bobgaggle
Well-Known Member
I've noticed this phenomenon over my 4 years of high school drama, and wanted to see what some other high schoolers thought of it...
I've found that a drama class is truly a pointless thing. The wonderful thing about this type of class is its name..."Drama"...this word, in my mind, implies a class that will explore the innumerable facets of modern day theatre (and perhaps some theatre history as well) What happens though, is that "Drama" has become synonymous with "Acting". My 4 years have consisted of nothing substantial but Improv games, Characterization, and Meditation/inner peace sessions.
I think part of this is is due to the teacher. I have had 3 different drama teachers in high school and all of them have different experiences in theatre. One teacher was an actor/director turned magician, the current one used to do makeup for touring rock bands and stage shows. The other didn't really do much except cry during our class (long story, but in the end we got her fired). All of these people have their strengths, but those strong points are focused in one area. I can't recall one time in those classes that I heard the words, "today, we're going to learn about DMX." I had to learn it all myself through trial and error. Everything I know about theatre (technical) is from past experience, Wikipedia, my dad, and Control Booth (you guys have been a great help).
Another problem is our curriculum. I recently discovered that essentially, the only thing students in drama 4 have to do is present a piece of their own direction, usually a self-written one-act. There is no requirement for the lowe classes to learn anything about technical theatre, only about theatre history and acting.
I'm posting this because I want to see if this is a wide spread occurance. I know that some schools have a "tech theatre" class, which I think is amazing. But I really think its a big waste to hide a whole other face of the theatre world (tech) from young students who are still exploring what they like and what they would eventually like to do in the future
I've found that a drama class is truly a pointless thing. The wonderful thing about this type of class is its name..."Drama"...this word, in my mind, implies a class that will explore the innumerable facets of modern day theatre (and perhaps some theatre history as well) What happens though, is that "Drama" has become synonymous with "Acting". My 4 years have consisted of nothing substantial but Improv games, Characterization, and Meditation/inner peace sessions.
I think part of this is is due to the teacher. I have had 3 different drama teachers in high school and all of them have different experiences in theatre. One teacher was an actor/director turned magician, the current one used to do makeup for touring rock bands and stage shows. The other didn't really do much except cry during our class (long story, but in the end we got her fired). All of these people have their strengths, but those strong points are focused in one area. I can't recall one time in those classes that I heard the words, "today, we're going to learn about DMX." I had to learn it all myself through trial and error. Everything I know about theatre (technical) is from past experience, Wikipedia, my dad, and Control Booth (you guys have been a great help).
Another problem is our curriculum. I recently discovered that essentially, the only thing students in drama 4 have to do is present a piece of their own direction, usually a self-written one-act. There is no requirement for the lowe classes to learn anything about technical theatre, only about theatre history and acting.
I'm posting this because I want to see if this is a wide spread occurance. I know that some schools have a "tech theatre" class, which I think is amazing. But I really think its a big waste to hide a whole other face of the theatre world (tech) from young students who are still exploring what they like and what they would eventually like to do in the future