Ed Speak: A Follow Up to Educational Theatre

Thinking about the post on "Educational" Theatre, I decided to practice Ed Speak (the highfalutin words used to take a simple educational act and make it sound like a treatise). It's really quite the writing exercise and can be dang funny when you realize what the words are actually saying. Here goes:

Students will learn teamwork as they create a visually and

"Educational" Theatre: A Pet Peeve

In the schools, I've performed numerous assembly programs, taught theatre and directed productions. Sometimes it's been through arts-in-education organizations, and other times it's been through my theatre company. What flabbergasts me is the question of "and what will be the educational value for the children?"

Apparently, art--visual or performing--is not educational in and of itself. It's only

Ice Breakers from the Vaults of Theatre Games

A friend asked if I knew of any theater games that would work for ice breakers. (Perhaps you've seen the same ice breakers over and over again?) So here are three ideas:

1. What's Your Name and Your Claim to Fame
     If the group is larger than about 30, then it will need to be split up into more manageable sizes. If it's a rather large group and everyone is sitting around a table of about 10 people, then each table will be it's own group.

Did We Use the Same Thesaurus?

Or do all writers do a lot of "musing"? I was doing a bit of research and came across several writer blogs with the subtitle "Musings of a Writer." So today I couldn't stand it any longer and changed my own subtitle because it used the "m" word. Good clang! We writers/performers/etc. need to stop musing so much and

Children's Theatre Excitment!

There's one in Seattle this year!
I stumbled across the information as I was googling "theater for young audiences blogs"--you know, to see if there was an article I just had to tell you about. And I find Theatre for Young Audiences, the USA arm of ASSITEJ (it's French:  Association Internationale du Théâtre de l’Enfance et la Jeunesse). And TYA USA is having a conference in Seattle. In Seattle! That's a few hours

The 9 Everyday Ways People Use Theater Skills

Theater. So unessential. So superfluous in the general scheme of things. Right? Actually, I believe the opposite--theater skills are essential, necessary in day-to-day life. Here are 9 ways theater skills are used on a regular basis:

1. Oral reports. Usually something just

The Amazing Properties of Glitter Glue!

What a cool invention is glitter glue!
How unique!
How simple!
Yet it just adds something to a project.
Take, for instance, a blue formal and silver glitter glue...

Because it's acostume and because I found it at a second-hand shop for only