Comments on Trailing Spouse Blues: What's wrong with educational theatre?

This is a freaking amazing thread, Laura.Just got ...

2008-08-09T22:10:00.000-04:00

This is a freaking amazing thread, Laura.

Just got back from teaching 168 high schoolers in a summer program (Cherubs - Check it Out at http://www.northwestern.edu/nhsi/theatre_arts/index.html ) , and let me tell you: the name of the game is immersion.

I've taught technical theater electives at a few high schools and middle schools, and I have to say the kids are always on your side to learn more. If there is a roadblock coming from them, it's that they don't trust the motives of authority figures, which is a pretty simple roadblock to subvert. If a teacher demonstrates genuine excitement about a subject - which most of us are more than capable of - it NEVER fails that the kids pick up on that excitement. It draws focus.

From what I've seen, the structure of primary and secondary Education with a capital E these days is challenging. Distractions are everywhere - classes are blazingly short, filled with cell phones, and parents encourage a compression of their children's lives with AP classes and extra-curriculars. Of which theater is one, to be sure. But while this schedule takes up their whole day, I'd argue that this structure isn't really immersive - it's full of stuff, but fails entirely when it comes to having the kids, you know, engage with the material.

Theaters are actually really well equipped to provide a rich learning environment, but not in the form that we first think of - performance and talkback. That's simply asking kids to be polite, shut up for a while, and then reengage without really understanding the context of how theater gets made. The thing that kids need the most exposure to - if the goal is creating the next generation of theater appreciators - is the doing of theater - the choices that get made, and the excitement of text -> rehearsal room -> design -> stage. A small theater is a great place to learn the most basic of communication and teamwork skills.

When you immerse kids in a learning environment - with multiple teachers or even authority figures who are all committed to the idea of engaging, teaching, and pushing the student to explore the material on their own - amazing things happen. It's actually a simple equation, but one that requires too many resources for most schools to provide. But theaters CAN provide those opportunities if they were to structure their educational initiatives with some care.

Just imagine the difference between a performance and talkback where the kids show up moments before curtain and when they show up two weeks before opening.

Let's say you give a student or a small group of students an opportunity as say interns for a small theater. Don't make them do your dirty work for you like bathroom cleaning - have them help you rehearse and make their own choices as the cast and crew make their choices. Have them watch your designers as they build sets, props, hang lights, program boards and set sound levels. Clue them in on WHY you're making choices, and WHY other choices would change the show. Help them see how a big, unified production can be created by hundreds of small choices.

That is valuable training for any child. And if it makes them appreciate the work of the theater artisan, so be it.

Posted about my experience of starting the Educati...

2008-08-01T13:08:00.000-04:00

Posted about my experience of starting the Educational theater program at NYU. The first class I took was the development of new plays for young audiences.

A great book on the subject is "How Theater Educates". It is written from many Canadian artists working in Educational Theater. They are way ahead of the US. One of those artists is Maja Ardal and she says, "Children are not literal-minded as many would have us believe. They understand metaphor and they understand imagery. They understand that theatre is an experience to reflect upon, not to obey, that theatre is an imagery world of ‘what if’ and not the ‘only world’. We need to show children the messy aspects of life. As artists we are not here to answer. We are here to question, and to invite our audience to question with us."

Hi, Taiter-Tot! Hrmmm... I think there are defini...

2008-08-01T08:43:00.000-04:00

Hi, Taiter-Tot! Hrmmm... I think there are definitely foundations out there that would fund a new approach to education programs. You just have to write a great proposal. More work to develop the whole thing, but how much more valuable would a program like that be? I think you're right about society, but I also believe that while adults who don't already appreciate theatre may be a lost cause, our best course of action is to get the kids excited about it, so they'll grow up to be excited-about-theatre adults.

Unfortunately, money is what motivates action. I t...

2008-07-31T15:56:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately, money is what motivates action. I think you've offered some excellent ideas for educational programs long term (as I teenager I would have KILLED to watch a professional rehearsal), but I doubt anyone would utilize them without some type of subsidy behind it.

Our culture, as a whole, looks down upon theater in general. Somehow we need to make it more accessible to the masses.

A rating system for theater? Interesting concept. But the problem is, the people who would want/need a system like that are most likely not the people going to the theater.

ps. Will could have taken the whole thing if he'd performed as well at the beginning of the competition as he did at the end. I was sad to see him go.

Good point, Charlie. The problem is that then the...

2008-07-30T15:44:00.000-04:00

Good point, Charlie. The problem is that then the kids know what we're feeding them is "kid stuff." What if a theatre program use something similar to the (God help us) MPAA rating system? A system that explicitly spells out for parents, "This program is suitable for children over the age of X, due to strong language, stage violence, etc., etc." Do you think that would help, or just make it worse?

"My guess is that the dumbing down is because peop...

2008-07-30T15:27:00.000-04:00

"My guess is that the dumbing down is because people think kids aren't smart enough to catch on to the same things that adults think are cool. Which just isn't true."

Yes and no. I don't think it's the educators, usually, who feel they need to dumb things down. People who work in educational programs -- or really, anyone who's ever taught a class -- will usually tell you that they HAVE to shy away from anything which might raise the ire of PARENTS who don't want their kids exposed to certain elements.

Unfortunately, when you get a group of kids in a room and you're worried about their parents suing you, the subject matter available to you gets narrower and narrower.

The idea of theatre people as corrupters of youth hasn't actually gone away; it's just beneath the surface.

My guess is that the dumbing down is because peopl...

2008-07-30T12:47:00.000-04:00

My guess is that the dumbing down is because people think kids aren't smart enough to catch on to the same things that adults think are cool. Which just isn't true.

I think the "we just want money" attitude is what makes people think that educational activities wouldn't or couldn't link up with what they're already doing; it makes it something completely separate from the overall goal of the company.

Do you think some of the dumbing down is because s...

2008-07-30T11:34:00.000-04:00

Do you think some of the dumbing down is because some folks don't really want to do educational programs--they just want the money to do them?

(Which is the worst reason to have a program in the first place.)