This book contains papers presented at an "Interactive Research Conference" held in June 1996 at the University of Central England. The conference focused on the pioneering work of Professor Dorothy Heathcote in the field of drama in education. Twenty-three different countries were represented at the conference. The book has three…

The (CBS Radio) Columbia Workshop, formed in 1936, encouraged the writing and production of creative, non-traditional radio drama such as Archibald MacLeish's verse play "The Fall of the City," which aired on April 11, 1937. MacLeish considered radio the ideal medium for poetry because it offers only aural stimuli without competition…

As part of the theatre studies program offered by Montgomery County (Maryland) senior high schools, this instructional guide for advanced acting is designed to train students in the rigorous skills of preparing and presenting a character in performance. After listing 11 educational objectives, including being able to identify character elements…

Most performer-writers accept the writing process simply as a means to an end: the shared performance event with a live audience. While writer-performers regard a script as more important than the performance, a solo performance is, however, a showcase of the artist's talent, and creating one's own text offers the performer artistic control. Some…

GRADES OR AGES: Secondary grades. SUBJECT MATTER: Oral communications. ORGANIZATION AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: The central portion of the guide is divided into five units: public speaking, voice and diction, drama, oral interpretation, and radio-television. Each unit is in straight text or list form. The guide is offset printed and perfect-bound…

Describes a method of re-directing the components of external rhetorical analysis to the intrinsic boundaries of a play and discusses the benefits of such a method as a critical tool in the oral interpretation of dramatic literature. (MH)

Details a case study of using narrative theater to engage with a wider variety of subject matter. Defines narrative theater as a group performance that features narrative as the primary expressive vehicle. Outlines the process of writing and directing a student performance of Tim O'Brien's novel "The Things They Carried," which deals with the…

One of the rhetorical dimensions on which theatre exists is the rhetoric of production. This implies that the production, through examples, takes and urges an attitude toward the text. This argument provides a foundation for both the nature and the implications of interpreters theatre productions that advocate social issues. Theatrical…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 25 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) ensemble as a process of actor training; (2) perspectives on the verbal performance of jest, abuse, and contest; (3) a course design for teaching black drama;…

Summarizes seven documents on oral interpretation from the ERIC system, and states that they can be used to show students the importance of reading aloud with skill. Cites that they also provide suggestions for using oral interpretation in the study of many types of literature and contexts. (MM)

The novel "The Women's Room," by Marilyn French, deserves an audience both because of the timely feminist issues it addresses and because of its formal experimentation with points of view. An interpretive theatre version of the story was performed twice in 1982-83, using a script adapted from the novel, and a modified chamber theatre…

Seven suggestions are made in response to the question, "What kind of speech communication research can one do in the area of First Amendment rights?": (1) that rhetoricians reexamine loyalty-oath cases and examine lines of argument, reasoning, and language of the attorneys and judges; (2) that experts in language and style lead research…

Discusses the advantages of teaching students the language of public performance, focusing on drama but providing implications for the reading of poetry as well as for public speaking. (RL)

Discusses the development of drama as a learning tool for children's language development. Applies James Britton's methods of language classification to the construction of functional categories of language that operate within the framework of drama and creative dramatics. (RL)

Designed to help students respond in a positive way to poetry, poetry theater integrates dramatic technique with various aspects of reading, writing, analyzing, and reciting poetry. Poetry theater presentations require approximately five class periods to complete, allowing 45 minutes per class. The first class period should be devoted to choral…