Rahmat Prayuda from Indonesia provides a set of steps and pointers to help you plan, organise and deliver a school show

During our annual school show we brought together 300 students from levels 1-2 to perform and act on stage.  The show took six months of preparation and the final show lasted 2 hours with no interval and was broken down into four parts.

Step 1

The teacher introduced the overall theme of the story and broke this down into four segments.  Following this, each segment was analysed to determine which dancers, singers and vocalists were required.

Step 2

Then we created a script and our language teachers offered their expertise during this step. 

Step 3

The four sections were defined as follows:

Part 1: A story about how much children loved their parents

Part 2: A story about how a mother loves her children

Part 3: A story about how a father loves his family

Part 4: A story about how a person loves his or her country

Clearly the overarching theme is love and appreciation at all levels of society. 

Step 4

This step involved taking a step and figuring out the dance sequences, the vocal requirements and actors.  We also incorporated technology to enhance the drama of the scene by recording student voices on GarageBand and including various sound effects.  Around 30 costumes were designed for the performers and the children also had the opportunity to create their own designs.

Step 5

The teachers helped create the stage design and produce the various props.  We then started rehearsing with the students which was around three months before the opening of the show.  Rehearsals were held after school.

Stage 6

Once the performance is polished and ready to deliver to an audience we performed a full dress rehearsal to iron out any final issues and then…show time!

Delivering a School Show: Final Pointers

Every student should perform

Bring the best out of every student give his or her talent

Checklist, document and refine everything to stay on top of the workload

Enjoy the show!