Drama Workshop and drama storage area

If you know me, you know this was my favorite part of the tour! I would LOVE to do some creative drama teaching in a space like this! It is SO inspiring!! Terry, the mural artist, is also the drama teacher, so her classroom is also a work of art!

This large space (which was once two classrooms - the Education Hall Makeover included taking down some walls to combine two smaller classrooms for a bigger space), has three separate sections - two areas for acting out stories and a hidden area behind the curtain for storage of props, costumes, backdrops, scripts, and more! Again, my photos do not do this space justice.

One side of the drama room is this cozy interior, currently set with a table for the banquet for retelling the story of when Joseph entertained his brothers in Egypt. Bags of "grain" are stacked in the lower left corner in the picture. Walls are painted on dropcloths that have been sewn together. Note how the wall with the fireplace seems to glow - that is because there is a light turned on in the area behind that painted tarp wall. See behind the curtain below.

Pull back the tarp wall, and look! A whole big behind the scenes (literally) storage space that is just as amazing as the workshop itself!

Years of collecting costumes and supplies for VBS and other programs led to a good collection even before they began Workshop Rotation Model 6+ years ago.

Inside the costume closet doors: pictures to inspire the students about how to wear and accessorize their costumes.

All the backdrops have been photographed and numbered and stored in numbered boxes. (Many backdrops are from VBS, years ago. Proof that you never should throw anything away. Tell my husband, please. )

The numbered boxes storing the rolled-up backdrops.

Props for feasts and banquets. So many things that can be used to retell so many Bible stories.

Old Sunday school maps are still useful for teaching Bible stories.

Handy storage for books with scripts and other drama activities. I see a few of my favorites!

Okay, this picture is almost the same as the first one, but I really love this space! Terry painted the scenery on tarps while they were hanging.

Another corner of the cozy drama space. Change up the props and this stone wall can be a prison or the Temple or a palace or so many other things in addition to a house. But sometimes you need outdoor spaces - turn around --- there is a whole 'nother section of the drama workshop!

Another section of the drama workshop! Note tent in  right corner behind JoHannah that can be moved around room. There are murals on the wall, and pipes for hanging other scenery (remember those backdrops in the storage space).

Note pictures around the classroom. These are scenes from Joseph's life, and the drama moved around the space for different "scenes" in his story. Terry is about to show me what is behind another curtain wall.

This classroom has been Terry's classroom for many many years (before they started Workshop Rotation Model). Her tradition was to decoupage a photo of each student on the wall. She was not allowed to repaint this wall when they did the classroom makeover.  Grown-up former students visit the classroom still to see their pictures on the wall!

There are A LOT of memories on this wall!

There are two camel hats in the classroom, available for students who don't want to say anything in the drama. I should have asked Terry to model it for us; here is a link to a hat that looks similar.

The classroom space is very flexible, with a variety of scenery painted on the walls, plus pipes to hang tarps and sheets with scenery. Note that Terry even painted the ceiling!!

And hidden on the wall behind another curtain: a mural Terry painted in her classroom pre-rotation. With student handprints - another precious memory wall that cannot be painted over.

The tent. Big pieces of fabric over a pvc pipe frame. It can be moved to other parts of the classroom if necessary.

A closer look at pipes for hanging curtains, which are tarps or sheets with big grommets and are hung using shower curtain rings. (Click this picture, and the others, to enlarge for a closer look.)

For the story of Paul in prison, one side of this display board had lines that looked like prison bars. The other side was a reminder to those in prison to act accordingly! The children who were the prisoners were actually sitting outside this doorway in the hall. (Behind JoHannah you see some of the hallway mural with Paul's stories.)