Running Head: Theatre: An Essential Part of Education: A Review of Literature

Theatre: An Essential Part of Education: A Review of Literature

Jose Be Romero
University of Texas at El Paso
English 1312
October 19, 2014

Theatre Essence in Education

Abstract
This literature addresses 3 different questions which are answered through the
information provided by various sources. These sources are not limited to an interview done
with professor Barba from the University of Texas at El Paso, scholarly journals, websites,
videos, and various books in relation to theatre and how it has impacted various individuals and
why it is relevant to education. Concluding with the final answer in regards to all three questions
set out through the paper.

Theatre Essence in Education

Theatre: An Essential Part of Education: A Review of Literature
Records demonstrate that theatre originated from Greek culture, where Greek would
adore one of their Gods, Dionysius. Actors, playwrights and numerous required individuals were
hired to present these performances to the public, a lot of time as a form of entertainment. These
performances slowly began growing in audience, to the point where they built an amphitheater to
accommodate more people. This began emerging in the year 500 B.C., in which Greek
developed it to be a common form of entertainment. Through the past century theatre has been
integrated into the educational system. Theatre has now become an elective available to almost
anyone who chooses to take advantage of it. Numerous scholars have followed a career in
theatre out of passion for the art, while others have only integrated the knowledge obtained from
performances or ideas played out in dramas into their education.
It has been taken into consideration that, theatre may not be a necessary subject in the
world of education; whether it is high school or college education. To individuals who are
unfamiliar with theatre, the art may seem like a non-contributing subject to overall education.
Therefore, it is crucial to find out if it is worth maintaining this program around or demonstrating
how it has contributed and will continue to contribute for generations to come. This can be done
through answering these three questions which have been developed to provide information to
answer this doubt.

In what ways have the theatre arts contributed to the twenty-first century as we
see now?

Why should theatre remain an elective for high school and college students in our
educational system?

Theatre Essence in Education

How has theatre influenced in the educational development of some scholars that
have attended the University of Texas at El Paso?

Through answering these three questions, the goal of this literature review will be met, as
it will delivering the fundamental information that will be used to answer this inquiry.
In what ways have the theatre arts contributed to the twenty-first century as we see
now?
The theatre arts have contributed to the twenty first-century by being the foundation to
the film industry we see now. It is seen that has theatre has progressed into an even larger
industry, known as the film industry. Theatre has taken advantage of the continuous
technological discoveries coming forward. With the emersion of the television, the film industry
came along, being founded by filmed performances, exactly like the ones coming from theatre
drama. The influence theatre has on film industry in unmeasurable because, almost every detail
of film can be traced back to it. Therefore through it influences different aspects, to points where
it affects individuals directly through politics. Lawyers are said to be like performers, acting to
get their way through performances. (Barba, 2014) This showing that theatre has influenced the
education of lawyers in the twenty-first century.
Performance Studies Richard Schechner in a speech delivered to the Association of
Theatre in Higher Education made the following statement, Theatre as we have known and
practiced will be the string quartet of the 21st century. (The Top Ten Reasons Why Theatre Is
Important In The Twenty First Century, 2014) As we see it in our present day and age theatre
attendance has dwindled more for economic reasons than preference. In the other hand articles

Theatre Essence in Education

and books published in the twenty-first century up to the present day emphasize more and more
the importance of theatres influence in the educational system.
Theatre has also provided a way for social change and acceptance. Issues which were
commonly frowned upon in previous centuries have become something not very uncommon. To
the point where theatre constantly presents these issues as something which is ordinary, an
example would be gay marriage. In the book Staging Social Justice, Ann Elizabeth Armstrong
writes about directing a play in which certain actors in the performance would come forward to
their parents (also actors), letting them know about their homosexual views and preference.
(Staging Social Justice, pg. 123) Here we see how something that thirty years ago would have
been something intolerable, theatre has developed ways to bring out issues like this and be more
accepting in the twenty-first century. Not only has theatre contributed to the daily entertainment
of millions, but it has brought social acceptance to the table of the twenty-first century.
Why should theatre remain an elective for high school and college students in our
educational system?
Theatre should remain an elective in the educational system because theatre lends itself to
the development of appropriate expressions of language. Ideas need to be transmitted through
proper vocabulary and oral expression. Great imagination needs to be used in order to transmit
ideas. The mind is being forced to find the correct language order to convey the messages meant
by the creators of a theatrical piece of art. Authors want to transmit meaning. Words without the
correct meaning are useless. Body gestures transmit meaning also, but effective language skills
clarify any doubts about the message audiences may grasp. Much more, there must be a

Theatre Essence in Education

relationship between symbolic and spoken language because this affects meaning in theatre.
(Bennett, pg. 12)
Theatre is made up of words, space, and gestures in front of an audience. (Bennett, pg.
10) It requires a lot of reasoning, inquiry and creativity to put a performance using these three
elements only. Performers and directors have to present words in such a way that they may
impact an audience. Words need to be matched with the correct facial gestures in order to
deliver the ideas that need to be conveyed. All this needs to be accommodated or performed in a
certain space that agrees with the words and gestures being used. All these steps require mental
organizing of ideas to be effective in their presentation. Words, simply, need to be planned
according to the impact the author wants to make on their audiences and also according to the
theatre genres to be presented, satire, comedy, drama, etc.
The concept of consciousness or prior experience goes together when analyzing what
mental processes are needed to analyze and criticize a piece such as it is in theatre. Theatre is
not only the process of watching a performance, but it is also the use of higher level thinking
skills which are necessary to draw a pleasure, joy, sadness, disappointment from a piece of art
such as theatre. Consciousness and analytical abilities mixed together help audiences who in
many instances are students and teachers at our educational institutions. They learn to love
theatre because it helps them to have fun and at the same time put their minds into gear. Theatre
is a learning tool that being used properly may help students to use mental faculties more
effectively.
Teachers need to know how to relate drama to the arts in all the educational areas they
might be teaching, and how to use theatre for little kid audiences in the elementary level. By

Theatre Essence in Education

doing this they will prepare students in high school level to appreciate theatre at the secondary
and post-secondary levels. This knowledge of transmitting a love for the performance arts needs
to not be limited to theatre only, but needs to be learned and used by teachers in other areas of
the educational curriculum. This can be accomplished by including in teachers training at least
one class of artistic pedagogy. (John OTool, pg. 14)
Teachers trained in this manner will at least be introduced to the advantages of having
some knowledge on how to use the art of theater at the earliest stages in the students learning.
They will use them in the classroom as a learning tool in relation to other subjects such as social
studies, language arts, and even science, if the teacher uses his imagination and creativity to do
so.
Yaman suggests that drama can also be used in teaching of English language learners.
The reason for this is that drama includes and uses all language skills, such as listening, reading,
speaking and writing skills. Students witnessed to the effectiveness of this educational method.
They expressed that activities involved in drama were retained better because they were able to
interact with each other in role playing and writing. Learning was fun as they were able to share
their experiences from their own countries and what they were more familiar with. As they
shared experiences they were more familiar with the subject they felt more confident and acted
as experts in the areas they were in charge of. (Yaman, pg. 185) This supports the concept that
has the more academic experiences a student has, the more academic background he gains.
(Marzano, pg. 5)
These same concepts are expressed by Dr. Kevin Brown when he mentions that theater
lends itself to self-expression of thought and feelings. It also allows people to understand

Theatre Essence in Education

themselves and make learning easier and fun. (Brown, The Top Ten Reasons Why Theatre Is
Still Important in The Twenty-First Century) Shalwits agrees with this idea also as he explains
that theatre education and literacy. He remarks that theatre is tricky in the sense that it demands
close attention and mental exercise on the part of the audience. It also helps to understand other
peoples cultures. He continues saying that theatre helps participants to do in school and invites
kids to socialize in a creative way. (Shalwitz, 7 Reasons Why Theatre Makes Our Lives Better)
Theatre experiences will greatly benefit students in high school and college after they get
exposed to the learning experience they would obtain if they choose theatre as an elective and
more over as a career. In this manner they will perpetuate the academic experience that only
theatre may bring to their lives.
How has theatre influenced in the educational development of some scholars that
have attended the University of Texas at El Paso?
Michael Bennet relates his experiences after attending Smokey Joes Caf on Broadway
when he was a teenager. On his way to the show he asked his mom what type of show this was
going to be, she told him during the intermission that this was a typical musical. As he was
watching the show, he made different comments to his mom about the lack of character
development and no plot. Then his mom said, What kind of plot should be included in a
revue? after understating this was a revue, Bennet replied that he would have enjoyed the
performance better if he had known this was a revue. Bennet explains that this experience
influenced his ideas about theatre performance later on in his life and inspired him to develop
theories on how audiences consciousness and experiences are related to theater performance
understanding. (Bennet, pg. 3, 4)

Theatre Essence in Education

In order to create theatre, scholars need to be aware of the social, historical and cultural
conditions society is going through. They need to have a deep knowledge of the different
philosophical trends being accepted by society during a time in history. Bennet made people
aware of this as he mentions the economic and political conditions of France during the post war.
He mentions how the political scene in the world was changing in a form of despair and
uncertainty. This inspired absurdsts to create Waiting for Godot. (Bennet, 81-83)
Theatre teachers are scholars in the true sense of the word because they are well-trained
on the subject and have on the different academic areas of learning. Some of them have
expressed how they learned to love theatre since their childhood. Theatres have made them
passionate people in doing their job well.
They are also passionate in engaging in large tasks which have helped them to be more
creative and advocates of the arts. Theater scholars at The University of Texas at El Paso wish
theatre programs at the
university may increase
numbers. (Professor Barba,
2014)
Gregory L. Taylor was
a theatre arts undergraduate

(Figure 1 Utep Dinner Theatre Founded by Gregory L. Taylor.

student in 1983, who is a fantastic example of how theatre has contributed to the scholars of The
University of Texas at El Paso. Mr. Gregory Taylor was what could be said as the founder of the
Dinner Theatre as seen in the image above. Not only did he contribute to this phenomenal

Theatre Essence in Education

theatre, but he also contributed to the Tim Rice, Chess production in Broadway. Gregory
Taylor has directed over one hundred and thirty productions at the Dinner Theatre, which has
been around for a successful thirty one years. Through his hard work and dedication of over 30
years, the Dinner Theatre is an example of what an individual who has been influenced by the
theatre arts can accomplish. The Dinner Theatre can be seen in the image above, Figure 1, this
Theatre opened for the first performance on March 10, 1983. This performance was directed by
Gregory L. Taylor. Mr. Taylor was so passionate for this theatre that he worked 15 hours to
support the idea of it going on. Something that became a well settled part of the Department of
Theatre at the University of Texas at El Paso in 1998.
Also some students are working in the film industry and performing artists in other states
who have graduated from The University of Texas at El Paso. Individuals may be surprised at
how many art scholars have benefitted from attending the university and obtained a theatre arts
degree. Scholars are contributing with their talents in other parts of the county. Through an
interview on Professor Barba, it is shown that he believes that the theatre should remain an
option for students at UTEP so students would have an opportunity to be exposed to the art of the
theatre as he was as a child. Growing up, his parents did not support him being part of such
thing, though through time they began to notice how theatre positively influenced his life. They
did not believe he would obtain a career through majoring in theatre. Through time he proved
them wrong as he became not only a professor of theatre, but also a costume designer and a
director for various performances. He considers that the coursework in the students major is
important, but for a student to obtain a well-rounded education he needs to experience theatre
and the arts. Theatre is a portrayal of reality and it is important for us as human beings to be
able to hold a mirror to ourselves and take a look (Professor Barba, 2014).

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11
Conclusion

In conclusion, this literary review has attempted to answer the three main questions
related to theatre as an essential part of education. First of all theatre is still relevant in the
twenty-first century. Theatre is not dead. It has existed from the beginning of mankind and is an
essential component of human expression throughout the ages. Theatre permeates all the areas of
human knowledge. It is still alive. In the educational area it was presented the great necessity of
theatre not only to be used at the elementary level, but also to remain as an elective for high
school and college student levels. It provides a guide for individuals who are interested to have a
career in all the aspects of it. These sides may be in the educational side of it, the visual artistic
side, or even the literary side of it. Theatre offers great opportunities to develop language skills
and the use of higher knowledge skills. Teachers play a very important part in transmitting
theatre skills to their students so they may use it as an asset to learning. Theatre helps students
understand people from other cultures. Theatre makes it available for the audience to become
familiar with cultures they may have not been exposed to previously, allowing to see
reenactments of how or what goes on in their civilization. Finally theatrical experiences have
contributed to the educational development of scholars at UTEP. Professor Barba a scholar who
attended school at the University of Texas at El Paso is one example of an individual who has
drastically impacted by theatre in his life. Theatre positively influenced him to find a career in it,
after viewing through the years what theatre could provide for other individuals. Professor Barba
was able to prove individuals wrong in the sense that many believed it was impossible to make
something out of having a degree in the theatre arts in the city of El Paso. He showed them that
not only can you find a job, but it allows the individual to do something he/she is delighted with.

Theatre Essence in Education

Gregory L. Taylor is another individual who showed how having theatre positively
influenced his life, and benefited not only him but the following generations who have come
after his time. Since the initiation of his foundation of the Dinner theatre, various students and
scholars have been able to be delighted by over one hundred and three performances done at the
theatre. Taylor is an example that having theatre available to the students of the university is and
does have a positive effect. Students do not only find entertainment in theatre, but they also find
a way of life. These scholars have found a way of life that has allowed them to express their
artistic selves through something that is educational and constructive to the mind.

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13
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