School Blog
Insights from the team behind Appamada School
Theatre from Scratch: Something Old Becomes Something New
For students coming from conventional schools and theatre programs, how we make theatre at Appamada (formerly Skybridge) can land somewhere between confusing to intimidating. It requires a mindshift from thinking about plays as ‘movies you pretend to be in’ to ‘a living, participatory art you create.’ Last semester, I finally, finally stumbled on a way to describe our process that revealed how exciting it can be.
Crossing the Threshold: Our New Name
Our school has a new name: “Appamada.” I did a lot of research about this Pali term, which is the ancient language the Buddha taught in. We are not a Buddhist program, but I am deeply inspired by ancient words in languages like Pali and Sanskrit that have whole spiritual meanings. This is something I heard Joseph Campbell speak about, how these ancient languages have words with deep and complex meanings that we don’t have words for in English.