Ease the Squeeze
A New Bridgework Theater Play on Managing Pressure 

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The Problem:

Fear of tests, conflicting allegiances between friends, snow-balling homework, and unmet expectations &ldots; these kinds of pressures can build up and cause anger, depression, failure, giving up, bullying or acting out.

Some pressure comes from friends, teachers, and parents.  It can help us stay focused and improve what we do.

Other pressure comes from inside - like worrying, self-expectations, and the fear of failing.

A menu of skills and attitudes can help children managing different kinds of pressure.

 
The Solution:

Bridgework's play for children in grades 1 - 4 will teach children:

  1. Stress management - relaxation techniques, time management strategies, prioritization skills, recognizing overload.

  2. Teamwork - asking for help, offering help, accepting help, dividing up responsibilities, sources of help.
  3. Flexibility - creative thinking, adaptation, generating alternatives, forgiving self and others.

Objectives:

Participants will be:

  •  More willing to use stress management techniques

  •  More willing to ask for and accept help
  •  More confident in ability to recognize pressure overload

Synopsis of the play:

Joseph feels ready to explode.  

The more pressure he feels from teachers, parents and friends, the worse he feels.  The worse he feels, the worse he behaves.  The worse he behaves, the more pressure he gets.

The biggest pressure Joseph faces is academic.  His older sister gets straight A's.  Joseph, however, would rather face a firing squad than a math test.  At home, Joseph's sister is skilled at making him feel inadequate.  At school, Joseph takes it out on weaker kids.

Joseph's cousin, Shauna, faces a different kind of pressure.  Shauna gets squeezed by two friends who compete for Shauna's loyalty.  Shauna is so miserable that she pretends to be sick in order to avoid school.

Before Joseph and Shauna hurt themselves or someone else, they need to find a way to ease the building pressure.

They invent a variety of strategies.  Some (ignoring, lashing out) fail miserably, but others (top ten list, doing your best, asking for help, recognizing a "bomb") give the cousins some confidence that they can manage pressure.

But the squeeze escalates.  A state exam and accusations of cheating double the pressure.  Will Joseph and Shauna's new-found skills be enough to bring soaring success or will hopes explode and relationships shatter?