Teaching Theater and the Theater Teacher

June 29, 2008 by  

Teaching [theater] is like writing a play. If I write from an idea about writing, or structure; if I write something I am assigned to write that I am not very excited about; if I write with a view of getting it over with, getting the paycheck; and if I do not have blood on every page, I do slovenly work. But if I write from my deepest self, with strength and raw passion, with respect for my characters and the structure they dictate, I have a play, and I have a classroom. Teaching drama is, in fact, writing drama. A class can only succeed if the dramatist, or teacher, makes the right choices. Are the most dramatic choices always the right choices? And is it possible that a dramatist of my sensibility can make dangerous choices as a teacher? choices that, like high diving, can produce either spectacular results or, possibly, tragic accidents? – Judith Thompson, How Theatre Educates

Flashback to undergraduate years. Modern French theatre at New College, University of Toronto, 1986. Professor enters. I glance quickly at my Beckett text before the lecture begins. I probably owe my great affection for French theatre to him. Here was someone who acted in the Shaw and Stratford festival companies, who performed on stages in Canada in both official languages, who had worked with major Canadian film directors. But what was most remarkable to me was his brilliant pedagogy. He was an inspired teacher in addition of (because of?) his extraordinary experience in the theatre. For John Gilbert, the world of teaching and the world of theatre was inseparable creative projects. They required the same capacity to communicate clearly and “let the text speak for itself.” I learned much about theatre from John, but I learned more about good teaching. Education, like theatre, is not meant to induce agreement, but to shake foundations. – Kathleen Gallagher, How Theatre Educates

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