The neatness of our referring to societies as units of encryption ignores the many real situations when boundaries and memberships may not be clear or recognized. Members may participate in several societies. The American society has been based on a set of common agreements, including the definition of who is a member. The American defining ideas…

Chromatography is the most common analytical technique able to identify and quantify a wide gamut of substances in food, environmental, forensic, pharmaceutical, and many other kinds of real samples. We propose a simple drama science activity: students embody different compounds wearing emblems of different colors and dramatize their…

In this article, we discuss theater productions we mounted in the Marshall Islands as a case example of how the theatrical process, shaped by "polycultural" inclinations, contributes to the personal development of youth in the Marshall Islands. We contextualize and detail a unique theatrical process that has potential for fostering…

This conceptual essay draws on the advice for actors offered by David Mamet and Sanford Meisner in order to highlight how uncertainty is a dilemmatic feature of both acting and teaching. This essay argues that perhaps the only way to prepare for uncertainty (either on the stage or in the classroom) is to be open to uncertainty and to be willing to…

Before COVID, the author had led in-person readers theatre residencies with the same four fourth-grade teachers and their large public-school classes for over a decade. During COVID, the teachers wanted to do an online residency. The challenge: how to create theatre with young learners in isolated rooms, sitting alone, and seeing others only on a…

Over the past decade, local live productions of Shakespeare have become increasingly visible to scholars and audiences alike, both through critical work on the subject as well as through public projects such as Shakespeare on the Road. This visibility highlights the cultural and artistic work of regional theatre. On the one hand, local live…

In performing the zombie game, children enact embodied literacies through movement, gesture, and sound, and through incorporating the materiality and the spatiality of the outdoor area. They communicate in many ways, both brutal and subtle, enacting their understandings with each other as well as with other adults. The repeated performance seems…

As I began my first year of graduate school--admittedly, a shaky start of my own--a group of my former students began to struggle with their transition to high school. Upon hearing this from my friend, colleague, and their current theatre teacher (who I will call Ms. M), I developed a workshop curriculum focused upon health for the artist to…

Increased technology use by college-age students (millennials) has created problems for the acting classroom. Constantin Stanislavski's technique is still the standard, but students arrive to campus unready or unable to engage in his methods or with each other, so new approaches are required. Classroom exercises are provided, many inspired by…

This paper provides teachers and teacher educators with food for thought by developing a broad, contemporary re-evaluation of the often-used analogy between teaching and the theatre. It does so by synthesizing insights from scholarly works in education with insights from writing about theatre, including both historical work and published…

This article describes the profound changes experienced by the author during the two years she spent as part of the 52nd Street Project Teen Ensemble, playing the part of "Julia" in Shakespeare's musical play "The Two Gentlemen of Verona." The author reports the difficulty of playing the role, since the character was so…

This personal reflection looks at the benefits of using performance pedagogy in the Shakespeare classroom, both in terms of a general understanding of the period and a student's personal connection to the text. Though the essay acknowledges our profession's ongoing dialogue in this area, it mostly seeks to look at how a student may change once she…

The Saturday morning acting class in the Pearson Hall auditorium at Miles College boasts the school's highest attendance all year. The teacher, actress Robin Givens, was a lure few students--and others from surrounding areas--could resist. Some came to learn about their prospective field from a professional. Others were there for pointers to…

When this author first began to take classes in theater and comedy improvisation, his motives were largely creative and social, though there was some supposition that his mathematics teaching (at a community college) could benefit as well. Students are known to tout their favorite teachers as "funny." Taking improv classes would presumably loosen…

This article presents snapshots of an innovative program in which performing actor, musician, and dancer TAs work as substitute teachers. Through STARRRs (Substitute Teachers for the Arts and 3Rs) Program, New York City principals hire professional performers as licensed substitute teachers. Actors, musicians, and dancers bring their craft into…