Theater Classes Research Articles

Layering identities as artist, advocate, and theatre educator: reflecting beyond experiences

ABSTRACT This study examines the negotiation of identities by teacher candidates and early-career theatre educators. Focusing on reflections written by teachers (n = 14) in a foundational course on theatre education, we considered how they develop a perspective beyond their own personal experiences in theatre and theatre classes. Participants focused on theatre class as a place where students can feel safe to be human, feel a sense of belonging, and develop creative and practical skills. They also identified the ways that theatre classes enrich students’ other school experiences. We found evidence of an important shift in which teachers take on the identity of both artist and educator, and noted that this shift allows them to take on a new layer as arts advocate.

Positive Effects of Physical Theater on Body Schema Among College Students

ABSTRACT The purpose of this phenomenological, qualitative, temporal study was to examine the effects of a semester-long physical theater class on body schema (body posture, awareness, confidence, expression) among eight college students. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted twice to qualitatively collect the study’s data. Two themes emerged from the qualitative/phenomenological data analysis, showcasing how the participants’ body schema improved. Based on the first theme, the students emphasized the importance of physical theater in improving body posture, awareness, confidence and comfort during physical theater and their daily functions. Practically learning the body schema of their character was key to excellence in performance. According to the second theme, the participants learned how to express emotions using their whole body and not only their face. They also managed to switch emotions naturally and corporeally. Experts in Kinesiology and Performing Arts should promote embodied, holistic, playful, and physically demanding movement programs for improved body schema.

Suicide prevention project with young people in the Rocinha slum in Rio de Janeiro

IntroductionThe 2019 WHO report on suicide warned of a serious public health problem. It was found that suicide is a serious problem for global public health, causing approximately 703 thousand deaths every year. Self-extermination is among the leading causes of death worldwide, with more deaths than from malaria, HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, war and homicide. More than one in every 100 deaths (1.3%) in 2019 were the result of suicide.Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in older adolescents (15–19 years). Risk factors are multifaceted and include harmful use of alcohol, which includes abuse during childhood, stigma against seeking help, barriers to accessing care and means of suicide.The total number of deaths due to self-extermination registered in the adolescent population in the period from 2016 to 2021 was 6,588. According to the WHO director-general, “attention to suicide prevention is even more important now, after many months of living with the pandemic and many of the risk factors, such as loss of employment, financial stress and social isolation, still very present.” Therefore, suicide prevention work with young adolescents in Rocinha, one of the largest slums in Rio de Janeiro, is extremely important, given the increase in suicide rates and mental health problems in this age group. This approach must be thoughtful, culturally sensitive, and involve a range of strategies to address the complex issues affecting adolescents in the community. The Community of Rocinha was chosen to host this prevention project.ObjectivesCreate a preventive event by surveying participants’ opinions, integrating, welcoming and deconstructing stigmas about suicide.MethodsThis study investigated, in a population of 140 young adolescents with cultural differences in a theater class, their level of knowledge regarding relevant information about suicide. A structured questionnaire was presented and answered before and after a lecture, resulting in a class at the end, carried out by the young participants themselves. The scenes were filmed and a film produced. This dynamic process also included the distribution of a shirt alluding to the fact, making the participants multiplier references.ResultsThe results of the lecture showed a significant improvement in mental health awareness and willingness to seek help among young people, totaling a 20% increase in knowledge.ConclusionsStudents attended the event in significant numbers, taking into account that the slum had a curfew due to armed conflict. The results of the lecture showed a significant improvement in mental health awareness and willingness to seek help among young people, totaling a 20% increase in knowledge. The young people reported a feeling of support and belonging to the community, highlighting the importance of the debate in a final lecture given by them.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

The embodied nature of physical theater: artistic expression, emotions, interactions

ABSTRACT The nature of physical theater can facilitate understanding of the complex characteristics of embodied movement . Given also the scarcity of empirical studies in the area , the purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological, and temporal study was to thoroughly examine the embodied nature of physical theater (e.g. unity of body and mind) within different aspects of movement, such as performativity, communication with others, and emotional expression. Seven undergraduate students (M age = 20.43 ± 1.28 years old) enrolled in a semester-long physical theater class at a major Southeastern US university. Based on the qualitative, phenomenological analysis, three physical theater themes emerged regarding improved embodied sensations over the class period: a) embodied artistic expression (e.g. body-mind unison; sense of flow; physical theater as a form of exercise), b) embodied emotions (e.g. body and mind in emotion, expressing emotions freely), and c) embodied interactions (e.g. body, mind, and emotion in communication; more attentive to body language; communicating with the audience). In the field of Performing Arts, viewing movement holistically as an end in itself can bring about senses of fulfillment, body awareness, improved consciousness, and increased value of physical culture (value of creative movement), and well-being.

Positive Psychosocial Experiences of a Physical Theater Class Among College Students

Based on the 2023 Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, 50% of young adults (18-24 years old) experience anxiety and depression, compared to about 32% of all adults. The rising mental health problems among young adults may link to lingering covid-19 pandemic issues, such as social isolation and lockdowns, excessive screen use, decreased academic progress and opportunities, economic instability, poor lifestyle choices like decreased physical activity, disease, disability, and the death epidemic in the USA. Given the importance of physical activity, it is imperative to identify meaningful and enjoyable physical activity programs among young adults. Based on the philosophical underpinnings of phronesis (practical wisdom/moral reasoning), the purpose of this interdisciplinary, phronetic, qualitative, and temporal study was to examine the psychosocial experiences of a semester-long physical theater class among eight college students (4 males and 4 females). The class met twice per week, 1.5 hours/time and its content included physically demanding, playful, embodied, individual and group-based exercises, such as dance and aerial dance, calisthenics, stage combat with swords, activities to improve body posture and awareness, and bodily expression. Students created etudes and performed formally during midterm and finals weeks and informally before their classmates and class instructors. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted twice (in the beginning of the semester and towards the end of the class) to qualitatively collect the study’s data. Interview questions were about prior experience with physical theater, exercise levels, mental health and physical health, individual and social aspects in performativity, life priorities, and class goals. Based on hermeneutics/phronetic phenomenology, two themes emerged from the qualitative data analysis. In the first theme, psychological experiences, study participants mentioned that their mental health improved (e.g., decreased depression, anxiety, and body tension). Two students occasionally felt frustrated about their performance, especially the one without any previous physical theater experience. Based on the second theme, positive social experiences, study participants discussed how they effectively worked together (e.g., coordinate actions and share stories and emotions) to learn from each other and enjoy the experience. Only during the first set of the interviews (beginning of the semester), did some participants express occasional feelings of self-consciousness and nervousness when performing before others. However, they shared ways to overcome those feelings, such as being open to freely express themselves like others in the profession, separating themselves from their character, exercising the actor’s reset, and blocking everything out (e.g., audience). Practitioners in Kinesiology and performing arts (e.g., dance and physical theater) should emphasize physically demanding, safe, bodily, creative, playful, and group-based exercises among college students. Corporeal and creative expression within a supportive community-based movement program can increase mental health, positive social relations, and thus well-being.

Seeking Critical Frameworks for Global Majority Theatre

Abstract: The essay advocates for expanding theater studies publications to more effectively engage with global majority epistemologies as core methodologies for analyzing theatrical phenomena. Academic theatre classes often incorporate performance studies paradigms, but most theater programs remain centered around practice-based exercises for acting, directing, designing, and producing Eurocentric theater. Global majority ways of telling stories are either not taught to students or are integrated into curricula in carefully measured doses as alternative approaches to art-making. This essay encourages twenty-first century scholars to more astutely respond to cultural productions based upon vernacular and indigenous ways of theatrical storytelling, arguing that a significant step would be to incorporate more indigenous languages, and perhaps have the journal publish in multiple languages (with translation) to expand the readership. However, even foregrounding text-based performance may be limiting. Many of the aesthetics that underly arts production in global majority cultures are constituted outside of text-based paradigms; they use symbol, myth, sound, gesture, dance language, and music as poetic containers for delivering their messages. They also build from local epistemologies connected to spirituality, religion, or alternative beliefs about the rationale and intention of performance. This essay calls for more time and space devoted to critical analysis of theatre created and performed outside of standard theatre venues, as well as a more nuanced discussion of complex ecosystems that support artistic innovation.

3D MUVE(다중참여형 가상공간)를 활용한 초등 연극 수업이 학습자의 자기표현과 사회성에 미치는 영향: 제페토를 중심으로

3D MUVE(다중참여형 가상공간)를 활용한 초등 연극 수업이 학습자의 자기표현과 사회성에 미치는 영향: 제페토를 중심으로

Physical Theater Class Experiences: Mental Health, Play, and the Love of Movement

Mental health issues, especially among young women, have significantly increased due to Covid-19 pandemic. Although movement activities in Kinesiology and performing arts can have countless health benefits, physical activity declines drastically among mainly freshmen and young females. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of physical theater (e.g., dance, aerial dance, calisthenics, strength training, balance, coordination, flexibility, and bodily expression) on mental health, healthy lifestyles, play, and the love of movement among college students. This was a mixed-methods, phronetic and temporal study encompassing quantitative and qualitative data among seven undergraduate students, who enrolled in a physical theater class. Dependent t-tests were conducted to examine differences in depression and stress between the beginning of the class and the end of the semester. Phronetic research was used to analyze the qualitative data and create themes and categories. Mental health improved with a nearly medium within-subject effect for stress (<i>d</i> = .32, <i>M</i><sub>difference</sub> = 3.5). These data were strengthened by the three emerging themes of the qualitative analysis. The first theme, <i>positive physical theater experiences</i>, included body confidence in expression, improved mental health, healthier lifestyle choices, and the love of movement. The second theme showcased the <i>playful nature of physical theater</i> (e.g., a non-purposeful, interactive, child-like activity, outside ordinary life). A few participants mentioned a couple of <i>negative physical theater experiences</i> (third theme), such as injury and darkness in expression. Movement educators in Kinesiology and performing arts should emphasize safe, bodily, creative, and playful activities within a supportive and community-oriented environment for the promotion of health and the love of movement.

Reducing social anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty in adolescents with improvisational theater

Intolerance of uncertainty has been implicated in the development and maintenance of depression and anxiety (McEvoy & Mahoney, 2012). Given that, promoting positive experiences of uncertainty through improvisational theater training (Napier, 2004) may have psychological benefits such as reductions in anxiety and depression (Krueger, Murphy, & Bink, 2017; Felsman, Seifert, & Himle, 2019). This study tests whether intolerance of uncertainty changes with participation in improvisational theater class for adolescents, and whether that change can explain changes in social anxiety. Surveys were collected on weeks one (n = 350) and ten (n = 339) of an improvisational theater program across 14 urban public schools, grades 8–12, measuring social anxiety (the Mini-SPIN; Connor, Kobak, Churchill, Katzelnick, & Davidson, 2001) and intolerance of uncertainty (Brief-IUS; Fialko, Bolton, & Perrin, 2012). Participating in the program was associated with significant reductions in social anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty. In our linear mixed model, change in intolerance of uncertainty was associated with greater reductions in social anxiety. This study provides the first evidence that participating in improvisational theater is associated with reductions in intolerance of uncertainty and adds to the argument that improvisational theater training may indirectly provide a low stigma, accessible mental health intervention (Felsman et al., 2019).

Developing creativity and other 21st century skills through theater classes.

Developing creativity and other 21st century skills through theater classes.

Immigrant Children in a Pol(ICE) State

Guided by the following questions: (1) What are the experiences of immigrant children attending schools in communities experiencing police brutality and anti-immigrant sentiments? (2) How do middle school children of immigrants visually represent their experiences with legal violence? and (3) What are children’s visions of freedom and community safety in this context?, this article highlights the understudied preadolescent children of immigrants through a 2-year study of a multidisciplinary theater class at a local elementary school in South Central Los Angeles. Data includes child interviews, class observations, artwork, and performance videos, from recently arrived Mexican and Central American children aged 10 to 13 years. Findings reveal how children come to understand policing, reinforcing concepts like “good cop/bad cop,” conflating local police and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents, but also imagining alternatives for community safety outside of police systems. This work contributes to the fields of immigration, abolitionist education, and ethnic studies, among others, offering new ways of supporting immigrant children through the use of arts-based tools.

The House on Henry Street: The Enduring Life of a Lower East Side Settlement

The House on Henry Street: The Enduring Life of a Lower East Side Settlement

The Impact Of SARS Cov-2 Pandemic On Children’s Behaviour In Society And Their Reintegration Through Drama Classes

Abstract The aim of this article is to point out the acute need of artistic classes for children with ages between 5 and 12 years after one year and a half of online activitities imposed by the SARS CoV-2 pandemic. The 2021 school year brought to the parents’ attention the gaps their children have experienced in terms of sociability. The ease they used to have in communicating with the others has almost disappeared along with the joy of interaction. They got so used to the virtual world that they began to see it as routine and to believe that this is the way our lives should be looking like from now on. As a result, the inauguration of this new school year in comparison to other typical school years, except for the pandemic years, has been registered as the year with the highest number of requests for children’s theatre classes. Teachers saw their students regressing and they also observed that it was very difficult for their students to assimilate any kind of new information, a reason why they came up with the idea of participating in such classes. The worst challenge for the students was to start coming back again physically to classes. Their enthusiasm disappeared alongside with their inability to concentrate and their difficulty in paying attention to the teaching process. The masks on their faces represented another disadvantage that they didn’t have to comply with any longer while attending online classes. Anyhow, it was the first year as a freelance theatre teacher in which the demand increased in such a manner that neither I nor my guild colleagues could honor all the requests we received in terms of drama classes for children at this age. The benefits of such classes in the education and in the evolution of its participants have already been demonstrated by many theatre personalities and they are now being amplified with the increased interest coming from the children’s parents who noticed serious disorders in their children’s’ behavior. In the next lines we are going to analyse the outcome results after questioning 60 children with ages between 5 and 12 years old.

Ensino no teatro on-line: relatos de experiências

This article presents the experiences lived in the years of 2020 and 2021 by teachers of theater education from the public network, from the private network of elementary school and from free courses through remote and / or hybrid classes, during the Covid pandemic period. -19, in Fortaleza. The goal is to understand the different realities that directly affect the results of the teaching process. It addresses the methodologies used in the production of online theater classes and elaborates brief reflections on the reactions and actions of students in the face of the adaptations of the classes to the virtual and / or hybrid format. It also presents the teachers' reflections regarding the need to readapt their classes, as well as reflecting on the different realities of each field of activity of the teachers present in this article.

A Study on the Possibility of Liberal Theatre Class Employing Documentary Theatre Focusing on Die Ermittlung and The Acting Motivation

Documentary theatre is not only notable for its trends among contemporary theatre, but also for its various characteristics, many of which can connect learners' lives and society, as well as draw upon their critical cognition and convergent thinking skills. This article notes the educational implications found in documentary theatre, and discusses the possibility of liberal theatre courses employing documentary theatre. Classes like this convey knowledge of the theatre and is attempts to learn through it. In addition, various practical activities can be carried out by utilizing the convergence properties of the theatre, and from these activities learners can experience something quite aesthetic in nature that they otherwise might have missed. In this sense, this paper focuses on Die Ermittlung and The Acting Motivation. In traditional documentary theatre, Die Ermittlung, which deals with social issues, can provide an opportunity to critically recognize social problems. On the other hand, from the auto-documentary theatre we have The Acting Motivation, which expands the concept of documentary theatre that was previously discussed, and also reflects on the lives of young people and the society they must relate to. Not only can learners acquire knowledge of the theatre, but they can also reflect on society and themselves through its productions. In addition, the step-by-step activities attempted in conjunction with this class aim at helping students solve problems, and to express themselves using a theatrical-based imagination. The purpose of the final step of the program--the appreciation and reflection process--is to integrate learning with individual experiences, and to further find new questions. Through these discussions, the possibility of using documentary theatre as a practical model for convergence education and another class models is presented.

실시간 비대면 원격예술교육 사례연구: 줌(Zoom)과 패들렛(Padlet)을 활용한 연극수업을 중심으로

This study aimed at examining real-time non-face-to-face distance art education cases and to draw implications for art education in schools in the untact era. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, art education in schools has made it difficult to take advantage of the existing advantage of an aesthetic experience through face-to-face meetings. Researchers who had been practicing art education in schools through drama/theater were also asked to switch to non-face-to-face classes. To this end, the researchers developed and applied a real-time non-face-to-face remote theater class program using Zoom and Padlet for first-year middle school students from September to October 2020. We obtained the following results of this case study by interpreting the collected data such as survey, observation data, and artifacts etc.
 First, we tried to form a rapport with students who had few opportunities to meet each other due to Corona 19 through a strategy of establishing relationships even on the screen. Second, we provided students with an opportunity to collaborate, thereby providing an experience of joint achievement. The content of the program was to share experiences about what they have experienced, write a play script based on this, and then put on a performance together. As for the method of the program, a relationship was formed using various theatrical techniques, joint writing was performed using Padlets, and a Zoom-based reading play was performed. In this case, despite the unusual situation of ‘untact’, through the aesthetic activity of ‘art education’ in the limited space ‘in school’, the possibility of art education in schools in the untact era was realized and a vision was presented.

Perception of teachers on readers’ theatre and reading comprehension: Prospects for curriculum planning

Reading has always been a challenging task especially for struggling learners of English as a second language (ESL). Readers' theatre has been used as a class instruction approach to enable learners to become innovative and active participants in the reading class. During class instruction, teachers use multiple strategies such as modeling reading accuracy, main idea instruction, group reading, adapting scripts, and discussion. Using a qualitative approach, this study aimed at investigating the perception of secondary school teachers on the impact of readers' theatre for improvement of reading comprehension of learners of ESL. Data was collected using interviews from eight teachers of English in secondary schools in Kisumu County, Kenya, and lessons were also observed. Purposive sampling was used to select the teachers. The findings were reported verbatim in accordance with the themes of the study. The findings revealed that readers' theatre class activities enabled learners to be involved actively in-class reading tasks which resulted in enhanced reading comprehension. Furthermore, learners built confidence in reading due to group reading. The findings of this study will assist teachers to plan appropriate class activities that scaffold reading comprehension and build confidence among learners. The study suggests further studies on implementing readers' theatre on writing skills.

Students’ Learning Experience in Introduction to Drama Theatre Classes During COVID-19

The pandemic has caused the closure of educational institutions, which halted face-to-face teaching and learning. The unprecedented situation has left the institutions with no other choice other than implementing online learning to ensure the educational process's continuity. This study examines students' perceptions in Introduction to Drama and Theatre online classes. Three components of perceptions were investigated: the experience in learning the subject online, students' participation in the class, and the materials used in online classes. The quantitative data were collected from 38 first-year students enrolling in the Drama and Theatre programme at UNIMAS. The questionnaire was distributed online using Google Form. The findings showed a positive perception of learning Introduction to Drama and Theatre online, while moderate perception was identified in students' participation in the class. A positive perception was also seen in the materials and platforms used in online classes. Most of the students enjoyed the learning process due to the support from the lecturer. Moving forward, better infrastructure is needed in order to ensure the ability to conduct online learning without any obstacles. All stakeholders are responsible for playing their role to contribute to the online learning environment.

Refusal and Adhesion: resistance between studies of cognition and theater education

ABSTRACT This article presents reflections on certain public education policy guidelines, oriented to the labor market and exemplified by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recommendations, concerning their influence on artistic education and, more precisely, theater education. It addresses existing problems in the field of education in Brazil and France, with emphasis on conceptual causes. In a possible contribution to debates on utilitarianism in theater education, the concept of resistance, present in Michel Foucault’s works, is used as mediator in the utilization of cognition studies to analyze the planning, practice and evaluation of theater classes in primary schools.

“Waking Justice”: An @cto on Education

“Waking Justice”: An @cto on Education Daniel Morales Morales (bio) “Waking Justice” is inspired by the work of Luis Valdez and El Teatro Campesino as well as Augusto Boal work around Theatre of the Oppressed. Actos that are part of El Teatro Campesino, like the ones in Valdez’s Early Works: Actos, Bernabé and Pensamiento Serpentino (1990), are not only art but social activism, and a key tool to challenge the status quo and advocate for change. According to Valdez (1971), the acto has five goals: “inspire the audience to social action, illuminate specific points about social problems, satirize the opposition, show or hint at a solution, and express what people are thinking” (6). This @cto was created during a series of workshops with middle and high schoolers who were part of an after-school theater class that collaborated with undergraduates, a graduate student, and a faculty member in creating and performing art. I refer to this piece as an @cto instead of an acto since its multiple versions were created online after receiving feedback from the students who authored part of the script and those who performed the @ cto on stage. This collective aspect helped the intergenerational artists of this @cto create work that included multiple experiences in educational spaces. The Latinx Theatre Project The Latinx Theatre Project was a collaborative theater experience that brought together undergraduates in the Spanish and Portuguese Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and students involved in the First Generation Youth Program in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Dr. Kristie Soares, the instructor for the class, created a collaboration in the Fall of 2017 to immerse the undergraduates and the young performers in Latinx art pedagogies, divided into three units: Theatre of the Oppressed, the Nuyorican Poetry Movement, and El Teatro Campesino. The first third of the semester was spent mostly building community among the undergraduates and understanding the sociohistorical context of the Latinx community in western Massachusetts. During the second third of the semester, we started to collaborate with the young performers from First Generation. In the last third of the semester, we worked together with the youth as an ensemble to create and stage [End Page 232] performance pieces in the style of the Latinx art pedagogies that were centered in the partnership. For the whole semester, we not only trained to facilitate Latinx theater exercises as part of our social justice practice but also learned and practiced concrete skills in theater arts, such as writing, performing, and set design. For our final performance at Teatro Vida, in Springfield, we shared with the audience our Nuyorican-style spoken word collage, a rhythm poem combining Nuyorican poetry and Theatre of the Oppressed, a video of our creative process, and “Waking Justice,” our @cto written in the style of El Teatro Campesino. The first element used in our process of creation was Theatre of the Oppressed. Augusto Boal’s work offered us an embodiment of Freirean concepts that can be deployed in the classroom in a novel, engaging, and empowering way. Central to Boal’s ideas is what he terms a “spect-actor” (2002, 243), which means there is not a distinction between actors and spectators; we all have the ability to observe critically and act upon our analysis. As a result, the spectator becomes “spect-actor”—an element of the theatrical performance that both views and actively participates in and co-constructs the course of events, its actions, and outcomes. Boal’s concept of a spectactor is very closely related to Paulo Freire’s concept of “praxis”—the unification of theory and practice and “generative terms”—topics that participants generate which are used as centerpieces of student-centered curriculum (Freire 1970). Rather than talking about the issues affecting Latinx students in schools, the spectactors interacted and manipulated dramatized representations of codified generative themes. In the case of “Waking Justice,” the characters illuminated the disproportionate punishment of students of color in schools, the lack of caring from a predominantly white teacher population, and the focus on a Eurocentric curriculum and standardized testing. The solutions are for the audience to decide, but there is a clear indication for teachers to learn from students, to listen to them...