Introduction to Technical Theatre: Flipped Learning
Created by Lindsay Price
When an audience watches a piece of theatre, they never see what goes on behind the scenes or know the people who work to make the production look its best. But theatre is a collaboration between what happens onstage and off.
This flipped learning unit will introduce students to the world of technical theatre. Through video, they will learn information on specific technical theatre roles and how they work together, types of stages, parts of a theatre and stage geography, and then apply this knowledge through in-class active-learning exercises.
For example, students will take on the role of a producer and decide how a budget will be divided among different departments. They will practice the calls a stage manager uses. The culminating assignment has students solve a common technical theatre issue: to design, create, and implement a solution for a unique stage direction in a play.
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1Lesson 1Pre-KnowledgeExperience Tech Theatre: Students will explore how technical theatre affects storytelling.
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2Lesson 2Theatre HierarchyThis lesson introduces students to the various roles in the theatre and how they make up a hierarchy. Students take on the role of one of these three important roles in a theatre production through an activity.
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3Lesson 3Technical Director and Tech Crews / Stage Manager and Running CrewsStudents are introduced to two groups of technical theatre roles and the people in charge of those groups: the technical director and tech crews and the stage manager and running crews. Students will take on the role of a stage manager and practice the calls a stage manager would use.
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4Lesson 4Common Types of Theatres & StagesStudents review the three most common types of theatre stages used today: proscenium, thrust, and arena stages. Students create the audience for a specific type of stage in a warm-up, and then in groups, students work to stage a fairy tale using the three different theatre configurations.
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5Lesson 5Stage Geography & Parts of a TheatreStudents learn about stage geography and parts of a theatre. Students practice stage geography in a warm-up, and then participate in a group activity where they are given random stage geography positions and have to present a scene from those positions.
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6Lesson 6Culminating ActivityStudents design, create, and implement a solution for the famous “exit, pursued by a bear” stage direction from Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.
Standards Addressed
Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation - Grade 6
Organize and develop artistic ideas and work - Grade 6
Organize and develop artistic ideas and work - Grade 7
Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation - Grade 7
Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation - Grade 8
Organize and develop artistic ideas and work - Grade HS Accomplished
Organize and develop artistic ideas and work - Grade HS Advanced
Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation - Grade HS Advanced
Refine new work through play, drama processes and theatre experiences using critical analysis and experimentation - Grade 6
Refine new work through play, drama processes and theatre experiences using critical analysis and experimentation - Grade 7
Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work - Grade 7
Refine new work through play, drama processes and theatre experiences using critical analysis and experimentation - Grade 8
Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work - Grade 8
Refine new work through play, drama processes and theatre experiences using critical analysis and experimentation - Grade HS Proficient
Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work - Grade HS Proficient
Refine new work through play, drama processes and theatre experiences using critical analysis and experimentation - Grade HS Accomplished
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