How to Facilitate a Student-Led Production

One of the most empowering projects you can take on in your program is to give your students the opportunity to run a production themselves from beginning to end. It shows students that theatre is not just about being onstage. It’s also about directing, designing, managing, problem solving, and supporting others. A student-led production will build leadership, confidence, collaboration, and ownership.

And it doesn’t have to be huge or complicated. Start small and simple. Focus on the process of letting students lead themselves through each task rather than a perfect product. This is educational theatre at its finest.

Here is an easy way to get started with your first student-led production.

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Step 1: Choose the right show.

Discuss and decide with your students something manageable. For your first time out, pick a project that has some unique characters and a few tech options (e.g., vignette plays that need lighting and sound transitions from scene to scene, different character costume options) but keep it short and relatively “easy.”
Good options include:

• One-act play
• Series of short scenes
• Readers theatre presentation
• Showcase of monologues or devised work
• Student-written piece

Look for pieces with:

• Relatively easy tech requirements
• Small casts or flexible casting
• Simple costume and set requirements

Keep reminding yourself and your students: The goal is not a Broadway spectacle, it’s growth. Get through all the steps with confidence, communication, and collaboration.

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Step 2: Assign student leadership roles.

What roles will your students fill? Who are your leaders? Do you have students who have indicated what they’d like to do? First, you want a student leader in each of the following roles:

• Student director
• Stage manager
• Tech designers: lighting, sound, costume, set, props, hair and make-up

You may find that you don’t have enough tech students and have to combine roles. You may find that you need to simplify the tech and just focus on one or two, for example, lighting and sound. You may find that you have more than one student who wants to direct. Discuss and determine how the leadership roles will be assigned in your situation and with your students.

Once you decide on your student leaders, determine who will assist your leaders. Emphasize to students that it’s important to work as a team. Theatre is not a solo venture! Will you have a student director and an assistant director? A stage manager and an assistant stage manager? Who will operate your lighting and sound board? Who will be on your stage crew?

Emphasize to student leaders that they are in charge of communicating with their departments. For example, the costume designer must work with the costume crew to determine where the costumes will come from, how they will be organized, and who will execute any quick changes during the show.

Another area of leadership which you could add to your student-led production is marketing and publicity. How will your students publicize the play? Your marketing lead could also do double duty as the house manager during the run of the show.

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Step 3: Set clear expectations.

Students thrive when they know what is expected of them. You may find that many of your students have no idea of the many steps that go into a production beyond what they’ve experienced onstage, or how to execute those steps with regard to communicating and collaborating with others. Clarify:

• Rehearsal schedules
• Attendance expectations
• Communication methods
• Deadlines
• How students are expected to collaborate with each other
• What decisions students truly control
• Your role as facilitator and when you will step in for safety or legal reasons

Create a short written agreement at the start of the process outlining that students understand what’s expected of them. Nothing formal or scary. Just a reminder that they are taking on responsibility and that others are counting on them.

The hardest part will be letting students make their own decisions. Your role should be more of an outside eye rather than a traditional director. For example, when students are blocking a scene, watch what they’re doing, ask questions, and only offer suggestions if asked.

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Step 4: Practice ensemble building.

The biggest secret weapon to a well-run student-led production is a strong ensemble. If you want students to work together, communicate well, and collaborate, they need to feel like they belong in the group, that they are in a space that encourages risk and supports failure. Start the process by having your student leaders take the class through ensemble building exercise such as:

• Improv games for collaboration
• Warm-up games
• Games that encourage communication
• Trust building

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Step 5: Teach them how to plan.

The last thing you want to do is throw a script at your students and say “See you on opening night!” There are parts of preparing a show that your students won’t have done before. Teach them how to plan out the needs of the different departments, identify who will execute tasks, and let your students take the lead. Some example tasks are:

• Create a rehearsal calendar.
• Identify props, costume, and set needs.
• Assign specific tasks to crew members with deadlines.
• Plan advertising or announcements.
• Set goals for each rehearsal.

Let students handle delegation, scheduling, and progress checks, using calendars and peer accountability to meet production goals, even when setbacks occur.

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Step 6: Rehearse the rehearsal process.

Another area where students will only have experienced one aspect of the process is a rehearsal. Your student directors may have some great ideas, but do not assume they automatically know how to run a rehearsal that is both effective and efficient. Before you start your show, model a typical rehearsal, emphasizing basic skills such as:

• Starting rehearsal on time
• Running warm-ups
• Setting clear goals
• Giving simple, kind notes
• Staying focused
• Ending on time

Then step back and let your student directors run a short practice rehearsal. Reflect together afterward on what worked and what was challenging.

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Step 7: Let students make choices.

Again, the most difficult part of this for you as a seasoned teacher/director is letting students take the lead when it comes to making decisions for their show. They should decide on the artistic vision, concept, look, and mood for the production. Students will need to communicate their choices and collaborate across departments to ensure cohesion. Some decision making areas include:

• Blocking and staging
• Costumes
• Lighting cues and music transitions
• Poster designs
• Program content

And if students make decisions that don’t work, let them problem solve. How can they revise, adapt, and build on what they’ve done? You are still the safety net. You support. You ask questions. You redirect when necessary. But when possible, let them own the process. Even if the choice is not the one you would have made.

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Step 8: Build in reflection.

Reflection helps students see how much they have grown throughout a process. Have students complete rehearsal tracking journal entries where they reflect at the end of each class on what they’ve done, what went well, and what needs improvement. How are they working on communication and collaboration skills? What is the next task?

A performance can always evolve through feedback and reflection. After the project, ask students to respond to questions like:

• What surprised you about leading or working on this show?
• What did you learn about yourself?
• When did you have to adapt?
• How did you manage frustration in rehearsals?
• How did you do with time management throughout this project?
• What was the most challenging part of the process?
• What is something you are proud of?
• What would you do differently next time?

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Final Thoughts

A student-led production can be messy, imperfect, joyful, and powerful. Students will discover they are capable of so much more than they thought. Hopefully, the biggest takeaway for students is that theatre is a community effort and not just a spotlight. Here’s to helping your students shine in new ways!

Want more? Don’t forget to check out:
The Student Director’s Handbook

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