The Right Answer

Should theatre entertain or educate? That question has been hotly debated in coffee houses, dressing rooms, and chat rooms since Aristophanes wrote "The Birds." (Maybe the Greeks lacked the chat rooms, but they had hillsides for their chats.) In the realm of educational theatre, the Right Answer is simple, and it can help director/teachers find their way through the mazes of choices and decisions it takes to put on a school play.

Long ago, I was a freshly minted “Theatre Teacher” (my degree said so) looking for a school district lucky enough and smart enough to hire me. I sent out stacks and stacks of resumes (paper ones stuffed into envelopes, if you can imagine). I was given four interviews in literally four different directions. I put hundreds of miles on my ‘83 Chevy Malibu. And I began my education into teaching theatre to young people.

I distinctly remember one question asked during my first interview: “If you could choose any script to direct, which would it be?”

“It would definitely have to be Our Town,” I answered confidently.

“Why?”

“Because the story is so gripping, the characters are interesting, and we can do it with almost no budget.”

My answer to that question kept me from landing that job. Of course, I also described the best part of the city the school was in as ”having lots of corn,” but I am pretty sure I was checked off their list by the time they got to that one.

I eventually learned how to impress enough for someone to hire me. However, I never stopped thinking about that one question and my very wrong answer. It sat in my brain like a popcorn kernel stuck between my teeth at the end of a movie.

It took over twenty years for the correct answer to fully coalesce. As it emerged from my subconscious, I realized that The Right Answer is the single most important thing every director/teacher must consider each time a decision has to be made. Any decision.

“Which script should I choose?” “How much should I spend on costumes?” “How ornate should the set be?” “How strict should I be with scheduling conflicts?” “How angry should I get when the actors just don’t learn their lines?"

The answer should always be, “Whatever helps my students learn and grow.”

In educational theatre, the education should come first, second and third. Everything else is there to support the growth and development of the actors and crew. Yes, that includes putting on a perfect performance. Yes, that includes making something that is entertaining for the audience. There is no reason that these laudable goals cannot be reached, but the reason they are important is because of how they help the kids. Let professional theatres focus solely on the product on the stage. We are here to teach.

We should focus on the reason we do what we do, and that is to give young people a chance to grow by doing something new, something challenging, and something fun. If the director/teacher has his eyes on the end result, it is very easy to miss the small--more lasting and important--results that happen during rehearsals.

I heard both of the following from parents on the same opening night:

“That performance was better than most community theatres.”

“I cannot believe the change in my son after being in your cast.”

Which of these two do you think I remember more fondly? That is how I learned what The Right Answer was.

#theatre #school #directing #performance #motivation #philosophy