Masters Thesis

Looking beyond musical theatre: An exploration of documentary theatre as an alternative theatre education method

This graduate project uses documentary theatre to encourage middle school students to look beyond conventional theatre methods (specifically musical theatre) and towards less common theatre approaches to encourage a deeper understanding of theatre and the greater world. This is accomplished in two ways: first, by working with two groups of middle school students from The Prescott School in Beverly Hills, California to create an original piece of documentary theatre utilizing the methods of the Tectonic Theatre Project. Second by creating a curriculum based on the process used to create the above-mentioned piece of documentary theatre at the Prescott School. This curriculum is available for use by theatre educators looking for new ways to expose their students to alternative approaches to theatre. This curriculum adheres to the Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools. Accompanying this curriculum is a specific day-by-day lesson plan to aid in the implementation of the curriculum. The purpose of these two exercises is to show the potential of theatre as a teaching tool, to show that many theatre styles are useful, have the potential to enhance one’s educational experience, and inspire a social awareness and change.

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