Open Forum

In an effort to adapt to our state's ever-changing educational standards, our school has decided to offer Advanced Acting as a course.  This will be the only theatre-related course we are offering this year.  As the theatre director, I have been tasked with teaching the class.  I am a social studies and CTE Business teacher.  I have never taught a fine arts course but I do have years of experience in the content.  My problem is the state's lack of guidance on what to teach in this course.  We do have a very broad set of theatre standards and I do have access to the national theatre standards.  I do have a model curriculum map (see attached).  My question is this...what do I use as resources to teach this?  Those who have taught this course, what plays have you used?  How have you built the class?

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Michael Putt
Teacher
Western High School
IN
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Wow - you have an amazing curriculum mapped out for you!  It looks like you just need to plug in some plays.  I suggest the following that I have read with my high school students:

Almost, Maine - Cariani (for beat work and analyzing a play for theme)

The Heidi Chronicles - Wasserstein (for design work)

The Mousetrap - Agatha Christie (for accent work) 

Intimate Apparel - Nottage (play analysis)

The Odd Couple - Simon (play analysis and then playwriting about odd couples)

Break a leg with this new course :)

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Marla Blasko
Director/Teacher Theatre Arts
Long Reach High School
Columbia, Maryland
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I've had success using Meisner repetition and Viewpoints for warm-ups-they get students out of their heads and into the space quickly, which helps them connect better in scene work.

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Gazz walker
CA
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