Teaching Introduction to Theatrical Design

Introduction

In developing any course, there is much planning and preparation that happens before the class meets for the first time. Before we get to the course content as laid out in each chapter, we’d like to discuss the rationale behind some of our teaching choices so that as you encounter each step in our process you have a better sense of how our course, and teaching, have evolved over the years.

As is the case in many theatre departments, we inherited this class and a syllabus for this class. Previous instructors had developed approaches that worked for them and for the period in which they taught. However, times change, approaches to theatre change, and for better or for worse students now come into the classroom with different expectations ...