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  • 1.  Please Recommend Theatre Textbooks for High School

    Posted 10-23-2025 08:49

    Hello. We have used THE STAGE AND THE SCHOOL for at least 30 years as a support text in our theatre classroom. It is a useful text but appears to not have been updated since app. 2002. I am having trouble finding new material to integrate into a four-year theatre program.

    My district is willing to update so I need recommendations. I am wondering if others use an alternate foundational text in their theatre classroom. Maybe there are college textbooks that might work.

    I know theatre is an active classroom and not especially text dependent. But we need some support material for our four-year program.

    Here is the list I currently have but none of them are especially comprehensive like a text book would be:

    • The Stanislavski System: The Professional Training of An Actor by Sonia Moore (this is a condensed version of the Stans system that is much easier for HS students)
    • Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen
    • Stanford Meisner on Acting by Stanford Meisner 
    • Backwards and Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays by David Ball
    • Acting One by Robert Cohen (I know you use this one!)
    • Freeing the Natural Voice by Kristen Linklater
    • Ghostlight: An Introductory Handbook for Dramaturgy by Michael Chemers

    Please throw any additional titles my direction so I can check them out. Thanks in advance.

    mark



    ------------------------------
    Mark A. Zimmerman,

    Theatre Director
    Akron School for the Arts
    Firestone Community Learning Center
    470 Castle Blvd
    Akron, Ohio 44313

    Troupe 5570

    mzimmerm@apslearns.org
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Please Recommend Theatre Textbooks for High School

    Posted 10-24-2025 07:59

    I don't have a full set of student textbooks anymore, but here are my go-to resources:

    Theatre: Art in Action (I don't think this has been updated, but I like it)

    Acting Is Believing: Stanislavski in the 21st Century: Stilson, Kenneth L., Clark, Larry D., McGaw, Charles, Butz, Norbert Leo: 9781538171776: Amazon.com: Books (I used a much older version of this for years -- I'd love to read the new edition!)

    Acting Onstage and Off by Robert Barton

    Outdated but still useful -- A Practical Handbook for the Actor (or there's actually an old Teaching Theatre article that sums up this technique beautifully) and Michael Shurtleff's Audition.



    ------------------------------
    Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
    Theatre, Film, and Communications Instructor
    Shenandoah Valley Governor's School
    Fishersville, VA
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: Please Recommend Theatre Textbooks for High School

    Posted 10-24-2025 11:03

    One that I really like for Intro Theatre is Basic Drama Projects, 9th ed. (there may be a newer edition now. This is a few years old.) It's from Perfection Learning. It's also a good text for the practicality of teaching theatre. I often am pulled in a hundred different directions throughout the school day and have to rely on a lot of self-guided projects for my students, so this text helps facilitate that. 



    ------------------------------
    Brandon Shoemaker
    Director of Theatre
    Texas High School
    TX
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  • 4.  RE: Please Recommend Theatre Textbooks for High School

    Posted 10-27-2025 09:10
    Check out RAISING THE CURTAIN published by Perfection Learning, 2 years of curriculum, which I have used for elementary, high school and Teachers PDs

    Gai Laing Jones gaijones2013@gmail.com
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  • 5.  RE: Please Recommend Theatre Textbooks for High School

    Posted 10-28-2025 08:13
    For the process of Acting, I like Acting: The Active Process by Tom McNally.

    Theresa Nigus
    FZN Theatre Department
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    Act Well Your Part, There All The Honor Lies

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  • 6.  RE: Please Recommend Theatre Textbooks for High School

    Posted 10-27-2025 09:11
    The High School Theatre Lighting Rep Plot. 
    While not specifically a "text book" this book provides the following lesson material on the theory of stage lighting…
    THE FOUR PROPERTIES OF LIGHT
    INTENSITY
    DISTRIBUTION
    BEAM ANGLES AND FIELD ANGLES
    CALCULATING BEAM ANGLES
    MOTIVATING LIGHT
    LIGHTING THE ACTORS
    LIGHTING THE SET
    EFFECT AND MOOD LIGHTING
    COLOR
    WHITE LIGHT
    COLORED LIGHT
    SATURATED LIGHT
    COLOR MIXING
    ADDITIVE COLOR MIXING
    SUBTRACTIVE COLOR MIXING
    CHOOSING GELS
    THE COLOR OF AN OBJECT
    MOVEMENT
    MOTIVATED LIGHT
    MCCANDLESS' LIGHT PLOT
    AREA LIGHTING
     
    …and then provides a step-by-step process to design, hang, focus, and patch your own rep plot in your school theatre.
     
    BTW, I wrote it(!).  You can find it on Amazon, and also here at https://www.presett.org/hstheatrebooks.html.


    ------------------------------
    Lyz Rand, EBMS

    Lighting Designer:
    StageDoor Theatre, Conifer CO

    Cruise Ship Theatre Career Consultant:
    www.CruiseTechies.com

    Land Lubber Advisor:
    www.PRESETT.org
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Please Recommend Theatre Textbooks for High School

    Posted 10-27-2025 09:11

    Hello, Friends!

    I am, of course, biased, but many have enjoyed my acting text, "Acting at the Speed of Life; Conquering Theatrical Style." In the past, I've offered free perusal copies to teachers, but I've also begun a video series (with 10 chapters now posted) of the book as an "in person" workshop experience. You can find that series at my YouTube channel: /TimMooneyRep. Enjoy!



    ------------------------------
    Tim Mooney
    Tim@TimMooneyRep.com
    www.TimMooneyRep.com
    www.Moliere-In-English.com
    www.BreakneckShakespeare.com
    ------------------------------



  • 8.  RE: Please Recommend Theatre Textbooks for High School

    Posted 11-03-2025 09:41

    For a comprehensive textbook, the best I've seen is "Theatre: Art in Action" and its supporting materials. Amazing. and definitely comprehensive.

    For the instructor, discover ahead of time all "the other things" that lurk beyond lesson plans and rehearsals, that will come up during the year when working in a school setting, with Real-World Theatre Education. 

    For many, the tech stuff is the weak link, so investigate Teaching Tech You Never Learned and Theatre Safety Guide.

     
    And...beyond books...get (and give) live advice from colleagues at the Theatre Educators Network, a monthly meeting online. Details at https://ThEd.network


    ------------------------------
    Douglas "Chip" Rome
    Theatre Consultant
    Educational Stages
    Burke VA
    http://EducationalStages.com
    https://bit.ly/RWTEOview
    https://bit.ly/eTeachTech
    ------------------------------



  • 9.  RE: Please Recommend Theatre Textbooks for High School

    Posted 11-03-2025 09:42

    I really like The Theatre Experience by Edwin Wilson (the 15th edition was published in 2022).  I have the 13th edition and I use lots of different sections for different units of study (Stanislavski, Greek Theatre, Symbolic/Representational Theatre).  The reading level is appropriate for high school and each edition updates the examples and show photos.  It is expensive (especially the hard covers), so I'm not sure if your district will pay for a whole class set.  I scan and post sections on Google Classroom for the students.



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    Jill Sunderland
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