Theatre Resources for Students and Educators
This highly imaginative musical features a fine book by Winnie Holzman and music and lyrics by one of Broadway’s most accomplished composers, Stephen Schwartz. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked will fill you with wonder as it takes
The word “limelight” began as a bit of technical jargon two hundred years ago. The original meaning is long gone, but the word developed gravity . The metaphor has replaced the original meaning. “I’ve spent years when I’ve not been
This video is not an official part of the Projections on Stage sequence, but it is an excellent additional resource. It is intended to help people who are working their way into the use of scenic projections and might have only
We use a lot of ice-breaker activities in theatre classrooms. These often included revealing information about one’s self or emoting in some way. You can surprise your students with either of the following two activities that do not require any
This ten-minute video demonstrates the basics of lighting design. Washes, specials, distance, field angle, and other considerations are demonstrated in a virtual theatre space in a simple and conversational manner.
This is an open-education resource, like everything else on this site. It is a step-by-step lighting design project packaged as a PowerPoint file. The PowerPoint file can be downloaded here: https://scenicandlighting.com/downloads/Light_Plot_Assignment.pptx Your students are instructed to edit the PowerPoint slides.
This article follows Part III in this series, Projections on Stage Part III: Choices about Screens Projections on stage can be more than just a big square image behind the actors. They can be broken up, spread around, and appear
Much of what we see is the result of complex processes happening in our brains. I had a discussion online yesterday with someone who thought that projectors might be used to darken a screen down by projecting black at it.
This is part three of a series. The previous part is Projections on Stage Part II: Making Good Use of Ordinary Projectors Anything that reflects light – even just a little bit – can be a screen. The bigger question
We use lots of different cables in the theatre. We have speaker cables, microphone cables, and electrical cables. We use DMX cables, ethernet, DVI, extension cords, VGA, HDMI, and displayport cables. Every single one of these has one thing in
This is part two of a series. The first part is Projections on Stage Part I: How do I make them brighter? Design the set around the screens It is easy to think of projections as being just the background
The Butter Gun I’m not saying I do, but I am not saying that I do not. In my home, on my breakfast table, I may, or I may not have a gun that shoots butter. If I did have
Demonstrating theatrical lighting in an educational environment takes a lot of setup. I have some standard lectures where I take my entire class down to one of our theatres and spend the class powering different instruments on and off while
In 2002, I created a set of browser-based light labs. These demonstrated the principals of lighting design, as well as creating an accessible place where people can experiment with light. There are some pros and cons to a browser-based lab.
Developed in 2010, Instagram became one of the leading social media applications out there. The platform was bought by Facebook in 2012 but has become more widely used than its media owner, in that the coming generations of media sharers have switched
In the spring of 2014, I was working as a guest designer at Auburn, University in Alabama. As a part of a fairly casual conversation during a work-call onstage, an undergraduate set-design student by the name of Sarah asked me
Broadway Educators is hosted and maintained by All Tickets, Inc., which specializes in group experiences and educational theatre experiences in New York City. One of the services offered by All Tickets, Inc. is access to a huge range of workshops
Behold, The Drama Machine. This is an interactive application that demonstrates the variables that we always deal with in production. It randomly combines factors: Script, Director’s Concept, Venue, Budget, and Time. It churns out the circumstances for a hypothetical production
Students in high school and even in college are often confused as to what a career in the theatre really means? Although it is hard to believe, many still think that to have a professional theatre career you must go
In Part One of this four-part series, we defined formalist script analysis and discussed the importance of utilizing this interpretative too in preparing for production. It is an essential tool for directors and other artists, such as designers and actors,
Formalist script analysis for production is an important skill for directors, designers, and actors to master. Although each approaches analysis a little differently, there are foundation elements that everyone in the theatre shares when it comes to analyzing a script
Often in the theatre as designers we’re given challenges to create a scenic element that at first glance may appear to be too expensive, time consuming or unwieldy. In the summer of 2012, I designed Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for Papermill
I am positive that every scenic designer in the U.S. reading this blog understands the drill: Carefully read the script. Discuss it with the director. Do your research. Take time to conceptualize. Repeat. The process involves engaging in these steps
Nothing glamorous about this; it’s just a one-page Word Doc calendar. You can print it, photocopy it, and fill it out to suit the current month. Download Blank Calendar Exercise Contributed by Matt Kizer Matt Kizer is the webmaster for
Lighting Design course projects typically need a set design to be provided for the project to go forward. Included in this compressed folder are JPEG rendering of the set. PDF groundplan of the set. PDF section view of the set.
In what is the last of 10 exercises on design aesthetics, professor Rostampour allows for a wide range of experimentation. Students “will experiment with deconstructing a natural phenomenon, an insect.” They then utilize the insect’s form and reconstruct it,
There’s a lot of room for creativity in what is the ninth of 10 design aesthetics exercises from lighting and set design professor Fereshteh Rostampour . Students create a three-dimensional storyboard based on the theme “Progression.” Design process, use of material,
In what is the eighth of 10 exercises focusing on design aesthetics from Associate Professor Rostampour, students design a character mask based on one of the following- Kabuki, ancient Greek, African, Commedia dell´Arte, or virtual game character/anime. They must also
This exercise asks students to create a triptych that tells a story with a beginning, middle, and end. The three panels, which are developed as collages, must utilize the principles and elements of design. This is the sixth of 10
In the fifth of 10 design aesthetics exercises from Auburn associate professor Fereshteh Rostampour, students are given the creative task of translating a 3 to 5 minute piece of music into a visual display. This is a wonderful mid-range exercise
This design aesthetics exercise focusing on composition requires that students convey a focal point, asymmetrical balance, and movement. Students write a short story or develop a theme and then illustrate their central idea through collage. The point is to create
This exercise, which is the third of 10 focusing on design aesthetics, demands that students create their own color wheel and tones. Tones are developed by using varying amounts of black and white. This is an exacting exercise from designer
In this innovative exercise from theatre designer Fereshteh Rostampour, students are given 9 adjectives and they must draw lines to illustrate the emotion each evokes. Creativity, execution and presentation are all important in what is the second of 10 design
is is the first of 10 exercises from Auburn professor Fereshteh Rostampour focusing on design aesthetics. The exercise involves some basic research, the use of a specific artistic technique and incorporation of fine motor skills as students recreate painting using
This is a graphic showing the theatre hierarchy. This version of the theatre hierarchy is a tree like most others, but it also shows lines of communication in addition to lines of creative oversight. It is arranged to
This is a role-playing exercise for a mock production meeting. The class is divided into groups of six. Each student is assigned a title (director, lighting designer, stage manager, etc.). Each student is also assigned a list of personality traits
The Light Lab is for use in the classroom. You can use it to demonstrate color, direction, gobos, and instrumentation without setting up equipment in another space. These pages are not a full-fledge virtual lighting system. However, they run with
A time-honored joke asks: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? The answer…practice, practice, practice. Indeed, the luminaries who have graced Carnegie’s stage have ascribed to such advice. However, if you want to get to Carnegie Hall without engaging in any practice
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