Courses
Introduction to Stage Management Part Two
by Karen Loftus
Karen Loftus instructs this second course in stage management - a companion to Introduction to Stage Management Part One.
This course will review the major concepts covered in Introduction to Stage Management, and discuss the different types of technical rehearsals and how student stage managers prepare for and run them. You’ll learn how to teach your students to notate and call cues for a show. The course will also introduce strategies for student stage managers who work with student crews. It will discuss how you can provide the support your student stage managers need to be effective, and how that support helps to strengthen your overall program and theatre community.
Student stage managers start in the classroom, train during school productions, and can take these newly discovered and acquired skills on with them to colleges and careers and theatre (and beyond)!
Units
Stage Management
by Karen Loftus
A unit on stage management is a great way to link technical theatre, acting, and even directing. We spend so much of our class time on performance-related projects and, when we do address technical theatre, we often do so by talking about design.
Why not introduce your students to a skill set that not only benefits your productions by ensuring a strong backstage crew and smooth production process, but also benefits the students individually? Through exploring stage management, students learn skills such as analytical thinking, organization, teamwork, and problem solving.
Lesson Plans
Stage Management: Know the Details
by Anna Porter
Students will learn the details a stage manager must be aware of as well as how to communicate those details in a clear and productive way.
Students analyze a work of art to find the visual details required for that “production” and create an organized list to communicate those details. Students then apply those skills to a written script as the stage manager.
Stage Managers in Rehearsal
by Karen Loftus
Stage Managers have numerous responsibilities in the production process. This lesson will focus in on the things a stage manager does prior to and during blocking rehearsal from preparing for rehearsal, to taking blocking notation, to communicating important notes to other members of the production.
Properties & Prop Design
by Karen Loftus
In this lesson, students will take what they learn about the different types of props and how props are created or acquired in order to apply it to a specific project. Using their critical thinking skills, they’ll have to invent, design, and create a science fiction style prop for a hypothetical show.
Creating Ambiance
by Holly Beardsley
To create ambiance is to define the feel, mood, and tone of a play. Light and sound can change ambiance drastically. A castle in dark shadows will look gloomy and mysterious, while a castle in bright light will appear magical. In this lesson, students will analyze the use of sound to create and change the ambiance of a production.
Stage Management Calls Game
by Karen Loftus
It’s important for students to be aware of both onstage and offstage theatre roles. But applying stage management tasks to a classroom setting is not always easy to do. The Stage Management Calls Game gives students a practical way to hear and react to the various things a stage manager may say during a rehearsal or technical rehearsal.
Technical Theatre Performance Challenge
by Kerry Hishon
Students will work in small groups to devise a one-minute long theatrical piece from a prompt. They will create a performance, create a prompt script, assign Stage Manager and Technical Operator roles, rehearse the piece, and perform it for the rest of the class. Depending on your time allowance, this lesson could be completed in one class using only items found in the classroom; or this lesson can be spread over four classes (one class to assign and plan, one class to rehearse, one class as a technical/dress rehearsal, and one class as a performance and discussion/reflection class).
What is a Stage Manager
by Karen Loftus
In this lesson students are introduced to the definition of a stage manager, learn what a stage management team may look like, and take on their first stage management tasks: reading the script and creating a props list.
Paperwork and the Prompt Script
by Karen Loftus
One goal of a stage manager is to prepare all of the necessary information to ensure a successful production. For example: character/scene breakdown, prop list, light cues, schedules. In this lesson, students practice creating a number of documents which every stage manager keeps in their prompt script.
Preparing for the First Rehearsal
by Karen Loftus
Along with paperwork, there are other tasks a stage manager must undertake to prepare for rehearsal. Students will perform tasks that a stage manager must carry out to prepare the rehearsal space and communicate with actors/crew.
Rehearsals Part One: Responsibilities
by Karen Loftus
In this lesson, students practice some of the rehearsal responsibilities of a stage manager such as keeping rehearsals running on time through proper communication, line notes, and completing a rehearsal report.
Rehearsals Part Two: Tracking
by Karen Loftus
In this lesson, students practice some of the tracking tasks required of the stage manager in rehearsal: blocking, scene shifts, and props/costumes.
Rehearsals Part Three: Final Preparations
by Karen Loftus
In this lesson, students will explore the final preparations stage managers perform before heading into performance, and they go through a scheduling exercise.
Technical Rehearsals
by Karen Loftus
The stage manager is the guiding force behind a technical rehearsal. In this lesson we will go through a number of different technical rehearsals and how a stage manager uses their preparation to keep a technical rehearsal moving.
Calling a Show
by Karen Loftus
Calling cues requires the ability to analyze, strategize, and problem solve. Calling cues becomes easier each time, but every show is different and presents new challenges. In this lesson, students practice the act of calling a show. What are the types of cues that can be used? How are they notated in a script?
The Run of a Show
by Karen Loftus
During the run of a show, whether it’s one night or a show that runs for years, the stage manager is in charge. In this lesson, students will complete a performance problem-solving exercise, tackle performance reports, and reflect on whether or not they’d make a good stage manager.
Culminating Project
by Karen Loftus
In this culminating project, students are put into groups to create the stage management elements for a new “production” of Jabberwocky, the poem by Lewis Carroll.
Running List Exercise
by Kerry Hishon
To learn the importance of an organized backstage – through discussion, solving issues through performance, and applying knowledge.
Student Leadership - Stage and Production Management
by Karen Loftus
This unit will allow students to explore the responsibilities of the stage manager and production manager. It may help you determine who the best students are for these roles.
Step by Step
by Karen Loftus
This lesson covers a general overview of The Production Classroom process. It includes pacing suggestions for each step as well as how to find the necessary documentation to complete each step.
Production Binder
by Karen Loftus
This lesson describes the production binder, including everything that should be included as well as how to organize.
Company Positions and Tasks
by Karen Loftus
This document outlines all of the potential roles and tasks for students in The Production Classroom. It includes the tasks each student is to complete for their production binder, as well as their particular role during the performance of the show.
The Audition Process
by Karen Loftus
This 3-part process includes preparation for auditions, initial auditions, and callbacks.
The Rehearsal Process
by Karen Loftus
This process covers typical day procedures for rehearsal and documents students should be using daily during the rehearsal process.
Technical Rehearsals
by Karen Loftus
A review of the various types and stages of technical rehearsals, as well as departmental responsibilities, daily procedures, and sample technical rehearsal schedule.
Performance and Strike
by Karen Loftus
This cover the necessary procedures for each and every show, as well as what has to happen once your show is over. Checklists for setup and breakdown are included, as well as performance reports, strike plan and worksheets.
Assessment
by Karen Loftus
The production binder is the final assessment. A checklist and rubric is included.
Troubleshooting
by Karen Loftus
The Production Classroom has its challenges. The scenarios included are designed to help you to think about some potential barriers to having a successful production.
Same Show, Different Stages
by Kerry Hishon
The objective of this lesson is to introduce, compare, and contrast different types of theatrical performance venues/stages.
Resources
Stage Management Staff Breakdown
Here is one way to set up a stage management staff at your school. You know your students the best and you know that some can handle more responsibility and some may be better suited to certain tasks. Make sure your PSM is the one who represents the team especially to the actors.