{"id":77447,"date":"2019-11-08T10:18:10","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T15:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=77447"},"modified":"2022-09-29T11:37:31","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T15:37:31","slug":"dramatic-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2019\/11\/08\/dramatic-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Dramatic performance"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Wright State grad Sean Jeffries taught theatre in China for two years.<\/p><\/div>\n

When Wright State University theatre<\/a> alumnus Sean Jeffries takes his show on the road, he does it in a big way.<\/p>\n

Jeffries spent two years in China teaching theatre to elementary and high school students after graduating from Wright State in 2017. He served as a drama teacher with Enreach Education in Ningbo, a major port and industrial hub south of Shanghai.<\/p>\n

\u201cI initially applied and thought that I would never hear back from them,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI thought, \u2018This is China. Why would they possibly want a simple Ohio country boy like myself?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Jeffries heard back in a week and after a brief Skype interview was offered the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was initially hesitant about the idea of living and working abroad,\u201d he said. \u201cHowever, after talking it through with my parents, we decided that it was a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I shouldn\u2019t let pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his first year in China, Jeffries worked as a drama teacher, teaching acting, theatrical design and theatrical appreciation to students ages 4 to 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith my younger students, I had to work hard to help the students gain the confidence to perform in front of an audience, as most of them had never experienced anything like that before,\u201d he said. \u201cHowever, once they had gained the confidence, they were very optimistic and hardworking kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, Jeffries worked at the Limai Chinese American International High School in Beijing, teaching acting and theatre history, appreciation and design. He also taught a course on the theatrical works of Arthur Miller that culminated in a full-scale student production of Miller\u2019s \u201cThe Crucible.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his older high school students, he spent a lot of time explaining the practical skills gained from participating in theatre. The students were very focused on attending colleges abroad in America or England and wanted to know how the classes would prepare them for their college experiences.<\/p>\n

Jeffries said the biggest challenge for him was overcoming the language barrier.<\/p>\n

\u201cDealing with young students that spoke Mandarin and possessed limited experience with English was quite difficult,\u201d he said. \u201cI had to rely heavily on facial expression and movement to get the younger students to understand the basics of acting.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his time in China, Jeffries visited The Great Wall, the Summer Palace and Tiananmen Square in Beijing and other historic sites. He also became involved with the Beijing Playhouse, a theatre organization for English-speakers living in Beijing. He served as the assistant artistic director for the fall 2018 season, which featured \u201cA Gift to Remember\u201d by Joseph Robinette and \u201cCosi e\u201d by Luigi Pirandello, in which Jeffries also performed.<\/p>\n

Jeffries grew up in the rural town of Londonderry near Chillicothe, Ohio. He performed his first show as a sixth grader when he was cast as an ensemble member in a high school production of \u201cThe Sound of Music.\u201d During his senior year at Southeastern Local High School in Chillicothe, he played Daddy Warbucks in the school\u2019s production of \u201cAnnie\u201d and assistant directed \u201cThe Trouble with Summer People.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating in 2013, Jeffries decided to pursue theatre in college, focusing on theatrical directing and theatrical education.<\/p>\n

\u201cI researched a lot of Ohio-area schools and was very impressed by Wright State\u2019s theatre programs and initiatives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jeffries says Wright State provided him with numerous opportunities to experiment, learn and succeed. In addition to being involved with theatre, he was a resident assistant in the Woods and Honors housing communities, an intern in the English and Creative Writing programs and a member of Troupe, an improvisational comedy group.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough these experiences I feel that I gained the practical, business and creative skills to achieve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At Wright State Jeffries directed seven self-written productions as well as \u201cSteel Magnolias,\u201d \u201cFavors,\u201d \u201cThe Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged,\u201d \u201cWar Brides\u201d and \u201cThe Importance of Being Earnest.\u201d He also performed in the ensemble of \u201cPirates of Penzance\u201d and in two Jubilee Student Directing Lab shows.<\/p>\n

W. Stuart McDowell, artistic director of the Department of Theatre, Dance and Motion Pictures<\/a>, said Jeffries was one of those special students who come to college filled with ideas and passion for life.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a real self-starter, one who has initiative and takes advantage of every opportunity offered to him,\u201d said McDowell. \u201cI\u2019m so happy to see Sean move out successfully into the world because he has so much to offer, as well as a positive worldview that\u2019s infectious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeffries returned to the United States from China in late July after living and working abroad for two years. He came home to be closer to family and friends and to marry his fianc\u00e9e, whom he met when he was abroad.<\/p>\n

Jeffries now works as the K\u20138 drama teacher at SW Snowden Schools in Aurora, North Carolina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After graduating from Wright State’s Theatre Program, Sean Jeffries taught drama and worked on professional productions in China for two years. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":77459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4859,725,747,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-fine-and-performing-arts","category-home-news-sidebar","category-liberal-arts","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77447"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77479,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77447\/revisions\/77479"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}