Culturally enriching field trips matter. They produce significant benefits for students on a variety of educational outcomes that schools and communities care about. This experiment on the effects of field trips to see live theater demonstrates that seeing plays is an effective way to teach academic content; increases student tolerance by…

The study of evil is one of the recurrent themes in the plays of Shakespeare. In "Macbeth," the playwright presents different dimensions of evil. The aim of this paper is to locate and examine the origin of evil in Lady Macbeth--whether evil is in her nature or not. Macbeth addresses her as "dearest partner of greatness",…

This article explores the aesthetics and ethics of participatory performance through "The Oh Fuck Moment" by Hannah Jane Walker and Chris Thorpe, a performance that aesthetically explores ethically troubling material and manipulation. Ethical criticism of participatory art in recent years has focused on the way the audience member is…

With my background in acting, stagecraft, and some knowledge of theatre history from high school and college, it was natural for me as a novice teacher to think about theatre as a metaphor for teaching. In this article I will discuss how over my career I conceived of teaching in terms of theatrical metaphors, and make a comparison with a common…

In the United Kingdom, curricular music education has seen two main waves of development and is in the process of shaping a third. Ideas from the second wave have maintained theoretical dominance to the present day, despite the concerns expressed by some about their practical implementation. This paper suggests that problems with the…

Practice as research and performance as research are methods that have developed significantly over the past decade and have subsequently caused debate within the creative arts industry and in university culture. During a research seminar at Goldsmiths University in 2011, Professor Dan Rebellato proposed the question: "What if there is no…

This paper explores an example of applied theatre and praxis learning in an Australian classroom with drama students aged 16-17 years which took the form of "real fiction" or social theatre monologue writing. It presents monologue responses from nine participants, altered by the researcher to protect identities and to tease out issues…

Could targeted inclusion initiatives press Canada's professional theatre community to tap the vast reserve of disabled people disenfranchised by its current practices? In 2015/2016, several long-standing professional institutions dedicated to fostering Canadian theatre joined with Canadian disability theatre artists in order to mark and understand…

Birmingham Rep, a leading producing theatre based in the UK's "second city", has historically had a complex relationship with the cultural priorities of its home city. In recent years, Birmingham City Council has faced multiple challenges represented by debt burden, government-imposed cuts in public funding, scandals linked to failing…

Following the devastating result of the May 2015 general election in the UK, the Institute for the Art and Practice of Dissent at Home organised "Compassion is dissent: Manifesto Slam." It put out an open call for participants, asking them to bring a three-minute manifesto as means of admission to the event. Here, the Institute showcases…

Ensemble practices have been essential to the performing and visual fine arts over centuries. The skills of working in ensembles, including team work and collaborative learning, are increasingly understood to be critical and transferable professional attributes. However, much teaching of ensembles is practical and embodied, relying on tacit…

The aim of the study was to evaluate if an intervention including theater in school sex education affects students' knowledge, attitudes, and behavior regarding condom use in Sweden. The study was a cluster randomized controlled trial. The intervention group got a play, value exercises, chlamydia games, condom school, and interactive replay with…

According to Duncan and Murnane (2011. "Introduction: The American Dream, Then and Now." In "Whither Opportunity?: Rising Inequality, Schools, and Children's Life Chances," edited by Greg J. Duncan, and Richard J. Murnane, 3-25. New York: Russell Sage Foundation), questions about teachers' commitment to schools that primarily…

This study explored how participating in a faculty development course based on improvisational theatre affects college instructors' ability to increase student engagement and learning. Theoretical foundations included engagement, active learning, collaboration and social interaction, the art of improvisational theater, and the practice of applied…

This article addresses how theatrical improvisation can be used as a creative teaching tool to develop English language learners' listening and speaking skills, to create an environment that encourages them to use the target language, and to gain confidence in their own abilities and experiences to become successful English speakers. Improvisation…