Exploring Theatre And Education

Based on a conference held in 1978 by Riverside Studios.

Exploring Theatre focuses on the development of the total student, which includes developing personal resources, self-confidence, the ability to work well with others, and a life-long appreciation of theater; learning to bolster self-concepts, build an ensemble, observe people and places more closely, move expressively, and become more aware of the senses; learning basic acting skills such as improvisation, characterization, role preparation, and stage movement; exploring a range of career or avocational opportunities in theater and theater education; understanding the various aspects of the production process; and studying special topics such as storytelling, clowning, oral interpretation, readers theater, and puppetry. This text is an ideal introductory theater text for both middle and high school. - Publisher.

Exploring Theatre focuses on the development of the total student, which includes developing personal resources, self-confidence, the ability to work well with others, and a life-long appreciation of theater; learning to bolster self-concepts, build an ensemble, observe people and places more closely, move expressively, and become more aware of the senses; learning basic acting skills such as improvisation, characterization, role preparation, and stage movement; exploring a range of career or avocational opportunities in theater and theater education; understanding the various aspects of the production process; and studying special topics such as storytelling, clowning, oral interpretation, readers theater, and puppetry. This text is an ideal introductory theater text for both middle and high school. - Publisher.

Exploring Theatre focuses on the development of the total student, which includes developing personal resources, self-confidence, the ability to work well with others, and a life-long appreciation of theater; learning to bolster self-concepts, build an ensemble, observe people and places more closely, move expressively, and become more aware of the senses; learning basic acting skills such as improvisation, characterization, role preparation, and stage movement; exploring a range of career or avocational opportunities in theater and theater education; understanding the various aspects of the production process; and studying special topics such as storytelling, clowning, oral interpretation, readers theater, and puppetry. This text is an ideal introductory theater text for both middle and high school.

In the first conceptual overview of current practices and debates in theatre education, Helen Nicholson explores the contribution that professional theatre practitioners make to the education of young people. She maps the environments in which theatre and learning meet, and looks at how the educational concerns and artistic inventiveness of people living in different times and places have inflected theatre and changed education. This inspiring book tells the story of ground-breaking developments of twentieth century theatre education, and explores the ways in which current theatre practitioners have upheld these radical traditions. Helen Nicholson investigates the effects on theatre education of a newly globalised economy, and asks pertinent questions such as: how can theatre education continue to encourage debates about social justice in the political landscape of the twenty-first century? How do the practices, policies and principles of theatre speak to different generations? Offering diverse illustrations of practice from around the world, Helen Nicholson draws on much personal experience and expert knowledge to demonstrate how cutting edge performance practices continue to engage young people today.

Exploring Theatre is an excellent introductory text for developing beginning theatre students and their appreciation for the theatre arts. Using Exploring Theatre, you can: Spark the creative spirit by exploring a wide range of performance skills and techniques Explore all aspects of the production process; acting, directing and producing, technical production, and set construction Provide historical and cultural perspective with Our Theatre Heritage content.

People who don’t know theatre may think the only creative artist in the field is the playwright--with actors, directors, and designers mere “interpreters” of the dramatist’s vision. Historically, however, creative mastery and power have passed through different hands. Sometimes, the playwright did the staging. In other periods, leading actors demanded plays be changed to fatten their roles. The late 19th and 20th centuries saw “the rise of the director,” in which director and playwright struggled for creative dominance. But no matter where the balance of power rested, good theatre artists of all kinds have created powerful experiences for their audience. The purpose of this volume is to bridge the interdisciplinary abyss between the study of creativity in theatre/drama and in other fields. Sharing theories, research findings, and pedagogical practices, the authors and I hope to stimulate discussion among creativity and theatre scholar/teachers, as well as multidisciplinary research. Theatre educators know from experience that performance classes enhance student creativity. This volume is the first to bring together perspectives from multiple disciplines on how drama pedagogy facilitates learning creativity. Drawing on current findings in cognitive science, as well as drama teachers’ lived experience, the contributors analyze how acting techniques train the imagination, allow students to explore alternate identities, and discover the confidence to take risks. The goal is to stimulate further multidisciplinary investigation of theatre education and creativity, with the intention of benefitting both fields.