Theatre in a Historical, Cultural, and Societal Context

Introduction

This module provides an example of how to approach teaching students about a variety of theatrical traditions in a historical and cultural context as well as how to engage students with specific styles of theatre.

Key Terms

1. Primary Research: Self-gathered research, original source materials (art, photographs, original texts).
2. Secondary Research: Research gathered by others; contemporary commentary on historical periods.
3. Living Newspaper: A style of theatre created by the Federal Theatre Project as a part of the New Deal.

Module Lessons Preview

In this module, we will study the following topics:

Lesson 1: Theatre in a Historical, Cultural, and Societal Context (Living Newspaper): Students will explore the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Theatre Project and The Living Newspaper as a historical piece of theatre.
Lesson 2: Researching Historical Theatre and Theatrical Traditions: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the process of preparing a performance associated with a particular historical period through research.

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