The Magic Of The Stage May Enrich Classrooms
Megan Middleton covers education for the Tyler Paper.
The lights dim. The room grows dark, still and silent.
And the shroud of time, distance and impossibility is pulled back in front of a live audience to reveal - a story.
It's the magic of live theater - of seeing a story unfold and unravel right in front of you.
This week, the Tyler Civic Theatre gave area teachers a chance to see how they can bottle some of that magic and apply it to the classroom, using a theater experience to help teach students history or sociology or any other subject.
A handful of teachers attended a special workshop the theatre offered Tuesday, which highlighted how they can take performances, such as "To Kill a Mockingbird" (which opened Thursday night) and use them as teaching tools for their students.
They were shown how live theater can breathe life into a subject.
As the group watched "To Kill A Mockingbird," they were transported to a world where segregation was still alive and where certain words were spoken plainly that would make most cringe today.
As the story of the unwavering Atticus Finch, the humble and falsely-accused defendant Tom Robinson, the innocent and rascally children, Scout and Jem, and the disgusting Ewells played out, there was no denying the power of live theater.
Chills crawled up my spine and tears collected in my eyes during the scene where Scout unknowingly diffuses a wild mob about to attack her father and Tom Robinson by speaking simply from a place of innocence to one of the men in the mob.
And again when Rev. Sykes tells Scout, "Jean Louise - stand up, your father's passing" after Robinson's trial.
And again as a thunderstorm booms and lighting crashes and "Boo" Radley comes to the rescue when more than just a storm threatens the children.
And at the conclusion, when Scout realizes that "Boo" is "real nice" and her father replies, "Most people are Scout, when you finally see them."
There's no denying the power of being right there to see it all happen - to hear the accents, the words, to see the period costumes and the faces and to feel the emotions.
While the story is fiction, it reflects actual events from history, some that teachers who attended said most students are likely unfamiliar with.
Before the performance, DeAnna Hargrove, education director at the Tyler Civic Theatre, gave the teachers study materials and examples of how they could use this play to help teach students about history or other subjects.
They talked about discussion questions and activities to use with students, including a worksheet about Jim Crow laws and a worksheet on Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from the Birmingham Jail." She also talked about establishing a timeline and discerning fact from fiction to put such plays into context.
She also showed them what a difference it can make to see a scene acted out as opposed to just hearing a student read the scene aloud in class.
More performances are coming up that teachers might be able to use in cooperation with lessons.
"The Arabian Nights" might be used to help teach students about other cultures, customs or other religions, Ms. Hargrove said.
Other upcoming performances that might be useful to teachers include "The Mark Twain Show" and "House of the Seven Gables."
Ms. Hargrove told teachers that most people think of theater as just entertainment.
"Why not make it an educational adventure as well?" she asked. "Any moment can be a learning moment."
Quantalane Henry, a sociology teacher at John Tyler High School, attended the workshop and brought along a student and parent.
"I'm hoping to bring my students here - my whole sociology class - on a field trip," Ms. Henry said. "It would be so great for them to see this and experience this."
The theater makes the story come alive, she said.
"When you see the people, the way they talk, the way they dress - this time period in history is foreign to our students today," she said.
The "immediacy" of the theater, the director of the play, Felicity Enas, said, is where the magic lies.
"It's so much in your face," she said. "Look how close we are - look how close the actors are going to be to the audience."
Ms. Hargrove said the theater makes a story personal.
"So many times when history is presented, it's presented in mass numbers, statistics and maps and charts," she said. "To make it a personal story is the first key.
She also said there's an energy created in a live performance, made evident when "you feel uncomfortable when there's a confrontation on stage, you feel uncomfortable whenever there's any talk of violence, because it seems so very real."
"You feel as if you are a part of the experience."
This was the first workshop of its kind the theatre has offered. She hopes they can offer more.
Ms. Hargrove said she wants to be a resource to teachers.
"I would hope they would see it as a tool that can be used particularly since we want to put resources in their hands," she said.
She hopes the teachers walked away being "inspired that the arts serve a function in the community and in educating our young people."
For more information on the education program at the theater, call 903-593-7827 or visit the Web site, www.tylercivictheatre.com.
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