Toolkit

New to teaching drama? You’re juggling lesson plans, lunch duty, rehearsals, and a steep learning curve - all without a mentor. The New Drama Teacher Survival Toolkit helps you focus on what matters most: the core skills and strategies to build a strong foundation, find your flow, and feel confident in your classroom. Start with the New Drama Teacher Survival Kit and set yourself up for success.

Starting a new tech program or taking over an existing one comes with a long checklist of materials. Beyond the basics like lumber, screws, and nails, every tech class needs essential tools—saws, cordless drills, and hammers. But there are also overlooked tools that can make a big difference in safety and efficiency. The Tech Toolbox Toolkit is here to help, providing the must-haves for making tech theatre and set building safer and easier.

Theatre festivals and competitions are more than just a chance to showcase your program - they’re an opportunity to inspire, challenge, and connect your students in new ways. While competing can be exciting, the true benefits go far beyond the trophies. From deepening their understanding of theatre to building confidence and expanding their social circles, bringing a show to a contest can have a lasting impact. If you're thinking about entering a local or regional theatre festival, this guide will walk you through key considerations before, during, and after your performance to help make the experience as rewarding as possible. Download the Competition Toolkit today!

Every drama teacher learns that sooner or later they will have to advocate for their students, programs, or productions. No matter how amazing or successful your drama program may be, there will always be people who do not recognize the value of what you do. That’s why you need to be an advocate for your work. But how do you advocate for your program? Start small, think long-term, and find a way to show the value of what you do using language your administration will understand. Talk about the important skills you teach, such as leadership and creative problem solving. Talk about improving student confidence and educational outcomes. Talk about community outreach. Remember: The sooner you can articulate the value of your program, the better. Download the Advocacy Toolkit for some tried and true ways to advocate for the value of your program and schoolwide productions, as well as some clever ways to get others to advocate for you.

There is a lot of thought and preparation that goes into mounting a production, not least of which is a budget! The budget needs to be one of the first considerations when thinking about a show, but what if your budget is on a budget? How do you produce a professional looking show without professional amounts of money? With the Production Design on a Budget Toolkit, of course! This toolkit is designed to give you a new way to think about productions with a tight budget in mind. From how you choose your script, to rethinking the design process, to tips on where to find show materials for little or no money, this toolkit will help you get a show on its feet without bringing your budget to its knees.

Pacing is one of the invisible hands of good teaching. For many teachers pacing is a difficult skill to master, but when a teacher has their pacing dialed in, the class is more enjoyable for both them and their students. If you have always wondered how to harness the power of pacing in your teaching, look no further! This toolkit was designed to improve your understanding and usage of pacing as a valuable tool for both your content and your classroom management. Download the Pacing Toolkit today to help you and your students drive the pace of your classroom!

Lesson planning is the backbone of effective teaching. Think of lesson plans as your classroom's roadmap—they guide everyone toward shared learning goals. When they're on point, the classroom runs smoothly; when they're not, learning stalls. Our Writing Lesson Plans for the Drama Classroom Toolkit will break down the essentials of a standard lesson plan, show you how to adapt it for theatre, and help you integrate Bloom’s Taxonomy and National Standards for Theatre, all while keeping state standards in focus.

As you begin your teaching career, you'll find yourself learning something new every day — from where your mailbox is to how fire drills work. If you’re a new Drama teacher, you’ll likely come across a lot of terms and phrases that are unfamiliar. Since most schools only have one Drama teacher, it can be tough to find a Theatre mentor when you're unsure of what’s being discussed. That’s where this toolkit comes in. The New Drama Teacher Dictionary Toolkit is designed to help you navigate the terminology and phrases you'll encounter, from general education terms to theatre-specific lingo. Download the New Drama Teacher Toolkit now and feel confident in conversations with administration and peers.

Whether you’re a brand-new teacher stepping into a classroom for the first time or an established teacher coming back to school after summer break, there’s a lot of work that needs to be completed before you can say you’re ready for school to begin. This long list of to-dos includes finalizing curricular materials, organizing your classroom, and prepping your performance space. Not sure how to prepare for the school year? Don’t worry! This toolkit was developed to give you the tips and tools you need to be ready for back-to-school. So download our free Back-to-School toolkit and start your school year off right!

Theatre classrooms are NOT like other classrooms. Unlike other classrooms, they transform from lecture halls to research labs, rehearsal venues, and performance stages all within a typical week. For a theatre classroom to thrive, teachers must creatively envision, plan, and fully utilize their space to adapt to the ever-changing demands of the day. Whether you’re a new teacher setting up your first classroom, a seasoned educator moving to a new school, or a long-time pro looking to refresh your setup, our toolkit offers valuable tips and insights to help you design a classroom ready for anything. The Classroom Set-up Toolkit covers three essential elements for an optimized theatre classroom: • The physical layout • Classroom materials • The production environment Download the Classroom Set-up Toolkit now and get ready to create a classroom that’s prepared to shine from the first day of school and beyond!

MAP OUT THE PRODUCTION PROCESS FROM AUDITIONS TO AUDIENCE! It takes a lot of time and effort to put on a show. From initial planning to final bows, it can take months or even years to prepare a theatrical production. For new teachers and directors that leads to a lot of questions: • How do I start, and more importantly WHEN do I start? • What is the timeline for producing a show in a school setting? • What is the timeline for rehearsals? • What steps are necessary to bring a show to the stage, and when should each of those steps happen? Navigate the theatrical journey from concept to curtain with our Theatrical Timelines toolkit! Delve into timelines tailored for one-acts, full-length plays, and musicals, providing clarity on when to kick off, rehearsal schedules, and crucial steps for bringing your production to life.

Stage makeup isn't just an optional extra in the drama classroom; it's a game-changer. Whether you're taking your first steps into the world of theatre tech or you're already a seasoned pro, mastering stage makeup opens up a world of creative possibilities. That's why we're here to share our best tip and tricks to help you navigate the ins and outs of stage makeup with confidence. From must-have resources to fundamental techniques, advanced tips for creating convincing old-age makeup, and the all-important clean-up procedures, we've got your bases covered in one handy toolkit. So why wait? Click the link below to download your free Classroom Stage Makeup Toolkit and get ready to enhance your program and elevate your productions!

Auditions require more than talent. Even the most talented students need confidence, communication, active listening, flexibility, a strong work ethic, and proper preparation. The Audition Toolkit can help! This easy-to-use e-book contains 22 articles, exercises and audition templates to help teachers incorporate audition skill building into the program. Plus printable articles, tips, and technique sheets for students to use for their own audition preparation.

Whether you’re a new drama teacher or new to teaching drama, you’ll encounter many challenges in your first few years. Methods of Teaching Theatre: A Teacher Toolkit by Matt Webster is designed to help you be ready before a student ever walks through the door, as well as give you fundamental building blocks to plan for and execute a well-run classroom. This resource examines four fundamental building blocks of teaching: 1. Classroom Setup 2. Classroom Management 3. Lesson Planning 4. Assessment It also provides you with tools and activities that will help you integrate these fundamentals into a drama classroom. Methods of Teaching Theatre: A Teacher Toolkit is all about what’s behind the curtain of a well-run drama classroom – the preparations, planning strategies and teaching tools. Anticipate the preparations you will need to address before a student ever walks into your classroom and the kind of philosophical questions you need to ask, and answer, as you begin your teaching career. Not sure if you’re prepared? Matt Webster shares a few things that no one tells you about the first few days of teaching theatre:

In our last post, we talked about creating a monologue notebook to help students collect and reflect on various monologues that could be useful for any upcoming auditions. In this post, we’ll be discussing how students can start their own audition toolkit for musical theatre auditions. This is also a great resource for teachers to have in their classrooms as well! 1. For musical theatre auditions, students will need to start amassing a collection of sheet music. Most musical auditions will require students to sing with an accompanist on piano. Some musical auditions may be performed a cappella (without accompaniment) but it’s good to be prepared. 2. Students need to be sure that their sheet music is actually in the correct key! They can check by plucking out the notes on a piano, or getting a friend to play while they sing. So many students simply sing along to the Broadway cast recording and memorize the words by listening to the songs over and over, but then are shocked to realize that the actual sheet music is written in a different key than what they are used to. Nobody wants to be caught at an audition with a piece in the wrong key – it causes stress for both the person auditioning and for the accompanist who may or may not be willing to sight-read the piece and transpose it to the “correct” key. 3. Students will need to have two binders for musical theatre auditions: a repertoire binder and an audition binder. A repertoire binder holds all the sheet music from every song they’ve ever learned. But don’t bring this to an audition! It’s probably large and unwieldy and difficult for accompanists to turn pages in. The audition binder should be a one-inch binder containing only the pieces that the student will be performing for that audition. The sheet music should be double-sided (for easy page turning) and clean – no rips or folds in the paper. Some people like to put their sheet music into plastic page protectors. If students go this route, they will want to be sure to invest in good-quality page protectors that do not stick or rip, and do not reflect glare from overhead lights. 4. Repertoire binders should be divided into three sections for the sake of organization: classic musical theatre, modern/contemporary musical theatre, and pop/rock. From there, students may wish to subdivide the sections into up-tempo pieces and ballads. Within the sections, pieces can be organized in alphabetical order or by date of when the piece was published. 5. Where can students find good pieces for musical theatre auditions? By listening to lots of musical theatre recordings and going to see as many shows as possible. Sheet music can be found in music stores, at local libraries, or purchased at websites like MusicNotes.com. Then it’s time for them to practice and see what works for them. Students should try singing along with the recording or getting the sheet music and trying to sing it for themselves. Here are some things to think about when selecting a song for a musical theatre audition: • Is the sheet music in their range (meaning, is it within the lowest and highest notes they are able to sing)? Do they have to push or strain to get through the song? If not, are they able to transpose the song into an easier key for them to sing? • Is the song a solo song (one character singing) or a song sung by multiple people? Too often I have heard students trying to use a duet song, sung by two different characters, and make it sound like one person is singing it. It tends to sound weird. There are tons of wonderful solo songs out there – leave the duets and group numbers for fun with friends. • What is the gender and age of the character singing the song? What is the context of the song within the show? What happened just before the song, to push the action of the song? These are all important for the student to know, to help them make good acting choices while performing their song. Wait – students need to act while they’re singing? Yes indeed! It’s not enough to just sing the song beautifully. Students must show the emotions of the character through their vocal inflections, volume, facial expressions, and physical gestures. Some musical theatre auditions will ask for ONLY a song to be presented (no monologue) and so students need to prove that they can act and sing at the same time!

Finding the perfect monologue for an upcoming audition is often challenging. Students want to have the best piece possible, but may not know how to go about finding a good monologue, or what even constitutes a “good” monologue. When it comes down to it, every monologue is different, and any individual monologue will be useful for certain shows but not so great for others. A great resource for drama students is to create their own personal monologue notebook. This is simply a collection of monologues that they have discovered, learned a bit about, and copied out. When that student decides to audition for a show, they will then have a handy resource at their fingertips that they can use to help them find an interesting and engaging monologue. Teachers, creating a classroom monologue notebook for your students would also be a very useful resource – you will have a starting point for your drama students when they are looking to find a piece for any upcoming auditions, competitions, or classroom assignments. So print out these instructions and create your own resource! How to create a monologue notebook1. Start looking for great monologues right away, and always be on the lookout for new and exciting pieces. Going to see shows (and getting inspired!) and reading lots of plays can be very time-consuming, but it’s worth it. 2. Start a notebook or binder for collecting interesting monologues that you find. Divide your notebook into four sections: • modern/contemporary comedic • classical comedic • modern/contemporary dramatic • classical dramatic It’s useful to divide your monologue collection in this way so you can pinpoint exactly what you’ll need for each audition. It’s important that your monologue be of the appropriate tone and time period for the show you are auditioning for. Trust me! This is coming from an actor who once auditioned for a production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle with Kate’s final monologue from The Taming of the Shrew. Guess what? I was not cast into the show. That particular monologue was definitely not the best choice for auditioning for that show. But it could be perfect for auditioning for the role of Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing! • Teachers, if you are creating a monologue book as a class resource, you may want to further subdivide the monologues: male, female, and gender flexible monologues – or older versus younger students. 3. When you find a monologue, make a copy of it and add it to your notebook. Be sure to note the name of the play it came from, the author of the play, and the name of the character that says the monologue. You’ll also want to include details such as the time period the show takes place in, any pertinent information about the character (age, their role/purpose in the show, and so on), and what happened to the character just before or just after the scene containing the monologue. This will help you to delve deeper into the character when you use the piece for an audition. 4. Identify the character’s emotion in the monologue and think of adjectives that describe that character. What is the character going through during the monologue? This way you can tailor your monologue selection to something that is similar in feeling to the character you’re auditioning for. • For example, if a monologue you found to add to your notebook is spoken by the character of Jo from Little Women, you might describe her as feisty, strong-willed, creative, or loyal. Her emotions would depend upon where in the script the monologue occurs. For example, Jo would feel completely different when she first meets Laurie than when she decides to move to New York. 5. Look for monologues that are “active” and are actually happening to the character at that moment. Look for strong emotions that will be interesting to embody and perform. There are lots of monologues out there that are just “and this happened and this happened and this happened” which is less than thrilling for the audition panel to listen to. 6. Wondering where to find great monologues? • The best monologues generally come from actual plays. The best way to find those monologues is to read lots of plays and see what’s out there. • Ask your drama teacher for their suggestions of some great (and not-so-great or overdone) monologues. • Start by looking for monologues by characters who are around the same age and the same gender as you. This will help you to narrow down your monologue choices. • Try not to use the first monologues that come up when you do a Google search for “monologues for teens” or some similar search. Those monologues are done over and over because they’re so easy to find, and they tend to make directors and drama teachers fall asleep. • Need help getting started? There are some great monologues from Theatrefolk plays here: Theatrefolk.com: Free Resources. 7. When you do go on audition, make a note in your notebook about which monologue you chose to do for that show, any feedback you received from the director, and how you felt after your audition. Once you’ve been on a few auditions, it will be useful for you to look back and see what’s working and what might not be the best choices for you. You may also notice that there is a monologue or two in your notebook that you never seem to use. If you do notice over time that a monologue doesn’t seem to be working for you, consider removing it from your notebook and passing it along – perhaps that monologue will be more successful in the hands of someone else.

Directors have to be the ultimate communicators. Not only do they have to communicate a vision, but they also have to keep everyone on task during rehearsal. So if you’re a student director, how do you manage communicating with your peers? Drama teachers! If you have students who want to direct, download our Student Director Toolkit. In it we go through: • How student directors need to find the balance between boss and peer • What makes a good leader • Ranking leadership skills and how one can improve those skills • Rehearsal planning • Problem-solving when things go wrong Let’s look at one section: What are the necessary steps to create a rehearsal plan? Vision: There is more to the rehearsal preparation than figuring out what you’re going to do at each rehearsal. Deciding your vision for the play is the first and biggest step. A vision is created through reading a script, determining the main themes of the play, identifying a point of view on those themes, and then considering how to visualize this point of view. Every element from characterization, to tech departments, to staging should stem from the vision. A Vision Worksheet is provided in the toolkit. Exercise: Read a play, list the themes, identify a point of view, consider how to visualize this point of view, and then come up with a one-sentence vision statement. How will you interpret the play? Practice this process with students a couple of times before they do the same with the play they’re directing. A Director’s Vision Worksheet is provided in the toolkit.  Conception: Communicating a vision is sometimes hard for directors; therefore, you must turn interpretation into conception. Translate a vision into concrete action for your actors. Having a vision is not enough, the director must communicate it to everyone involved in the production. In this way, the director’s vision is brought to life. Ask student directors: How will the characters address your vision? How will the lighting and sound address your vision? How will the costumes address your vision? Exercise: Students take one of their practice visions and identify how they would communicate that vision in terms of colour, light, sound, shapes, lines, and textures. These are elements that would help visualize a vision for different design departments. Schedule: Before rehearsals start, directors should create a schedule from auditions to closing night. The best way to schedule is to work backwards: What are the performance dates? When is tech week? When is the dress rehearsal? What are the important rehearsals that need to be incorporated? How long will it take to block the show? How long will it take to introduce the play, work on character development and analysis? When will auditions be?  Directors should review the schedule before every rehearsal and decide on an action plan. What is the goal for this rehearsal? What needs to be accomplished? Are you on schedule?  No rehearsal schedule is perfect and issues will always arise. Student directors need to know that they don’t have to stick to a rehearsal at the expense of the creative work, but having a schedule helps everyone stay on track. It is an essential tool for communicating who is needed for a rehearsal and what’s going to happen. A Rehearsal Schedule Sheet is included in the toolkit. Student directors should get in the habit of filling this out in advance of rehearsals and make it routine.  Organization: Emphasize to students that being organized communicates that you’re prepared every time you step into a rehearsal. Review your schedule, know what scene you’re working on, read it, and review any notes you’ve made. Know the first planned activity and then see what happens as you and your actors begin to work. Just as you don’t have to stick to every single moment of your rehearsal schedule, you don’t have to organize every second of rehearsal. A rehearsal shouldn’t be a robotic process. Having said that, organizing the first 15 minutes of every rehearsal allows a routine to form, which we’ll talk more about in the next paragraph.  How do actors check in? Who’s running the warm-up? Is there a specific way you start each rehearsal (e.g., character work, a scene question for everyone to answer, a reading of the scene)? A Rehearsal Sheet is included in the toolkit to plan individual rehearsals.   Routine: Routine has been mentioned twice so far and that’s not by accident. Say to students that you can have a lot of flexibility in what you work on and how you work on it, but that flexibility should exist within a framework. As discussed above, student directors should consider starting the rehearsal the exact same way every time. Consider a standard shell: warm-up, identify goals and tasks, review notes, read scene, blocking, set up next rehearsal, end with a check-out. The rehearsal shell may look different; there is no one way to set up a routine. But actors like to know what they’re doing and what’s coming up next. Good work habits are borne out of following a routine.