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.
The overview lays out the structure of the unit, including time management, procedures for flipped learning, video details, and an overview of the lessons.
Experience Tech Theatre: Students will explore how technical theatre affects storytelling.
This 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.
Students 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.
Students 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.
Students 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.
Students design, create, and implement a solution for the famous “exit, pursued by a bear” stage direction from Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.
TH:Re9.1.7.b - Consider the aesthetics of the production elements in a drama/theatre work.
TH:Pr6.1.8.a - Perform a rehearsed drama/theatre work for an audience.
TH:Re9.1.HSI.b - Consider the aesthetics of the production elements in a drama/theatre work.
Acc.TH:Cr2.b - Cooperate as a creative team to make interpretive choices for a drama/theatre work.
8.TH:Pr6 - Perform a rehearsed, scripted scene from a drama/theatre work for an audience.
I.C.2.2 - Interpret scenes through formal and informal presentations.
I.AE.1.1 - Use technical knowledge and design skills to formulate designs.
A.C.2.2 - Interpret scripts through formal and informal presentations.
A.AE.1.1 - Use technical knowledge and design skills to formulate designs for a specific audience.
Tennessee Theatre standards (2018) standards were built using the framework of the NCAS which is built on four key domains: Creating, Performing/Presenting/Producing, Connecting, and Responding. Within each of these domains are foundations and standards to support the development of curriculum, programs, and learning.
(source: Tennessee Department of Education, Tennessee Academic Standards for Fine Arts, Summer 2018)
Please refer to National Core Arts Standards to determine the standard that best suits your needs.
C.3.D - use technology in theatrical applications such as live theatre, video, and film.
B.3.D - use technology in theatrical applications such as live theatre, video, and film.
C.3.A - develop and practice safe and effective stagecraft skills.
1 - demonstrate understanding of the purpose of stage lighting
1 - demonstrate understanding of the purpose and duties of the stage manager
2 - recognize and use basic technical theatre/design terminology
1 - demonstrate understanding of the purpose of stage properties
1 - demonstrate understanding of the purpose of stage scenery
1 - recognize the basic terminology associated with the component being studied
6 - demonstrate understanding of the importance of planning and organization
Experiment with a range of props, processes, and technologies