An Introduction to Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative art form which combines words, voice, movement and visual elements to express meaning. The field of theatre encompasses not only live improvised and scripted work, but also dramatic forms such as film, television and other electronic media.

Theatre work provides a vehicle for students to reflect on important aspects of life, in the process developing their sensitivity to and deepening their understandings of others’ points of view. The broad, worldwide base of theatrical literature or repertoire ranges from classical forms such as Japanese Kabuki and Shakespeare, to folk forms such as traditional puppetry, to contemporary forms such as animated cartoons and movies. Quality theatre education is similarly broad-based, extending beyond the teaching of acting to develop students’ abilities in areas ranging from technical theatre to directing, and from researching the cultural and historical context of repertoire to creating their own improvised or scripted works.

Theatre is an integral part of education as well as the performing arts so the foundation for theatre begins at birth as children develop personal communication skills. Parents and preschool and elementary teachers should encourage imaginative play and role-playing, both for their own sake and as important components of the learning process across the curriculum.

All students should study creative writing, improvising and writing scripts; expressive public speaking, media literacy, theatrical production and interpretation; and other key communication skills as part of their basic curriculum, and should deepen and apply these skills in formal theatre experiences under the guidance of expert theatre teachers. Secondary schools should incorporate theatre courses into their required language arts sequence, and also offer sequential elective courses in areas such as acting, technical theatre, script writing,

animation and video/film.