Theatre as a Teaching

Laura Raidonis Bates

Metaphor

A good teacher, in my opinion, is by turns playwright, actor, direc- tor, and audience-continually shifting roles in response to a contin- uously shifting class dynamic.

As a doctoral candidate in comparative literature at the Uni- versity of Chicago, I have received significant exposure to the various schools of literary criticism and theory, but as an edu- cator-whether working with adults at the University of Chicago’s Center for Continuing Education, inmates in Chica- go’s Cook County Jail, or freshmen at Indiana State Universi- ty-my primary focus has always been on practice. My peda- gogical paradigm, derived from years of experience in the theatre, emphasizes not the application of a set of principles or theories, but real, personal, and even risky interaction with a group of individuals.

Such an approach seems to me especially appropriate for a course like English 101: a basic writing workshop conducted in a classroom filled to capacity with twenty-seven individuals, from many backgrounds, with a variety of majors, and dramat- ically different levels of language proficiency-all of whom are also dealing, in distinct ways, with the difficult transition from high school to college, from childhood to adulthood. An approach to teaching that does not take into account the chal- lenges inherent in this complex human dynamic seems to me just, well, impructicul.

The theatrical model of teacher as playwright/actor/direc- tor/audience is manifested in my classroom work in the fol- lowing ways. First, as playwright I concentrate on content, plotting out the overall design of the drama (the course itself) and scripting each individual scene (each class session) in some detail-allowing ample room for improvisation, of course. Like a play, a good class should have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Sequenced activities should be arranged in a

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logical, usually linear, order while they incorporate varying rhythms, plot twists, and discovery (peripeteiu, in Aristotelian terms). A class, in fact, is bound even more than a play by the classical unities of time, place, and action. And, like a play, my “class script” is ultimately adjusted to suit the requirements of the particular actors and audience (the students) and even the particular performance space (the classroom).

In the role of actor I focus on delivery. I am aware that the presentation of any classroom materials can be only as effec- tive as the communication is successful. Again constantly responding to the audience, I consciously employ such actors’ tools as vocal projection, physical animation, ad-libbed humor, and direct address every time that I take the stage in my class- rooms.

However, it is not the role of actor but of director that I pre- fer to emphasize, and I believe this distinction is significant. I feel that an approach that considers the teacher the sole per- former and the students merely nameless, faceless audience (often sitting, figuratively if not literally, in the dark) is coun- terproductive. Rather, my role as director involves facilitating, guiding, and shaping group work among the actor-students. As a sympathetic observer and evaluator, I work to bring out the best in each individual’s performance.

Finally, I assume my favorite role-that of audience. I con- sider myself successful in my other roles when I reach tAe point at which I am no longer the star of the show but am able to relinquish that role to my students, when I can sit back and appreciate their performances as they read aloud their own work, give a presentation, make a meaningful contribution to a discussion, or discover an inspiration during their daily in- class writing.

The theatrical model seems appropriate for one other na- son: Theatre is the most collaborative of the arts. And I firmly believe that good teaching, too, is a collaborative art.

Laura Raidonis Bates is a lecturer in the Department of English at Indiana State University in Terre Haute.

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