Creative Drama For The Classroom: Line Games

Pocket Lines: Pulled it Right Out of Their… Pocket The first lines acting game requires a great deal of preparation from the teacher beforehand. As the teacher, you must compile a variety of numerous different brief lines that might be

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Five Facts for Surviving in the Theatre – Do You Want a Career in the Performing Arts?

Too often those who are considering going into the theatre don’t understand the business in which they are interested. There are some common mistakes that those who are of high school and college age make. These including limiting their geographic

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Great Part-Time Theatre Jobs – Part II

Often working in the theatre means surviving in the business until you can get established and work full-time in your specific area of specialization. Not all, but many who are successful were able to keep connected with their chosen field

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Theatre Hierarchy: Who’s on First?

If you’re new to the professional theatre or to a professional theatre training program, you might not quite understand the role of each of the following: Producer Director Stage Manager Each of these people has a distinct role in the

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Tips for Directing a Farce- Fast, Clear, Clean, and Articulate Equals Funny

It’s interesting but farces, which should be hilarious, are often deadly on stage, and often it’s not the fault of the playwright. In fact, most audiences have witnessed some very fine farces given very poor productions, making them dull, slow,

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Stage Directing: Three Ideas on Theatrical Stage Dynamics, Part I

If you’re new to stage directing, there are some basic A-B-Cs of stage dynamics of which you should be aware. These dynamics, if used properly, will serve you greatly in staging a production. They did not substitute for the work

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Understanding Drama Through Script Writing: Three Exercises

There are many different ways in which instructors of all levels can help students better understand a play. Many times classroom instruction involves discussion, reading aloud, and writing a formal essay about some theme, character, or other aspect of the

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Stage Directors: Giving Actors an Environment for Success

Too often directors work against their actors rather than working with them by creating an atmosphere where they believe that they can succeed. Perhaps one of the most important attributes that a successful director possesses is the ability to instill

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3 Stage Directing Tips to Use When You’re Stuck

It happens to every director whether they’re a neophyte, a mid-career professional, or a sage veteran. At some point in time, you will find yourself stymied by the fact that you can’t seem to connect with an actor on a

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Three Quick Playwriting Exercises that Get Results

If you’re teaching playwriting, you may be frustrated or perhaps a bit anxiety ridden about ensuring your writers can actually create scripts. In other words, many who teach playwriting for the first time find that they have difficulty in getting

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The Major Theatrical Unions in the U.S.

If you are working in the professional theatre in the U.S., you may end up joining one or more of the various theatrical unions, or you may interact with union members. There are numerous theatre unions or professional organizations. There’s

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5 New Year’s Resolutions for Any Theatre Student or Practitioner Wanting to Grow

If you’re someone studying theatre arts, you should certainly be focused on getting better at what you do. If you’re in the business, you should be doing the same. Improvement and growth are essential to your being employed for the

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Playwriting: Can You Be Taught to Write a Play?

One of the common questions you often hear about writing in general and playwriting in particular, is can it be taught? Can a playwright really learn to write for the stage by taking courses in the subject? The answer is

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The Actor’s Dilemma: What Young Actors Need to Learn, Part II

Actor training and being casr

Many young actors live and die, or seem to, on the posting of the next cast list for either their college or conservatory production. After all, it’s not like being in the professional world where there are hundreds of casting

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The Actor’s Dilemma: What Young Actors Need to Learn- Part One

If you teach acting on any level and it is related to production and casting plays, then you know that when the cast list goes up there’s bound to be elation, disappointment, anger, and jealously, as well as many other

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Theatre History: A Discussion of Challenges and Remedies, Part II

  In Part I of our three-part series on teaching theatre history, we considered some of the basic challenges that are involved in bringing and delivering what can be a very daunting curriculum to students. There are a lot of

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Theatrical Training and Professionalism: The Power of Being Actively Curious

There’s something to be said for being curious, especially in an artistic profession such as theatre. By “curious” I mean not just wanting to know something, but being driven to find the answer, no matter what roadblocks arise. Perhaps its

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5 Behaviors or Actions Guaranteed to Hurt Your Theatre Career

You worked for a theatre company, for a producer or director, or with a group of creative people and you have not been asked back to work with them again. You don’t know why. No matter what you do to

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Theatre as a Profession: When’s Your Next Interview or Audition?

Too many times those who are just breaking into the theatre don’t understand how important it is to always act in a professional manner. In this and our next blog, we’re going to consider various aspects of the business as

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The Importance of Planning and Setting Goals for Theatre Students

If you’re a theatre student studying at a college or a conservatory, there are certain keys that will help you achieve success in becoming a professional in the field. How do you become a working theatre professional? The same way

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Theatre: It’s the Human Element

Theatre is an art. Although theatre is an art, it’s an art that thrives on connecting directly and immediately with audiences on various levels, including intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. However, at times, it seems as though the theatre intimidates students,

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An Actor Must Prepare: A Checklist for Student Actors

If you’re an actor who is new to the stage, and you get cast in a show, you may start rehearsals feeling very unprepared. Often when this happens, an actor will show up for rehearsal and as the day progresses

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Theatre Students have to Be Open to New Ideas and Failure

Too often high school and college theatre students want the answers now. In other words, they want to know if they are any good at what they do, when they will finally be accomplished, and what the secrets to success

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Long Island Kindergarten Show Cancelled for College Prep Test: Why This Makes No Sense

It was reported by many news sources, and it made headlines when the principal of the Harley Avenue Elementary School in Elmwood, which is located on Long Island, cancelled the annual kindergarten variety show. Why was it shutdown? This was

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Theatre History: A Discussion of Challenges and Remedies, Part I

In teaching theatre history on the university level to undergraduates, we’re often challenged by feeling the need to relay a mountain of facts that students tend to fairly boring, overwhelming, and inconsequential. Along with the historical information are our primary

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Teaching Directing: Two Different Approaches and Finding a Balance, Part II

In Part I, of Teaching Directing: Two Different Approaches and Finding a Balance, we focused on the benefits of having directing students work from the outside in. That is, focusing on text, directing skills and techniques, and proper interpretation of

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Of Mice and Men: Discussion Topics for the Classroom, Part 3

< Theme of Powerlessness The characters in Of Mice and Men are powerless due to various circumstances. For instance, Lennie, although he is employed as a ranch hand due to his physical strength, he is powerless because of his mental

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Teaching Directing: Two Different Approaches and Finding a Balance

There are various ways to teach directing to students. (That is, if directing is really something that you can actually “teach.”) Directing tends to be filled with challenges, as the stage director has to understand a script in its entirety,

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