Comments on the mistrustful attitude toward feeling and the biological body in feminist theories of performance. Proposes that recent developments in cognitive neuroscience and neurophysiology can provide a way to reengage issues of feeling, consciousness and performance. Calls for feminists to reconsider not only Stanislavsky-based approaches to…

Discusses the possibilities of working with high school students as researchers of culture and language in their own school communities. Features a short ethnographic play entitled, "No Pain, No Gain," which dramatizes the difficulty of preparing an oral presentation in a second language. (Author/VWL)

Asserts that directors and teachers should understand a script from the points of view of the audience, playwright, and characters. Explains how making notations in a script can help actors find, make and remember choices while acting. Explains a notation system for "scoring" a script. Concludes that teaching students how to score their parts…

Outlines an investigation into the types of learning experienced by adolescents involved in recreational youth theater. Proposes that youth theater has the capacity to provide essential rites of passage for young people. Concludes that drama has the potential to be a creator of consciousness during adolescence. (PM)

Describes interactional drama as an instructional technique designed to make history more interesting and meaningful to children. Discusses several types of interactional scenarios. Provides two examples for teachers interested in implementing an interactional drama scene to the classroom. (RW)

Reviews the prominent portrayals of women as heroes and harbingers of social reconstruction in the dramas of Nigerian playwright Femi Osofisan. Juxtaposes the new class of women whose sound judgment and racial consciousness contrast with that of an older, reactionary class. (FMW)

Discusses how to promote students' active participation when studying a theater text. Suggests activities for exploring Shakespeare's "Macbeth" (activities which can be used with any theater text), focusing on the role of the playwright, visual design in stagecraft, and casting the play. (MM)

Interviews Joseph Papp, director and founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival. Discusses how to teach Shakespeare to high school students. (MM)

High school classmates wrote a play, "Empty Chairs," as a classroom assignment. The play has won national acclaim for its powerful message of the tragedy and futility of suicide. A videotape of the play is available and is currently being shown by schools and other organizations across the nation. (MLF)

Describes drama learning strategies applicable to many curriculum areas and pieces of literature. Explains how such strategies were used to explore a Chinese folk tale in a 45-minute session with second graders. (RS)

As a dramatic arts professor's experience shows, children's lack of arts education inhibits their ability to communicate ideas spontaneously, respond with feeling, and discern quality from commercial junk. By contrast, a role-playing/research activity with 15 youngsters helped students express themselves creatively and build community in a…

Suggests that extracurricular activities have come about in part to appease the guilt of English teachers who, though in love with language, have had to do horrible things to it to meet institutional needs. Reviews the redeeming qualities of student newspapers and drama projects. (TB)

Describes an academic discussion on assessment in which 35 teachers and administrators from New Jersey took part. States that three panelists brought to life the educational concept of teaching the "whole person" through the arts. Describes the exercises in which the participants joined, including dance, and an improvisational scene.…

Describes a yearlong project at 12 Catholic middle schools in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, to incorporate the plays of William Shakespeare into the curriculum. Teachers attended university lectures and directed students in performances of the plays. Concludes that Shakespeare can be understood and enjoyed by middle school students. (BCY)

Considers ways of implementing collaborative learning techniques into the teaching of William Shakespeare in the high school English curriculum. Argues for allowing students to predict the action after viewing only one act of a play. Shows how group work enhanced students' thinking processes. (HB)