A Theatre in Your Classroom

David E. Kemp is head of the Drama Department at Queen’s University.

This book is a collection of essays written by contributors from
Australia, Britain, South Africa, the United States, and Canada, on a
variety of themes relating to the training of drama educators and the
practice of educational drama and theatre.

The most valuable thing about A Theatre in Your Classroom is that it
provides insight into the way a handful of experienced drama and theatre
educators think and work. In many different ways we examine the
relationships among drama learning and curriculum from a variety of
perspectives, each of which is unique.

Section 1 examines teacher-student “relations.” Section 2 looks at
dramatic forms in classroom contexts. Section 3, “Informed Praxis”
(a clumsy and off-putting title if ever I have seen one), is, in spite
of its heading, a fascinating reflection and meditation by three drama
practitioners from South Africa, Canada, and Britain, respectively.

I found this book exciting to read but did have some misgivings about
its intended audience. The publishers suggest that it will serve as a
text and reference work for students and professional practitioners, and
I’m sure it will. I am concerned, however, that far too much of it is
“overwritten”: a lot of it is packed with the worst kind of
educational “doublespeak,” with far too many contributors writing in
the way they apparently think an “academic” paper must be written,
rather than in a way that significantly communicates the idea of the
piece to an everyday audience. There are exceptions to this trend, most
notably the common sense of Bert Amies and Keith Yon from the U.K. and
the commitment and idealism of Lynn Dalrymple from South Africa. The
majority of North American contributors could learn a lot from the
clear, accessible approach taken by these contributors.

I would like to think that such a potentially important book would be
eagerly read by the average teacher, to the significant improvement of
drama in education in Western schools. In its present form, however good
its ideas, I fear that a lot of teachers won’t touch it with a barge
pole.