How has becoming a National Thespian helped you teach theatre?

Answer 1

Nothing has helped my students more than theater and acting. It doesn't matter what age I am teaching, all children have benefited from playing some part of theater production. It builds their confidence. It strengthens their public speaking abilities. They become more responsible to themselves and to others.

They learn about acting, yes, but they also learn about stage design, sound technology, costume design, and about the great writing masters who created plays which have been passed down through the centuries.

Some students have become successful in writing their own plays, or directing the plays of others in the classroom.

Becoming a National Thespian when I was a senior in high school prepared me to travel the world and appreciate what I saw, and experienced as an adult. If I had not studied the Greek plays, how would I appreciate the ancient Greek theater I perchance came upon in Athens as I walked the back streets? What good would it be to walk to the castle of Sao Jorge in Portugal if I didn't know of Pesoa or Saramago the Pulitzer Prize winner?

Children are sponges.

We give them knowledge and information and they will soak it up, as much as they are able today, and then tomorrow, they will soak up more!