Pursuing a career in the theater can seem intimidating and overwhelming. In this video from Treasures of New York: The Drama League, students receive advice from successful theater professionals like director Diane Paulus and actress Judith Light. From practical suggestions like staying informed by reading the newspaper, to more general advice like finding one’s passion, students hear from and are inspired by the words of experienced artists.

In this video from August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand the playwright discusses the influence that the blues has had on his writing. The clip also features a performance from Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and commentary from several theater scholars.

“No Hablo Español” explores the conflicted cultural identity of a Latina high school student who can’t speak Spanish. Playwright Rosa Estevez explains why parents born in a Spanish-speaking country might prefer English for their children. People behind the scenes describe the play’s fresh pathways for discussing cultural identity, the importance of authenticity and language, and the role of the dramaturg in advocating for the playwright. The play was part of the New Voices Young Playwrights Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

With a behind the scenes look at the production of Mary Poppins, Jeromy Smith and Lyndy Franklin Smith, founders of the Lexington Theatre Company, describe their partnership, goals, and how they put a show together. Jeromy explains the factors that affect their choice of plays to perform. Lyndy details how a production comes together over the course of three weeks. The collegiate ensemble rehearses music and choreography in a four-day boot camp, then the professional actors join the cast. After almost two weeks of rehearsals, costume fittings, set design, and technical adjustments, the production is ready for opening night.

Noh, the oldest surviving Japanese dramatic form, combines elements of dance, drama, music, and poetry into a highly stylized, aesthetic retelling of a well-known story from Japanese literature, such as The Tale of Genji or The Tale of the Heike. This lesson provides an introduction to the elements of Noh plays and to the text of two plays, and provides opportunities for students to compare the conventions of the Noh play with other dramatic forms with which they may already be familiar, such as the ancient Greek dramas of Sophocles. By reading classic examples of Noh plays, such as Atsumori, students will learn to identify the structure, characters, style, and stories typical to this form of drama. Students will expand their grasp of these conventions by using them to write the introduction to a Noh play of their own.

Andrew Branca, a high school student from Central Academy of Technology and Arts, in North Carolina talks about how he was inspired to write Boal after attending a summer theater workshop on Brazilian theater activist Augusto Boal. Cast members discuss what it was like to collaborate on the playwriting process and why they felt it was important to start a serious discussion on racism and Islamophobia.

Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.

Boal is a play written and performed by high school students from the Central Academy of Technology and Arts in Monroe, North Carolina. Boal brings a variety of social issues to the stage, focusing on racism and Islamophobia.

The play was inspired by Augusto Boal, a Brazilian theater director, writer, and politician. Boal was the founder of the Theatre of the Oppressed, a theatrical group dedicated to creating political change.

The performance was taped as part of the High School Theatre Festival during the Southeastern Theatre Conference.

Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.

Jeromy and Lyndy Franklin Smith describe their roles in the Lexington Theatre Company. Jeromy, the producing director, focuses on logistics, contracts, and budgets. Lyndy, the artistic director, concentrates on auditions and casting, public relations, and marketing. When a show is in production, the two share directing duties. Collaboration with each other and their staff makes for a successful show.

In this activity from Commonwealth Theatre Center in Louisville, Kentucky, students can write and perform a monologue addressed to a selected emotion describing their experiences with the emotion and why they would like to spend more or less time together. Students will better understand their relationship with their emotions and communicate complex ideas.

In this video from August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand scholars discuss Fences, the Tony Award-winning drama about a former Negro League baseball player and his family. The video features performances of two scenes from the play along with critical commentary.

Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.

A class at Central High School in Louisville, Kentucky, becomes a production studio as students learn about filmmaking in Vanessa Miller’s yearlong film course.

Prom night brings an intense moment of connection for two teens, unleashing a flood of texts and social media posts. Things start to move rapidly. How much does this relationship really mean? “Friday,” written by Hannah Schmidt of Fern Creek High School in Louisville, considers the role of electronic communication in the confusion of teen romance. It was among the seven short plays produced by the 2017 New Voices Young Playwrights Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.

Explore how young theater directors benefit from mentoring in this video from Treasures of New York: The Drama League. Each year a cohort of fellows are selected to receive professional training as part of The Drama League’s Directors Project. Students hear advice from experienced theater professionals and are encouraged to think about the kind of preparation required for a career in the theater.

Curriculum unit of three lessons explores Williams's use of expressionism to more fully comprehend the theatrical devices and themes in The Glass Menagerie. In Lesson 1, students identify and explicate Williams' expressionist techniques.

This lesson will share the 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worlds with Orson Welles.  Students will also see artifacts from the 1930's era and be able to compare and contrast with present styles.  

The Folger Shakespeare Library provides the full searchable text of "Henry V" to read online or download as a PDF. All of the lines are numbered sequentially to make it easier and more convenient to find any line.

This activity from the Commonwealth Theatre Center in Louisville, Kentucky uses drama to explore what emotions we like to share with the world and what emotions we tend to keep to ourselves, and why. Students explore the six core emotions and learn that they are all valid but we can work on how we deal with them.

The Folger Shakespeare Library provides the full searchable text of "The Merchant of Venice" to read online or download as a PDF. All of the lines are numbered sequentially to make it easier and more convenient to find any line.

The Folger Shakespeare Library provides the full searchable text of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" to read online or download as a PDF. All of the lines are numbered sequentially to make it easier and more convenient to find any line.

This is a virtual example of the written lesson plan for elements of dance and counting money