Tag: drama teaching
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Ponderings on My First Show in 2 Years
Live theatre gets into the blood. When the curtain opens, and the nerves take over, and the hair stands on its end, and the bumps on your skin realize that it’s time, finally, after such a long hiatus, one begins to understand just how much the cult of theatre has seeped into the blood stream. […]
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A Year on Zoom
I finished teaching my final drama class today via Zoom. As I waved goodbye and wished a happy summer to the final stragglers who lived through a year on Zoom, the magnitude of the year hit me. I taught an entire cohort of students and I met them only once in person. The bizarreness of […]
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Frodo Is Becoming Obsolete
I started teaching drama and acting right about the time that Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy was finishing up. Nearly everyone had seen it, and almost universally raved about it. The characterizations of the film provided the perfect example for me when I attempted to illustrate for my young actors what it means […]
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Theatre Arts: The Open Art Form
In my estimation, there’s nothing like live theatre. It’s the most intimate art form. The most personal art form. The most human art form. The most ephemeral art form. Unlike a painting or a sculpture, the theatre arts is an open art form. When was the last time the Mona Lisa changed her smile? When […]
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No Self-Consciousness Allowed on Stage
The drama classroom is often times a microcosm of life. We spend a lot of time talking about humanity, genuineness, and authenticity. These elusive words, when manifested correctly on the stage, can bring to life a performance which can penetrate deep into the audience’s consciousness. That’s the magic. From where do we reach in order […]
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Ten Months in the Making: A New Beginning
It was in December 2016 that I accepted an offer to teach drama in Saudi Arabia. Ten months later, in September of 2017, I am finally set to have my first class. Tomorrow. This is a huge shift in many ways. I had a terrific position in Malaysia, a position which had few limits on […]
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It’s not the words. It’s the emotion behind the words.
I was working with one of my actors on a pivotal scene in our upcoming play. She gives a short speech which spurs on some tremendous societal changes. Yes, it’s a few lines of dialogue which changes the story dramatically. It’s the crucial point in the play. The actor had not been getting it. The […]
Author Mark W Sasse 