ISTA - International Schools Theatre Association

Parental support within the ISTA community is an intergral part of our organisation. The support of parents is both a vital and valuable component, be it as the parent of a student attending an ISTA event, or as the host of a visiting student at an event... so thank you.

To inform you a bit more, please find the Guidelines for Visiting Students document at the bottom of this page. It is important that both you and your son or daughter are aware of expectations at an ISTA event. Also included here is a letter from a ISTA parent for your interest.

Thank you for your on-going support.

Dear Mr. Clarke,

We just wanted to thank you and ISTA for an absolutely wonderful drama experience at the recent ISTA drama workshop. After two weeks, we are still hearing the refrain: "I did the wall and the wall did me, it was memory for eternity."

The theme of the workshop "walls" had the whole family thinking about all the various possibilities with both positive and negative interpretations and applications.

Following the workshop, Amelia started almost all of her conversations with friends and relatives by telling them about her drama experience at ISTA. Of course she talked about all the fun she and her new friends enjoyed, but she also related a wide array of techniques that she acquired for expressing ideas and communicating through the art of drama.

Through a workshop in Movement, Amelia said she learned new ways to incorporate movement into a concept. She also enthusiastically described an event called "shopkeeper" in her Accents Workshop, where one participant came into a store and spoke with a particular accent while the shopkeeper had to imitate that accent.

These experiences, with the added benefit of meeting children from other international schools in the region, are priceless.

Reading through the biographies of the workshop leaders, we were all impressed by their backgrounds and experience. The leaders demonstrated at the final workshop presentation that they were very experienced, but it was also evident that they love working with children. I must admit that I asked my daughter to explain the meaning of some of the performances, but the children were really brilliant. To actors and directors alike: Bravo!

We are sure that this drama experience will stay with Amelia for an eternity as the ISTA song maintains and that she will be able to apply the lessons of a "wall" to experiences throughout her life.

We can't thank you enough for coordinating and ISTA, for it's support for our children at this event!

Sincerely,
Peggy, Ken and Amelia Wills
November 18, 2006