storyteller for their favorite story.
During the final 3 weeks of rehearsal, each actor filmed their narration. Using the breakout room feature on Zoom, a teaching artist and facilitator was able to coach an actor through their 15 minute filming session, while the rest of the group played games and rehearsed their group sequences in another virtual room.
Actors enjoyed rough cuts of their projects while filming the group sequences that you’ll see throughout each tale. Before the final week of rehearsal, each actor received a second A.B.L.E. package with activity packets and sensory objects related to their own story so they could play along.