by Rebekah Mobley-Kasner

Created on: September 03, 2009   Last Updated: September 05, 2009

Beyond the oblivious connection between theatre performance and studying liberal arts subjects, the impact of participating in a high school theatre program reverberates though out a student's coursework. Extracurricular high school activities encourage social interaction, teamwork, and the disciple of follow through. Theatre activity also carries its own set of inherent skills that can be integrated into the core high school curriculum.

On a very basic level, the skills learned on stage easily translate to the study nook. Foremost, key to performing on stage is to remember one's lines. The developed talent to memorize material easily translates successfully to the classroom and ultimately encourages more productive study time. From speed drills repeating monologues to incorporating kinetic movement in line repetition, tricks used on stage can translate to innovative study techniques for remembering pertinent information.

After school rehearsals, weekend performances, and lots of details to remember, theatre participation requires stamina, cooperation, and discipline. These are all character qualities that translate to the homework desk. The same sense of accomplishment that resonates on stage from a well-practiced, well-delivered performance echoes in the classroom when students see the same successful results in their academic work. Transferring an almost muscle-memory response from the stage to the desk, the experience of a successful stage production illustrates the glories of proper preparation. Interlinked with the stamina building, the simple act of attending rehearsals enforces the discipline of establishing and following preset routines.

Aside from the added sense of personal responsibility, students learn to interact productively rather than socially. While most students enjoy group dynamics to some extent, learning to interact with other performers and stage support crew is paramount to successful rehearsals. Since no actor is an island, students learn to give and receive productive feedback over the course of a production, feeding the interdependency that forms on stage. The ability to work productively translates to the study group settling effortlessly. While solo study time is critical, most high school students benefit from group settings. Obviously every student brings a different perspective to material studied, thus theatre students have the advantage of being familiar with a studious group dynamic.

Inflection, tone, and stance-when actors take the stage, they bring writing to life, making the intangible touchable. From Shakespeare to Wilde, acting is a process of ingesting the work, internalizing the message, and interpreting a meaning. How is the stage any different from the classroom?

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