Making Theatre

*An inspiring, practical handbook for anyone working with young people to make devised theatre. Managing the devising process is often demanding, difficult and challenging. It can lead even highly competent drama teachers to feel disempowered. However, help is at hand. Making Theatre: The Frazzled Drama Teacher's Guide to Devising provides a framework that will take the stress out of the process, and help teachers to ensure their students realise their full potential. Bennathan answers the common questions raised by drama teachers, from 'What's the best way of grouping my students?' and 'How long should the rehearsal process be?' to 'How do I enable students to avoid shallow, cliched work?' and 'How do I ensure that boys engage and attain?' He shows how to build the foundations that underpin devised theatre, and provides ten invaluable structures for devised work, to meet the needs of different students and situations. The book also includes a range of stand-alone exercises covering key areas such as voice and movement, characterisation, communication, scene transitions, narrative economy and clarity, performance conventions, and the relationship between style, content and form.