In this paper, I explore German playwright Bertolt Brecht's conception of the art of acting, and his views on the new actor's conduct towards their craft, as a pedagogical model for Brechts' broader view on how we should live our lives. Drawing on his key writings -- most importantly, his famous street scene essay -- I will show that Brecht's…

Theater uses drama and conflict to stimulate audience's emotions taking advantage of the fact that emotions can trigger people to achieve a desired learning result. Creating a theatrical learning environment enables learners to actively participate in knowledge creation in an entertaining environment. In this paper, I will use a conference session…

This article explores the use of an interactive mnemonic device called a "Map of Memories" to navigate the museum theater production "Our Footprints," staged in 2017 in the Bergtheil Museum in Durban, South Africa. The Map is an interactive tool used by audience members to explore the exhibits and the performance through…

Notable theorists have argued that theatre and drama play positive roles in the moral education of children and adults, including cultivating their capacity for empathy. Yet other theorists have expressed concerns that plays and educational practices involving improvisation might not lead to positive changes in real life, and might even have…

In 2017, I developed a computer application entitled "Sanka Play," which enables audience members to participate in improvisational performances by making real-time requests to performers. In most cases of free improvisation, the audience atmosphere influences performers. While audience--performer interaction is generally nonverbal,…

Theatre artists were interviewed to understand how they conceptualise audiences in relation to their own creative and collaborative processes. The authors identified three modes through which theatre artists engage with audiences: (1) watching with the audience, (2) confronting the audience, and (3) creating a community of practice/knowledge. This…

Can traditional live theatre affect the identity formation of teenagers? Drawing upon a six-year, qualitative study of Canadian, independent school live theatre audiences and a review of identity formation and audience studies, this paper offers three findings of interest to high school English teachers. These speak to the need for English…

The theatre classroom is necessarily a space in dialogue with myths about the marginalisation of theatre as an art and theatre audiences as a public. It is precisely "because" theatre is a marginalised discipline that curricula should incorporate the processes by which the labour of theatre artists changes value and joins the mainstream;…

Dr. Katrina Carter shares some of the challenges and successes she encountered when incorporating Audio Description (AD) into an undergraduate circus module in the UK, for the first time. She demonstrates how, by considering diverse audiences, access tools can enhance the creative process for the artists themselves. Forcing them to question what,…

Z402 Youth Theatre Tour was designed from a critical performative pedagogical positioning (Weltsek, 2019). Here learning emerges from how individuals and communities perform their emergent identities as they cross literal and metaphorical socio-cultural borders. Z402 resulted in a 100% student created new play, parallel workshop, and study guide.…

In recent years, museums have recognized the urgent need to address several challenging issues. These topics include gender equality, racism, and environmental issues, just to name a few. As museums embrace the role of community-building change-makers, how can we include our audiences in the mission of making positive change? How can our…

Advocates for the use of story in science education assert that it can bolster understanding of science concepts in classroom settings and enhance interest and engagement. However, only a handful of classroom studies confirm these claims, and many of them use story as an introduction, not the primary method of content delivery. Reasons for this…

This paper illustrates the use of two language-teaching and learning methods (process drama and theatre) in a class of Italian. Process drama is based on improvisation, over-identification, and dramatisation from a short set of coordinates that students can read just a few minutes before the activity that will be later performed in class (see…

Globally, young people experience physical, sexual and emotion abuse within their intimate relationships. There is a need to explore creative, participatory sexual and relationship education that provides spaces for critical reflection regarding gender norms and approaches within intimate relationships. This study explores an interactive theatre…

This article describes responses of a group of adolescent student actors and actor alumni involved in anti-bullying skits arising from a critical case study of the Tolerance Troupe from a small rural and suburban borough in Pennsylvania. Seventeen active members and 19 actor alumni participated in semi-structured interviews focusing on what the…