Directors of plays can make rehearsals interpretively productive, but they must first reject directorial approaches such as beginning rehearsals without analyzing the script, projecting images of the play as it is read, and using the script merely to summarize meanings, static themes, morals, and nothing more. Making rehearsals interpretively…

Dramatic theory in the past has been confused with hypothesis, hunch, manifesto, and observation. It is, in fact, a scientific activity--much like theorizing in physics, human society, or art. The current state of the art of theory in the drama classroom faces many problems. Most theatre faculty offer courses called "Theory and…

This paper analyzes Paul Gregory's 1951 production of "Don Juan in Hell," now considered to be a seminal work in the development of professional and educational readers theatre. The paper contends that the production, which presented a nondramatic work without the usual emphasis on design and spectacle, forced a reexamination of the role…

Believes that children's theater can reach a new level of acceptance and importance despite reduced resources, but practitioners must emphasize quality, standards, artistry, and professionalism, not just quantity and enthusiasm. Considers ways to guarantee and reward artistry. (PD)

Presents opinions of professionals on the current state of the high school play. Participants include a playwright, play supplier, high school theater instructor, workshop leader, and play publisher. Discusses selection, production, and performance of plays. (JMF)

This paper (1) examines textbooks in group performance of literature to determine how they describe the use of stage light in production; (2) explicates the four qualities and five functions of stage light; (3) explicates the four structural tensions of a text as defined by J. H. Maclay (1972); (4) considers their application to the production of…

Highlights the new copyright law as it applies to television and films, particularly the concept of fair use. Discusses the problems the new law has presented to the educational use of copyrighted video and film material and suggests that such users organize to present their position more effectively. (JMF)

Although the situations in which and for which drama teachers are trained vary widely, six principles can be applied to virtually all drama education programs. First, drama teacher education must be based upon the contexts in which the students will be teaching. Second, drama teacher education should be based upon the interpersonal skills both of…

Community Drama with Youth is an as yet marginalized practice in the larger drama education field. Yet Community Drama with Youth, and other community youth arts, are fueling a burgeoning after-school youth arts movement. This paper considers federal policies which have shaped youth arts in the last several decades, and the ways in which these…

Presents and analyzes the formation, characteristics, and growth of feminist theatre groups as tactical responses to certain rhetorical problems faced by women liberationists. (JMF)

Analysis of speech communication studies reveals a number of themes in the arts. A central concern in studies dealing with oral interpretation is what should be the focus in the oral interpretive act. The shifting priorities parallel the shift in emphases occurring in speech communication as a whole: performer/delivery; text/message;…

In physical education, the emphasis on the performance component of teacher education programs has perpetuated the idea of preparing teachers whose competence is primarily in coaching team sports. A more balanced approach, with emphasis on all forms of physical activity and under the instruction of performing artists, is proposed. (JN)

Presents a study of the use of serious subject matter in plays for youth by (1) tracing the trends of increasing advocacy and acceptance of such subject matter and (2) outlining patterns in the ways in which such subject matter is presented, focusing on original, contemporary plays, written by American playwrights. (JC)

Various aspects of the role of the state in fostering creative art and cinematography are discussed in the two reports presented in this volume. In "The Role of the Market in the Relation Between the State and Cinematographic Creation" Jean Lescure emphasizes that this relationship should be viewed as one of complicity rather than…

Serious discussion of the status of children's culture in Sweden began 15 to 20 years ago. Today, it is increasingly realized that children need and have a right to personal artistic experiences. A report presented in the spring of 1983 by the National Council for Cultural Affairs on interaction between preschools and local cultural life prompted…