Open Forum

This year, I've asked for student input and feedback on play selection (first time I've tried this after years of just choosing the shows myself).   Would love some advice from those of you who have done this. 

My committee of students that is advising me has taken the process seriously (to their credit) and they have fully considered all of the criteria that I have asked them to consider for selection and the shows that they are proposing are realistically do-able for us.

As one might expect, all of the titles they're proposing are very "fun" titles that are crowd pleasers without much educational value (imo) and/or are not very challenging for them.  I'm fine with ONE of our shows being a fun crowd pleaser, but I also want some balance in our season.  

So, I'm considering going with ONE of the shows they recommended, but then choosing the other show myself. 

I didn't promise them that they would get to choose a certain number of shows, but I'm also concerned that no matter what I do, they'll end up with hurt feelings unless I choose only the shows they proposed (even though I explicitly did not promise them that). 

For those of you who allow student input on shows, what advice do you have for navigating this discussion?

  NOTE: I'm respectfully asking for specific constructive advice on this.  I am well aware that many teachers don't allow student input precisely to avoid situations like this, so I don't need to be reminded/told why I shouldn't allow them to have input.  This is the decision I have made this year...so I'd like to make it work as best I can. 

Can you go back to the students and tell them what you've just told us? Let them know that as a teacher, you have a responsibility to make certain they get to experience a wide range of shows and styles and that this is their chance to find an issue they want address through theater. 

And I think it's great you're doing this. I think the process will only get stronger and smoother next year as you incorporate what you've learned from them this year.

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Ken Buswell
Drama Teacher
Peachtree City, GA
http://mcintoshtheater.org/

Theater kills ignorance
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I used to feel like students would not choose titles that were "good for them." I still think that is true to some degree. They just don't have the experience to know enough titles and genres. But there is also something to be said for student buy-in and having an enthusiastic audience.

After we returned to fully in-person school, I finally started to ask my students for their input. In the fall of 2021, we put on CLUE On STAGE and it was a total hit. They proposed it, gave a clear rationale, and ultimately, they were right. It was just what we needed. I was reticent due to the technical demands of the show, but ultimately, we made it work and we had great audiences. The kids were enthusiastic, felt heard, and were up to the demands of the show.

Last spring, I chose this year's full season -  our theme was CARPE DIEM and our shows were The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and Newsies, along with one-acts These Shining Lives, A Rare Condition, and 21 Chump Street. It was a great year, and we did shows that my students would never have chosen.

This spring, I combined these ideas by having my advanced students propose a season theme, a play, two one-acts, and a musical. No one group came up with a clear winner, but their proposals inspired my choices. Each of next season's shows was proposed by my students. This year's theme LIMITLESS is evident in our planned fall play, Marian, the True Tale of Robin Hood, our one-acts Alice in Wonderland, and a student-written play, along with our planned musical Legally Blonde. My students did not suggest writing their own one-act - that was my own contribution, but the rest of the shows were suggested by different proposals.

I think there is real value in having students contribute to show selection and I encourage you to use their suggestions as a starting point and add in what you think they need to develop their acting and technical skills.

I have a play evaluation committee. After a couple of tries, we've found that it works well for my tech director and I to choose ~3 plays per slot (fall play, spring musical) that we think would be a good fit/doable for our group, then ask students to evaluate those choices. I prepare a summary, full synopsis, and (where possible) copy of the script.

My feedback forms are pretty extensive; I tell students that they'll get to express their preference but that they also need to consider each play on its own merit, so my questions are along the lines of: 

"What would be new, different, interesting, or exciting for ACTORS in [Play A]?"

"What would be new, different, interesting, or exciting for DESIGNERS/TECHNICIANS for [Play A]?"

"What would be new, different, interesting, or exciting for AUDIENCES seeing [Play A]?" 

Repeat for Play B, Play C, etc. You can also ask about what they think might be good challenges for each show, etc. Then, "What is your PERSONAL first choice, and why?" If students want input, they have to be ready to think deeply! I offer 1 thespian point for being on this committee.

I also tell them that while their feedback will be a primary deciding factor, it is not the only factor; admin feedback, licensing availability/fees, tech needs, balance with other shows in the season... are all also considered!

It's also nice to have their written answers to be able to share with admin, which shows them how the students are engaging with the process and can help with admin push-back, if that ever comes up.

I get a little nervous when teachers tell me that their students vote on a show or are heavily involved with show selection. While I love that students are learning about the programming process, things can get a bit tricky if the shows aren't available or the students post about the show prior to confirming licensing. I advise applying for licensing once the group gets to the top three or four titles for each season slot, determining availability, voting, paying for the license, and then announcing the show.

Blake, I think you can select one of their recommendations and one of your own that is more challenging or resonant.  Ultimately, it is your responsibility to fashion a season that will utilize your available talent to advantage, while allowing your students opportunities for true growth.  If you choose a show based on those criteria, they should respect that decision and embrace the challenge (after they fume and fret a while.)

Maybe for next year, you might add something to the criteria about balancing a season. 

Kudos to you for inspiring them to take the job seriously!

CJ  

Hi Blake - While my input might not help for this year, I can tell you what we have done in the past. We created a "Thespians' Choice" show option where we chose three different plays and allowed all inducted Thespians to vote. This allowed us to have some control over the factors others have mentioned like rights availability, tech requirements, etc. We thought it might be an annual tradition but we haven't picked it up since Covid. But, it worked well for us and the kids really got into the voting and justifying their reasons. We did it as a class project in all the classes. Hope this adds to the other ideas you've received. 

Good luck in the process!

I just have a suggestion box that the students can put their ideas into. I do get some joke suggestions which is fun but I get a lot of good ideas as well as some new-to-me scripts to research. Many years we do shows from the suggestions but not always. I also try to do at least one show that they'll be immediately excited about as well as something they may not know but is going to be good for them, their growth, and their understanding of the different ways we can tell stories on stage. I try to think about every four year cycle as one big well balanced season. 

I worry that when students have so much information about what shows are under consideration it's more likely that when the going gets tough, rather than staying positive to a good end result there will be more "this is why I voted for (insert show we didn't end up choosing)."

I organized a play selection committee. Any student who wanted to participate could be on the committee. I had a large stack of scripts that I said I was looking at. The committee divide up into small groups and took one, two, or three scripts, read them and then came back to the committee with their evaluation. They were to look at appropriateness, casting requirements, and technical requirements. We then divided the stack into three groups. No, yes, and maybe. They could also submit any scripts they thought would be good for the program.  The students had buy in and understood the problems with choosing a script for the program. The stack of scripts were always plays that I wanted to do but like I said, the students could submit their own ideas, too. 

For me, I don't organize them into a reading committee or anything like that. We use Slack to communicate quickly and organizedly so I just created a channel called Playsuggestions and told them to join and if they wanted to, suggest plays.

Here is what I have learned, for musicals: they have great suggestions and ideas, for plays: they simply don't know any, they aren't exposed to them in the same way that they are exposed to musicals and the process of finding plays is not conducive to them finding good and challenging work short of a spending a bunch of money. 

The stuff that is able to be read for free, while so much of it is good in its own way is certainly not what I would qualify as challenging work most of the time and trying to sift through that non-challenging work for the gems is very hard. 

If you want them to find some stuff that may be on the meatier side, without a massive financial investment, maybe get a membership to New Play Exchange. While you are with them let them sort through for some titles that intrigue them, download and email those plays to them for review. New Play Exchange is like $12 a year and is full of great new work from both established and up and coming playwrights. 

At my high school, I have drama students pick 6 plays/musicals that they would like to do at school. Then I pick 6 plays/musicals that I think are relevant to current issues and follow much of the guidelines that you have. Because we are based off who comes to the plays and community members, I then create a bracket where I put one of my plays against the student plays and we have a battle of the plays month. Where everyone in the community (school and town if wanted) votes on which they like best. I make sure to put a brief summary of the play so they don't have to look it up. This will be my 2nd year doing it and it creates a lot of interest and hype for the next years plays. You are also able to fudge the numbers a bit if it is swaying to a play that you aren't liking or know you can't do and say it is what the community wanted.

I also agree with Ken and just tell them what you said to us. It sounds like they are a good group of kids.

Hi Blake,

I think student input is great! It's a wonderful opportunity to teach students about the selection process and we all know the process is never as easy as it seems.  Our troupe created a Play/Musical Reading Committee that functions like a book club. Students run the committee and it's meetings, and they actually put together a very detailed list of criteria plays and musicals need to meet in order to be proposed for production. 

I also established a four year rotation cycle so students walk away with a well rounded experience. Contemporary(21st century playwright), Period/Shakespeare, Modern(20th century playwright), Wild Card.

Last year I offered administration the Playwrighting Committee's selection and two of my own. I decided to go with the Committee's selection, as it fit into the rotation cycle perfectly. 

On the advice side, I would just be honest with your students. I bet you'll find they appreciate your honesty and understand your reasoning. Students aren't going to learn and understand the play selection process without your guidance. 

Hope this is helpful.

Sincerely,

Rebecca~

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