Examines "Theater-in-Education," (TIE) a unique British-inspired teaching-and-learning methodology which combines young people's theater with creative drama, currently taught at a handful of universities in the United States. Finds that, as a result of the program's tour to 10 fifth-grade classrooms in five schools, area teachers were unanimous in…

Presents a case study of how a group of theatre artists and educators (the Lakeview Education and Arts Partnership) used the arts to motivate and engage students in four public schools in Chicago, Illinois. Describes how teachers and artists infused the arts into academics. (RS)

Describes how some high school students, encouraged by their theater-loving teacher, suspiciously approached Shakespeare, chose "Macbeth," made the language slowly their own, improvised scenery and costumes, delivered the performance with energy and pride and much extemporizing, and found themselves at last in love with Shakespeare and…

Discusses the 1997 NAEP "Arts Report Card," which, for the first time, includes theater arts. Relates that results confirm that large-scale assessment in theater is possible and that the assessment tasks and how they were scored should be useful for theater teachers seeking to refine their grading processes. Notes that the study was…

Offers reflections on how people share their cultures as they enter the new millennium, based on the author's two trips to Asia where she lectured and led drama workshops on drama education and theater for youth. Outlines seven steps to take toward reaching goals in the field of theater for young audiences and drama/theater education. (SR)

Presents four narrative portraits of what the author experienced during a two-day visit to Pharr-San Juan-Alamo-North High School in Pharr, Texas near the border with Mexico. Describes his experiences with the high school's production of the play "Our Lady of the Tortilla" by Luis Santeiro, and discusses various ways that culturally…

Shares results of a survey investigating the practices of theaters in the United States which focus on working with young performers (their goals, staffing, classes, auditions, affiliations, budget, and practices regarding student empowerment, diversity, and gender) and compares results with those from the 1983 survey. Offers a glimpse of four…

Describes how Foster High School, Tukwila, Washington, joined forces with Walworth, a London secondary school, to write a play. Reports that, after some Walworth teachers visited Foster, the project got underway, with a group in each place writing part of the play, and another group revising. Notes that the play was finally performed at Foster…

Focuses on the origin and history of Guignol, including the classic repertoire and its character types, and on suggested techniques for teaching with the authentic Guignol in the French classroom. Guignol can be used effectively in the classroom because the French teacher-marionnettiste has only to improvise the scenarios according to the needs of…

Describes a four-hour drama session, held one hour for each of four weeks, in which 15 girls and one boy ages six through eight participated with 17 college participant observers in a 1991 Children and Drama course, during which a drama teacher came to a "different" playmaking process, guiding children to direct their own dramas, without…

Describes three innovative courses, focused on Mexican cultural performances, developed to help raise college students' knowledge and understanding of other cultures and help students gain critical insights into their own cultures and themselves through comparative reflection. Student assessments suggested that students had positive reactions to…

Describes how a theatre educator brought together her acting students and her playwriting students so that the playwrights could see their work performed and acting students see the relationships among performer, director, and playwright. Discusses matching plays to players, customizing scripts, "showtime," and adapting the project. (RS)

Describes a fund raising project, the "palette of prizes," to raise money for theatre for children in Blair County, Pennsylvania. Discusses creation of theater presentations involving nearly the entire student body. Suggests 11 lessons for other communities interested in using Blair County's arts education programming as a model. Discusses…

Discusses the creation of a group from Interplay 1997 (an international festival of young playwrights) that would write a play on the Internet and present the finished piece at Interplay 1999. Suggests that Internet collaboration could be useful to high school theater students and teachers. Presents a list of skills the playwrights taught each…

Describes the development of a program that incorporates materials for 8 productions with an interest in: opening the doors to theatre by using dramatic working materials; building a bridge between the education institution and the art institution; and expanding educational understanding and repertoire by learning art production processes. (SC)