Problem Solving

We reached out on Facebook and Instagram, asking educators what qualities they admire in drama students. We received so many fantastic responses and have compiled a list of 10 of the most frequent admirable qualities mentioned. Your students undoubtedly already possess many of these qualities, which will also serve them in the real world. We’ve included some tips and links to articles that will help you nurture these qualities in your students, and help them grow and develop these qualities and skills even more — because practice makes progress. 1. Problem-solving skillsWhen problems arise, do your students figure things out themselves, or do they wait for you (or someone else) to step in? We want students to be able to problem-solve if something goes wrong, which it inevitably does in the theatre. Not only will this ensure that the show goes on, it’s an important skill that will serve students in their everyday lives. You can help your students practice problem solving with the following exercises: Problem-Solving for Student Directors, Last-Minute Fill-In, and Putting on a Class Production: Problem Solving. If your students are having trouble working together in groups, you can use these tips to help them learn to figure out their issues. 2. Taking initiative and willingness to help outThe next step up from solving problems independently is taking the initiative to identify what needs to be done and then doing it. Have students practice their management skills by doing the Plan, Execute, Reflect Exercise. They can also work on their leadership skills by leading warm-ups. If they have aspirations of working on a show in the future, they can work on developing the skills needed to do so, which includes taking initiative and helping out wherever they can. So many students are conditioned to ask an adult before attempting anything, or don’t have the social awareness to think about what’s going on around them. Try the OTA Challenge (Observe, Think, Act) found in the giveaway below to help students practice taking initiative in the drama classroom. 3. Risk-taking and willingness to step outside their comfort zoneWe encourage our drama students to take risks and step outside their comfort zones all the time. It’s not easy — students are often afraid of looking silly, and it can be hard to be vulnerable in front of your peers. It’s important to start with a strong foundation and build trust with your drama students through warm-up exercises and your own actions. This helps to instill confidence in your students to take risks and try new things, such as playing a difficult character. Knowing they are safe in the drama classroom to try different things, make mistakes, and try again allows students to take those risks. Which leads us to… 4. PerseveranceA famous quote attributed to Thomas Edison goes: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Our students are going to make mistakes and even fail at times. What matters is how they deal with it. They must pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and try again. So their scene fell a bit flat, or their audition wasn’t up to par. If students can extrapolate what they learned and apply it to their next attempt, they’re going to do great things. Never give up! To help your students practice persevering through difficult situations, have them try scenario exercises such as Production Challenges or the “What If” Game. This will help them come production time, when they are working through the last few weeks before showtime, which can be challenging. 5. CommitmentThere’s no way around this: drama class and participating in shows is a commitment. There are only so many hours in the day — are your students using them effectively? Drama students need to hold themselves accountable to honouring their commitments to drama class and/or the show they’re working on, and avoid overcommitting themselves, which leads to burnout and stress. This article focuses on distance learning but can be applied to many situations concerning commitment, whether the student is learning in person or online. Remind your students that sometimes they need to make tough choices, but if they want to be part of the drama scene, they need to show up. And while they’re there… 6. Strong work ethic and driveFor a student to succeed in drama class, they have to want to be there and be willing to put in the work. Many students assume that drama is an easy A, which we all know isn’t the case. Sometimes students will realize that drama class is challenging, and will try to push back against the teacher. The length of the rehearsal process may frustrate other students, who forget that they spend more time in rehearsal than on the final product. Have these students circle back to perseverance and remember that putting in the work will pay off in the long run. The successful drama student takes their work seriously and makes the time to improve by memorizing their lines early, practicing at home, and using their time in class effectively. 7. Being a team player and collaborating with othersUnless your students are doing self-produced one-person shows, they’ll need to get comfortable working with others. In drama class and in the theatre, it’s necessary. And frankly, it’s more fun! Teach your students about the difference between collaboration and teamwork using these tips and expert advice. Then, have them practice their teamwork and collaboration skills by creating a giant onstage, completing the Marshmallow Challenge, or trying various improv games for collaboration. 8. Ability and willingness to listenDrama class is all about actively listening to peers, scene partners, and instructions and advice from the teacher. Whether it’s receiving notes and feedback, participating in an improvised scene, or collaborating on a group project, listening is so important, and a great drama student will actively listen and then put the learning, advice, and notes into practice. If your students need practice actively listening (rather than just hearing), have them try these Hearing or Listening? and What Did You Say? activities. If your students need some help receiving feedback or giving effective feedback, we’ve got tips and activities for that too. 9. HumilityKeep the “drama” on the stage, within the confines of the play, not in the drama classroom. Nobody wants to work with a diva, so students need to learn to keep their egos in check. That being said, it can be difficult for students who aren’t happy with the role they’re given or feeling discouraged about being in the ensemble. We need to teach students about keeping an ensemble mindset and remembering that everyone is there for the same reason: to learn and put on a great show together. While we’re at it, remember those unsung heroes: the technicians, stage crew, and stage management. It’s easy for student actors to forget that unless they wish to appear onstage in the dark, in their street clothes, without music or sound, they need to respect the tech and stage management teams. They are the ones who truly make the show happen. 10. Compassion, empathy, and kindnessWhen it comes down to it, kindness, compassion, and empathy are king. These traits are essential for being a good human being, regardless of drama class. However, we can nurture these qualities in drama class with different exercises, such as finding empathy for the villain in a show you’re studying, analyzing your character without judgment, or literally walking in their shoes in rehearsal. You can then take these exercises a step further and use exit slips and reflections to think about how students can apply these exercises and activities to their everyday lives. Theatrefolk also has many plays focused on empathy that students can really sink into. So many students have expressed that drama class is a place where they can truly be themselves, so let’s continue to be that place where compassion and kindness are at the forefront of our teaching.

The rehearsal process is often exciting and often frustrating. The frustrations are the worst when they have nothing to do with the play itself. What do you do when… The cast doesn’t get alongIt’s inevitable that arguments will break out in your cast. Life gets in the way and it’s natural for fights to occur. First off, is this an issue of minor or major proportions? A tiff that will blow over, or a fight that is going to spill over onto the stage? Talk to each party individually. If you talk to them together, you may not get to the truth of the matter. Ask them how they feel about the production — can they put the play above their fight? If not, put the ball in their court. Give them a timeline for change and what will happen if the situation doesn’t change. Then stick to it. The actors don’t remember their linesStart working on the problem right away. Find out how those having trouble learn. Do they learn by repetition? Do they learn by writing out their lines? Listening to a recorded version of their lines? Taking the lines out of context? Everyone learns differently, so let them do so in their own manner. Set an early deadline for getting off-book. Use outside exercises to prevent the actors from falling into a lull as they learn. Don’t encourage paraphrasing — the playwright spent a lot of time on those words. Reward those who remember their lines word for word. The cast doesn’t get along with meThis requires a group talk. No whining. Address the situation, allow everyone to voice their opinion one by one, and then address the future. It could be that the cast is grumpy about the parts they’ve been given, or they don’t like the play, or you direct differently than their previous teacher, or life in general is getting them down. All of the above usually just needs to be aired out in the open to be solved. There’s no need to give out ultimatums about shutting the play down just yet. The cast won’t listen to meI hear this one quite a bit from student directors. There is sometimes a sense among the cast that if they are being directed by one of their peers, why should they listen? This requires a group talk. In the conversation, always bring it back to the play. Is the play important to them? If not, why are they involved? How will they feel if they perform an under-rehearsed play? How would they feel if they worked together? Maybe you’ll find out that you haven’t been clear about what you want for the play, or in how you direct the actors, and there’s a real reason the cast isn’t listening. The door swings both ways, so don’t rule out that you may be the problem. Air your own grievances, too. Tell the cast how much the play means to you and how upsetting it is that the project isn’t coming together. You might want to walk out or cancel rehearsal. This is for extreme circumstances only. Do not make it a habit. I don’t like the set design or costumesTalk to the designer. Reiterate your vision. There has to be a concrete reason why you don’t like it, in direct reference to the play. Make it a conversation, not an accusation. If the designer can concretely express their feelings about their work, you should listen to them. Negotiate, don’t dictate. Cast members are late for rehearsalIf you’ve clearly stated in your written expectations that lateness will not be tolerated, then you have to deal with the issue right away. Leave it, and everyone will see that you’re not serious about the rules and other problems may creep in. Have a clear outline for what happens after the first, second, and third late entrance. Do you have a five-minute grace period? Do you allow written notes explaining lateness? Do you have a strict no-lateness policy, where the late actor is not allowed in the rehearsal hall? Know what the consequences are and stick to them. Cast members are missing rehearsalsLife gets in the way, obligations arise, people are forgetful. But if you have clearly stated in your written expectations that they’ve signed that missing rehearsals is unacceptable, deal with the issue right away. Have a clear outline for what happens after the first, second, and third missed rehearsal. Do you allow written notes? Do you have a strict no-missed-rehearsal policy? Know what the consequences are and stick to them. The dress rehearsal is awfulThere’s a reason people say, “Bad rehearsal, good opening.” Bad dress rehearsals happen all the time! You can tell right away when the cast knows a run went poorly, so do you need to hammer it home? Sometimes it’s better to not say anything. Problems are going to occur in every rehearsal process. Clear communication is often the way to solve those problems. Reflect on issues you’ve had in past rehearsals and how you responded to them. What did you do?

Have you ever had a student come up to you after drama class or rehearsal and say, “I can’t do (xyz) that we’ve been working on. It’s too hard!” That can be difficult to hear, especially if you’ve been working on that topic or task for some time and this is the first you’re hearing about it. Is your student genuinely struggling and looking for help? Do they want you to make it easier for them? Or are they trying to give up? Here are 10 tips that can help you deal with student pushback if (or when) it arises: 1. Thank them for speaking up. It can be challenging for students to advocate for themselves. Let them know you’re glad they came to you with their concerns. 2. Have them explain the situation. Can they articulate specifically what they’re having difficulty with? Or is it a general feeling of defeat? Is this an individual problem, or does it affect other students as well? The more details the student can give you, the clearer the situation will be. 3. Ask them for potential solutions. What would they do in your situation? Can they suggest some options, or are they hoping you’ll just fix it for them? This gives you an idea of whether they want help or they just want to complain. As well, it may help you gauge how much effort they’re willing to put in to solve the issue. Are the possible solutions realistic? Are they timely? Do they affect others in any way? 4. Point out resources available to them. Do you have rehearsal videos available? Did the student ask for help from you or a classmate prior to this? Have they been practicing outside of class? Have they done the homework? In short, have they put in the work? 5. Meet them where they’re at. Can something be adjusted or simplified? For example, if they’re struggling with a piece of choreography in a dance number, can the movements be altered? (There may or may not be enough time to do so. How would it affect the other students?) Do they need a different way to look at it? Can you show them a video or article that would help them? 6. Consider the source. Is the work truly too hard or are they just complaining? What else is going on in their lives? Have any other teachers noticed similar things occurring in their classes? 7. Give them encouragement. Remind them that they can do hard things. Give specific examples if you have them. Here are 20 ways to praise your students. 8. At the same time, be honest. It’s good to pump them up but also let them know if, for example, you’ve noticed that they haven’t been using their class time effectively lately or they’ve waited until it’s too close to a deadline or show time to change something. Let them know how a change may affect the rest of the group, if it’s a group project. 9. Come up with a solution. Ultimately, you’ll both need to figure out what to do. You may be able to offer a compromise or give extra help or a new explanation, or there may not be anything you can do at that moment. The student is allowed to feel how they feel about the decision — it’s then up to them to decide how they’ll proceed. It can be a difficult pill for your student to swallow if they’re unhappy with the solution, but hopefully they can learn from the experience. 10.Don’t take it personally. You may feel frustrated or defensive if a student claims that what you’re doing is too hard, but drama class is meant to challenge students. Back up your work and take pride in what you’re teaching. Remember, you are an awesome educator!

This article was inspired by a situation that happened to me. Recently, I was directing a production of Disney’s Descendants: The Musical with a cast of 23 amazing students in grades 8, 9, and 10. I had been waiting to direct this show for two years — it was originally planned to run in the fall of 2020, but got postponed multiple times due to the pandemic. I was feeling run-down during tech week, which I chalked up to pre-run jitters and being out of practice for directing in person (I had directed two virtual shows in the meantime). However, I woke up on the morning of opening feeling awful. One rapid test later confirmed that I had Covid-19. What horrible timing. I had to miss the entire run of the show, which was incredibly disappointing. While it was an upsetting and stressful situation, I was fortunate to have an amazing creative team and supportive administrators who were able to jump in at the last minute to supervise the students and ensure the show went on as smoothly as possible. Nobody wants to anticipate being sick or absent, but having a bit of advance preparation in your pocket will reduce stress should the worst occur. Here are some tips: 1. Know your school’s supervision policies ahead of time.Learn your school’s policies for instructor absences in advance. They may vary depending on whether the production is class-related or an extracurricular activity. Who will supervise your students if you’re absent? Does it need to be an administrator or another teacher from the school? Could it be a parent volunteer? If you have hired a team member (such as a musical director or choreographer) who isn’t a teacher but is an adult, are they allowed to supervise? There also may be different considerations depending on when the performance is. For example, an evening or weekend performance versus a matinee during school hours. Knowing these policies in advance can help you make plans and avoid having to cancel a performance due to lack of supervision. 2. Lean on your teammates.Try not to be the only adult in charge throughout the whole process. If you’re directing a musical, you’re probably working with a musical director and choreographer who can take charge during the run of the show. But it’s not uncommon for the director to be the main (or only) adult in the room most of the time. Of course, it’s great to have lots of student leaders working on your show (including assistant directors, stage managers, backstage assistants, and technicians), and they can take the lead on making sure the show goes as planned. But while your students can run the show, they can’t supervise each other, even if they’re legally old enough to. Having additional adults involved in your production can reduce your stress load (which will prevent you from getting run down and possibly sick) and ensure that teacher-led responsibilities, such as locking up or adjusting the thermostat, are taken care of. It might be useful to make a checklist with these tasks on it, so the supervisor who will be filling in for you will know what to do and how to do it. 3. Establish a routine.Establishing a pre-show routine will help your students maintain some normalcy while you’re away. If possible, have students lead the routine — even when you’re well. It’ll be one less thing on your to-do list, it gives students leadership opportunities, and it gives them ownership over the pre-show process. 4. Communicate with and trust your students.While you’ve no doubt contacted your administrators and team members, you should also let your students know that you won’t be there with as much advance notice as possible. Don’t surprise them at call time by letting someone else share the news. You don’t need to give them all the details, just a brief message with any notes, to-dos, and words of encouragement. That way, they’ll be able to deal with the stress ahead of time, so they can focus on the performance. Trust that they’ll continue to give their best efforts during the run of the show, even without you physically present. During the rehearsal process, you might want to play the “What If” game to have students work on problem solving skills and see how they might react in a stressful situation. 5. Take care of yourself.While getting sick may have been inevitable, I know that pushing myself beyond my limits didn’t help. Engaging in self-care practices would have helped reduce my stress and may have helped me recover faster. Here are some resources from our blog: • Drama Teacher Self-Care (And No, We Don’t Mean Candles and Bubble Baths) • 20 Self-Care Actions for Drama Teachers • 12 Days of Drama Teacher Self-Care

Theatre is all about communication and collaboration. Students come together to tell a story and create a collective experience for an audience. When students are working together, it’s important to maintain healthy relationships within their group. This doesn’t mean that the students are all best friends. It does, however, involve trust and respect, a sense of community, and effective problem solving. Healthy relationships are built on trust, which is necessary when creating theatre.When they’re creating theatre, students need to be able to trust each other, no matter what role anyone is playing within the production. They need to be able to be vulnerable with each other and know that others in the production will support them. They need to trust that the actors will perform their lines and blocking accurately. They need to trust that stage management will call the cues correctly and that the technicians will complete their tasks efficiently. On top of that, they need to trust that their director (that’s likely you!) will help them grow in their roles and lead them through a successful production. By developing healthy relationships, students will build trust for each other, and vice versa — building trust leads to healthier relationships. They need to give and receive trust and respect. _Read more about trust: _ • Establishing Trust With Your Students • Warm-Up Exercises for Trust Building Healthy relationships contribute to a sense of community.As we said before, students aren’t immediately going to become best friends when they work on a production. But they will be spending many, many hours together working on the show. They’ll be spending their time, talents, and efforts to achieve a common goal. Through this process, students will bond through the shared experience of putting on a show together. A common bond creates a community. And when others see and sense this feeling of community, they’ll likely want to join in. Which means your drama program will grow! Read more about community: • Community-Building Warm-ups for the Drama Classroom • How to Build Community With Theatre Having healthy relationships will help students solve problems effectively in the heat of the moment.When students do live theatre, the question is not whether something will go wrong, but when. Part of building and maintaining healthy relationships is figuring out ways to solve problems as a team without playing the blame game. How students (and teachers!) react in the midst of a theatrical “crisis” will affect their relationships. When issues arise, everyone needs to remain calm and go into problem-solving mode. It’s the ultimate improvisation challenge! Knowing you have a strong team that you can depend on in the middle of a stressful moment is extremely reassuring. And if a student does panic and react poorly in the moment, having those healthy relationships will make it easier for them to apologize, seek forgiveness, and repair the relationship afterwards. Read more about problem solving: • Problem Solving: When Students Don’t Work Well Together • Problem Solving for Student Directors So how can you help your students develop healthy relationships? Try some of these: • Have students give each other Warm Fuzzies. • Praise your students and let them know you appreciate them. • Have students share their goals for the production with the Wish Jar exercise. • Encourage students to get together as a group outside of rehearsal to practice. • Have students explore their thoughts about healthy relationships by completing journal entries responding to questions on the topic (download some sample questions below). If they’re comfortable doing so, have them share their responses with their classmates. They may be surprised to discover that they have some thoughts in common with others.

Cancelling a show is a difficult decision. There isn’t a “one answer fits all” solution – it must be handled on a case-by-case basis. As much as possible, I believe that “the show must go on.” But sometimes, that’s not possible! It’s important to keep calm and consider various solutions before deciding to cancel. Bring your cast, crew, volunteers and staff together to see if there’s a way that the show you have all worked on can go on as planned. Cancelling can mean disappointment for your students and staff. On top of that, you’ve already paid for the rights to the show and possibly sold tickets, so you must consider the financial loss as well. I have dealt with many issues that have threatened a performance, and the only two reasons in my 10+ years of working in theatre that a show has been cancelled were weather-related – heavy snow prevented us from either getting to or getting into the building. Fortunately, in both cases, it was only one performance that was cancelled, not the full run of the show. Let’s look at a few situations that have threatened to cancel a show, and what we did about them. Power OutageI have been part of at least three productions that have experienced power outages. In the case of a power outage, the first priority must be the safety of your students, staff, and audience members. In one situation, the power went out first thing in the morning, and we were unable to enter the building. We notified our audience via social media that the performance would definitely be delayed, and might be cancelled. Since it was a beautiful sunny day, our first solution was to present the performance outside, in front of the building, using a battery-operated boom box. Luckily, the power came back on, and once everyone’s safety was ensured, we performed the show in our theatre. We didn’t have to cancel, just postpone, and we only had to refund two tickets – not too bad! Illness and/or InjuryOver the years, I have had many students contact me before a show to tell me they were sick or hurt. We had to come up with creative solutions and adjustments, but each time we were able to avoid cancelling the show. Here are just a few of them: • A student with laryngitis and no voice lip-synced onstage while another student spoke and sang his lines on a microphone backstage. • An assistant stage manager went on with script-in-hand for a student who was hospitalized due to the flu. • A student with a leading role who broke her ankle in between performances went onstage on crutches, with minor changes to her blocking and choreography (as well as changing her character’s summer job from a lifeguard to a pro shop staff member). • A different student with a leading role who broke his ankle prior to performances stepped back and performed in the ensemble while an understudy learned the role in three days and went on in his place. • Many students have performed sick, and napped backstage in between scenes. • In a show that was double-cast, one student played the shared role for every performance to cover a student who was sick. UnpreparednessThis is absolutely not a reason to cancel a show, even though it’s incredibly frustrating. Having a student be so unprepared that the show is potentially compromised is disappointing and scary, as well as unfair to all the students and staff who have done their parts to make the show successful. Some of the adjustments I’ve witnessed to avoid cancellation include: • Running extra rehearsals on top of the regularly scheduled rehearsals • Switching students’ roles, or replacing an actor entirely • Cutting monologues or lines, and/or reassigning lines to other actors, while still ensuring the text makes sense • Hiding scripts in props (such as books or scrolls) • Having a prompter in the wings or backstage • Changing the direction of the show entirely, presenting it as a workshop with scripts in hand/reader’s theatre It’s not ideal to be forced to adjust your show to accommodate an unprepared student. However, if it comes down to cancelling entirely or making an adjustment, I would always err on the side of ensuring the show goes on. It’s a good lesson in humility for the unprepared student, and a cautionary lesson for the rest of the cast.

This is the fourth part of a five-part class production series. Check out Part 1: What to Produce?, Part 2: Who Does What?, and Part 3: Casting. By this point your students are in the thick of the rehearsal process for your class production, as onstage and offstage roles have been assigned. But at some point, problems will likely arise. With class productions, two common problem areas involve students working together effectively, and students having to take on leadership roles. In a collaborative effort like a class production, students may be in leadership roles for the first time and not really know what they are doing. They may feel uncomfortable giving instructions or constructive criticism to their peers, or let other group members steamroll over them. For example, students may dislike a costume presented by the student costume head, or disagree with a direction given to them by the student director. Because they are working with their peers, students who are uncomfortable or inexperienced in their leadership roles may feel that they have to acquiesce to their peers to avoid conflict. On the other end of the spectrum, some students may think that leading means barking orders or bossing people around. Both can lead to students not working together effectively, which then derails students’ confidence, and slowly but surely, the class production can fall apart. Before things spiral out of control, check out the articles below, which offer useful tips, tricks, and exercises to help students develop their leadership skills and practice working together effectively. This will help them solve problems that will inevitably arise. At the bottom, you’ll find an additional exercise called “Warm-Up Quirks” that you can use with your students to practice both leadership and problem solving skills. Helping students develop their problem solving skills will only benefit your class production process! Working Together Effectively• What happens when students don’t work well together? • This is an excellent process to get students to brainstorm together as a group. • Do some of your students try to avoid group work? This blog post can help encourage them to work with their peers more effectively. • What’s the difference between collaboration and teamwork? And why do productions need collaboration? • A round-up within a round-up? Why not? This blog post gives five common rehearsal problems and lots of solutions. Leadership• Here are some exercises for student directors to help practice solving problems. (The exercise is aimed at student directors but is useful for all students looking to grow their leadership skills.) • This blog post contains exercises and reflections to help students grow and develop their leadership skills. • These tips will help you keep your rehearsals running efficiently and effectively. Here is more advice on this topic from drama teachers.

Theatre and drama class are hugely collaborative. Students are always engaged in group work and scene work with others, which helps students gain skills in teamwork, problem-solving, and collaboration. However, it’s impossible for every student to get along with every other student. What can we do when these students are then expected to work together collaboratively in a group setting? Preventative PreparationUse the following suggestions to help students get to know each other, build trust, and understand the responsibilities that come with group work. • Employ warm-ups, games, and exercises that encourage teamwork and ensemble-building, such as: • 5 Tongue-Twister Exercises for Ensemble-Building • Round Table Warm-Ups for Different Types of Plays • Community Building Warm-Ups for the Drama Classroom • 5 Collaboration Games for the Drama Classroom • Establish clear guidelines and expectations for group member selection, whether it is teacher-selected, student-selected, or a random method. • Depending on the amount of group work you do in class, you could make it a rule that students may only work with the same partner once per week/month. This essentially forces students to mix it up and work with different people. • Encourage students to think and make smart choices when selecting partners or group members. Will these members help or hinder your success? • Discuss and brainstorm different methods of conflict resolution. • Try using the “Act It Out” game • Or the “Problem-Solving With Student Directors” exercise with your students, with a focus on conflict resolution. • Give group-work instructions clearly and concisely (employing multiple methods of instruction if necessary – for example, both verbal and written instructions) so students are less likely to disagree on what your expectations are. Identify the WhyWhile students are working on groups, observe your students and see if you can figure out what is going on within the group. For example: • Is there a personality conflict between students? • Is there an underlying personal problem going on (such as a fight outside the classroom, a recent breakup, etc.)? • Is one of the students “not there” (either engaging in negative behaviour, not contributing to the project, or physically absent)? • Is one of the students taking over the group or bossing others around? • Are the students distracted or unfocused? Even students who are best friends don’t always work well together because they are too busy socializing to focus on their work. Bring the Students InIf a conflict does arise, meet quietly with your students in their group. • Mention specific behaviours you’ve observed. For example: • I noticed that I haven’t received your group’s rough draft script yet. • It seems like you are spending a lot of time talking instead of up on your feet rehearsing. • Allow students time to share their thoughts and feelings, both with you and with their group members. • Work with students to avoid blaming or fighting in a group setting. • Listen more than you talk. Help guide your students to come to solutions themselves, rather than telling them what to do or taking over. • Students may have concerns that they don’t feel comfortable expressing in front of the rest of the group, for fear of being thought of as a snitch or teacher’s pet. If necessary, meet with students individually if you feel that they would benefit from it. Work Together to Come to a Solution• Come to a compromise and/or enlist conflict resolution techniques – this is not a focus on punishing the students, but rather figuring out the next steps. • Establish group ground rules. • Come up with specific tasks for each group member. For example, perhaps one student is responsible for creating the first draft of a script while another student is in charge of editing and proofreading. • Help students break down the project and create a timeline of tasks that need to be completed and when they need to be completed. • Switching groups or working individually should only be used as an absolute last resort. Students need to learn coping skills and how to deal with different people – they won’t be able to avoid this outside of the drama classroom. Reflection• As always, reflecting on the process is important for students. Have them examine their own behaviour as well as the behaviour of the rest of the group. What worked well? What didn’t work? What could they have done differently? What might they do next time to help them succeed?

Giving students the opportunity to direct is a great thing – it helps them to develop their leadership skills and creative thinking abilities, challenges them in a new theatrical medium, and helps them gain lots of new, transferrable skills, such as problem-solving. However, being in a leadership position can be nerve-wracking for students. They may have limited experience with being the person in charge and may try to shy away from making tough decisions or dealing with difficult situations that arise, especially those that involve fellow classmates and friends. As teachers, we need to encourage and empower our students to have the confidence to believe in themselves, make decisions, and stick by them. We must be available to our students, should they need help. At the same time, we also need to step back and avoid the temptation to “fix” everything and solve problems for our students. Being able to deal with different situations is an important life skill that students need to develop. Before assigning scenes and discussing dramatic intention, try this exercise with your students. This exercise gives students the opportunity to dip their toes into problem-solving – first as a group and then individually with an Exit Slip. With the full class, introduce the idea of student directors and discuss what a director does and is responsible for. Part of a director’s job, aside from creating and executing the overall vision of the show, is to solve problems on the fly. Describe problems that you have had to deal with as a teacher and director and explain how you solved them. You may also wish to describe some fears and concerns you had as a new director and how you dealt with those fears. Then, in smaller groups (four to five students per group), share the scenarios below. You may choose to have all groups work on the same scenario, or assign each group a different scenario. Give students some time to brainstorm ideas on how they could approach each situation and come to a positive conclusion, or take steps to solve the problem. (You may wish to do one scenario together as a full class first, as an example.) Groups can then share their ideas with the class or, if time allows, groups can present a short scene demonstrating the problem and their solutions. Scenarios1. Your teacher assigns you a scene to direct in class. You’ve never directed anything before and you feel nervous. You’re feeling especially nervous because you have never before heard of the play that your scene is from. What would you do in this situation? 2. You are trying to figure out which classmates to cast in the various roles of your scene. Both Alex and Mina would be equally excellent in one particular role. What would you do in this situation? 3.After you’ve completed your casting and released it, Una comes up to you angrily with a complaint that you cast Rob and Will, your two best friends in class, as the leads in your scene. Una feels that you’re playing favourites. What would you do in this situation? 4. It is getting very close to showtime and John is still not off-book. Other cast members have expressed concern that John won’t be ready for opening. What would you do in this situation? 5. Monique and Yumi show you the set piece they have been working on and are very proud of. However, it is not even close to what you had envisioned this piece to look like. What would you do in this situation?

In my nearly ten years as a youth theatre director, I have experienced what seems like every emergency situation under the sun. From misplaced costume items and broken props, to skipping CDs and malfunctioning microphones, to power outages, illnesses, and the dreaded “So-and-so broke their leg” email midway through the run of the show. Emergencies are stressful, not fun to deal with. But the following five tips will help you get through most emergency situations that might arise. 1. Stay calmIn an emergency situation, you must remain calm. Panicking won’t solve anything. Your students will be upset, and if they see you freaking out they will get even more upset. Keep your emotions under control as best you can. While inwardly you might be losing your mind, in an emergency situation your students need you to be strong and maintain a calm exterior. Save your meltdown for after the emergency is dealt with (and keep it private). 2. Your first priority must be safetyIn any emergency situation, your first priority must be the safety of the people in the area – students, staff, audience members, performers, technicians, musicians, crew members, and whoever else might be around. We always say that “the show must go on,” but in the event of a situation such as a power outage or a medical emergency, you may need to stop the show and follow any safety procedures that are in place, such as evacuating the area, calling an ambulance, administering first aid, or calming and controlling the crowd. If you aren’t sure what to do in a given situation, find out what the policies are for your school, and ensure they are kept up to date. Once the emergency is dealt with, you can determine whether the show will go on or whether it must be postponed. 3. Have a plan in place…While nobody can anticipate every problem that might happen, having plans in place to reduce the risk of emergencies occurring will really help ease people’s minds and help alleviate stress. Some emergencies can be reduced or even avoided by having backup items available and ready (such as extra copies of fragile props, and spares of technical items such as microphone batteries and backup CDs), and keeping the backstage clean and tidy (so props and costumes don’t go missing). Bonus idea: Play the “What If” Game with your students, and have them help with planning ahead and anticipating possible issues in advance. 4. …but be ready to improviseHere’s the thing about emergencies: More often than not, you generally don’t see them coming! Sometimes you just have to drop everything and figure out a solution. During my most recent production, I found out one morning that four of our actors were either sick or injured, including our lead actress, who had broken her leg the day before (a non-performance day). I contacted the entire cast and crew to have them come in an hour before their regular call time, so we could reconfigure dances and blocking, figure out ways for a chair to be brought onstage at various points so the lead actress could sit down, make contingency plans for other actors to cover various performer tracks (in case someone’s condition got worse and kept them from going on), and calm everyone’s nerves. To their credit, the sick and injured cast members all went on (in reduced or adjusted capacities), and the whole cast and crew came together wonderfully as a team. They were completely willing to help each other out to make the show go on. It was a really inspiring moment, and the audience was none the wiser to the changes that we had made. 5. Remember – you will get through this!Every director’s dream is a perfect show that runs without a hitch. But when emergencies occur (and if they haven’t yet, believe me – they will), remember that you will get through this! Some situations are simply out of your control, and you will have to pull all of your resources together and move forward. A huge aspect of theatrical production is problem solving, and every experience (the good, the bad, and the ugly) will strengthen your skills as a director and leader. A past cast of mine still reminisces (years later!) about a power outage that knocked out the electricity for six city blocks before our closing performance – we decided that if the power didn’t come back on soon enough we would perform outside on the front steps of the theatre. Fortunately, the power did come back on and the show went on, albeit two hours late. And, like the previously mentioned injury- and illness-plagued cast, the whole cast and crew had come together to work out a solution. Emergencies will test your mettle and test the strength of the group. But, in the end, you will all succeed – ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed!