Adapt Now: Adapting Drama Classroom Materials to Different Distance Environments

by Lindsay Price, Matthew Webster, and Karen Loftus

Learn how to adapt things that were originally written for traditional classrooms to different environments.

Is your classroom shifting from a traditional in-person environment to a distance learning environment? Are you being asked to submit plans for social distancing? Are most of your students at home without regular access to the Internet or a computer? Whatever the scenario, adaptation is going to be key.

In this resource we will provide a number of adaptation examples for warm-ups, instruction methods, activities and exercises. Our goal is to adapt things that were originally written for traditional classrooms to different environments. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel with your curriculum. You can adapt, shift the focus, and continue to work on skills whether your students are virtual or socially distanced.

Lindsay Price

Lindsay Price is the Vice President of Theatrefolk Inc. and the co-creator of the Drama Teacher Academy. She has been involved with theatre education for over 25 years as a playwright, adjudicator, workshop instructor, resource writer, curriculum supervisor, professional development creator and keynote speaker. Her plays have been performed in schools all over the world with over 1000 productions a year.

Matthew Webster

Matt Webster is a Theatre Educator who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. He holds a BA in Theatre from California State University at San Bernardino, an MA in Theatre Education from The University of New Mexico, and an MFA in Theatre for Youth from The University of Hawaii at Manoa. From 1996 to 2010, he was a tenured Associate Professor of Theatre Education/ Theatre for Youth at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. During his time there, Matt was the director of the UNCC Theatre Education and Licensing program and was responsible for teaching, training, and certifying Theatre Education students. In 2010, Matt left the university to become the chair of a brand new Fine Arts Department at Rocky River High School in Mint Hill, North Carolina.

Matt left full-time classroom teaching in 2016 to become the curriculum consultant for The Drama Teacher Academy, a membership website that provides professional development, curriculum, resources, and support for theatre teachers around the world. Through the DTA, Matt creates materials and presents workshops to teachers, both online and at various Theatre Education conferences around the country. He is currently an adjunct professor of theatre at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

In addition to teaching, Matt is an actor and director who has worked with both children and adults for theatre companies from coast to coast, including Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Seattle Children’s Theatre, The Silver Bear Theatre in Albuquerque, Theatre Charlotte, Davidson Community Players, Matthews Playhouse, and Children’s Theatre of Charlotte.

Matt is also an award-winning, published playwright. His plays are available through Theatrefolk.

Karen Loftus

Karen Loftus is currently the Senior Manager of the Theatrical Workforce Development Program at Roundabout Theatre Company, the theatre industry’s first workforce development program to train and place young adults in professional technical theatre careers.

She has worked as a Production Manager, professional Stage Manager, and fine arts department head. She received her BA in Acting and Directing from DeSales University and her MFA in Design and Production with an emphasis in Stage Management from the University of California, Irvine.