- Videos of master plays, documentaries, educational lectures, and ex-
amples of master works in films and demonstrations. Also enhancing
instruction would be a library of CDs, DVDs, and audiotapes of sound
effects; music, plays, and screenplays; and resources for researching
aspects of theatre (dialects, costumes, historical events or periods, music,
plays, and literature). - Other resources, such as capabilities for Internet research, computer
publishing, digital recording, and editing.
Suggested Facilities
Elementary schools need flexible classroom areas or large, open indoor
spaces for theatre activities and storage for props, costumes, and curriculum
materials. In addition to storage, middle schools need assembly halls or other
large rooms with stages or platforms equipped with lighting, high ceilings to
allow for lighting angles, sound equipment, masking curtains, and seating for an
audience. Theatres or auditoriums at the high school level should be designed to
present plays and musicals. Some school districts work with city or theatre orga-
nizations to build theatres on high school campuses and share their use, staffing,
and maintenance.
A high school theatre or auditorium should be equipped with the following:
- Stage area, offstage area, wing space, light booth, fly space, wooden
(paintable) floor, drapes, curtains, teasers, light grid, catwalk, pipes,
baton, and pin rail, with all areas handicap accessible - Set construction area, with secure storage of tools to build sets and
equipment to paint and decorate them - Storage area for furniture, costumes, props, set pieces, drapes, drops,
cycloramas, and makeup - Costume construction area, with a sewing machine, sink, full-length
mirrors, an iron and ironing board, cutting tables, and storage for tools
used in sewing and designing - Separate dressing rooms for male and female students, with showers,
toilets, and several well-lighted mirror stations for applying makeup - Television and film studio and editing facilities
Community Resources and Parent Involvement
Many individuals, professional actors, performing groups, and organizations
in the community can become valuable resources for a theatre arts program.
Identifying and locating those resources will differ for each school.
Parent involvement in the theatre program can range from simply being a
member of an audience to organizing a parent booster club. Including parents in
the entire process enhances the program and engages the parents in the arts.
Chapter 4
Guidance
for Visual and
Performing Arts
ProgramsTheatre