At Play: Teaching Teenagers Theater

by Elizabeth Swados

Young people and improvisational theater should be a natural combination―so why do we so rarely find this combo in today's classrooms? According to Elizabeth Swados―playwright, director, composer, poet, author of children's books and of an acclaimed family memoir―improvisational theater is the perfect creative outlet for junior-high and high-school students . . . if only they can be given the tools and the guidance to make the most of this natural yet rigorous art form.

Drawing on her own experience teaching inner-city children in the groundbreaking musical Runaways and in teaching the techniques of improv theater in schools around the country, as well as on her own background in experimental theater, Swados provides a step-by-step guide to bringing out the natural creativity and enthusiasm key to young people creating―and enjoying―improvisational theater. Covering the basics―from freeing the imagination to learning about how to work with an ensemble, from how to master different forms of movement and sound to how to create different kinds of characters―this is the book for teachers and students eager to learn how to express fully the creative talent that all children are born with.

Genres: Theatre, School, Education, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2006

About the author

Elizabeth Swados (February 5, 1951 – January 5, 2016) was an American writer, composer, musician and theatre director. While some of her subject matter is humorous, such as her satirical look at Ronald Reagan (Rap Master Ronnie) and Doonesbury — both collaborations with Garry Trudeau — much of her work deals with darker issues such as racism, murder and mental illness.

Born February 5, 1951 in Buffalo, New York, Swados wrote about her life in her 1991 autobiography, The Four of Us, A Family Memoir, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Her father, Robert O. Swados, was a successful attorney who helped Seymour H. Knox III convert the local Buffalo Sabres hockey club into a full National Hockey League team. His autobiography, Counsel in the Crease: A Big League Player in the Hockey Wars was published by Prometheus Books in 2005.

Her mother struggled with depression, while her older brother (and only sibling) Lincoln developed schizophrenia. Her mother committed suicide in 1974, and Lincoln died in 1989. Swados suffered from depression, a condition she discussed in her book, My Depression: A Picture Book.

She studied music at Bennington College in Vermont, receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1973. In 1980, the Hobart and William Smith College awarded her an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters.

Swados died from complications following surgery for esophageal cancer on January 5, 2016. She was 64.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drawing on her own experience teaching inner-city children in the groundbreaking musical Runaways and in teaching the techniques of improv theater in schools around the country, as well as on her own background in experimental theater, Swados provides a step-by-step guide to bringing out the natural creativity and enthusiasm key to young people creating—and enjoying—improvisational theater.

This book is a not a book that one reads cover to cover. After reading the introduction it is easy to jump around and find exercises and techniques to use for an acting class, speech class or preparing for a play. The step by step guide is very clear and I discovered so many new ideas which were a refreshing change from the same old theatre games.

[Jeff Alan-Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. I was lucky enough to study with her as a young actor at NYU and was blown away by her artistry as a teacher and performer. I've done much of the work in her book and love having it in my library at my acting school. It's passionate, inventive and insightful.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Make no mistake; Swados is a partisan with a mission. This book serves as a massive antidote to the tangential role that the arts play in the hierarchy of American education. Swados values the spirit of her charges and knows what theater can and must do to live up to it's responsibly. Hugely important for teachers of any stripe. For theater educators, this is the most personal account of devising original work with young people since Dorothy Heathcoate and far less technical than Jonothan Neilands. An important useful work by a true artist.

[Juliette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with another reviewer who said this is not a book to read cover to cover. However, this book has some great ideas for theater games and projects for middle school and high school students. I don't always agree with her ideas of appropriate topics, but I have used some techniques from this book to help guide theater classes that I teach. Considering that there aren't a lot of great 'how to teach theater' books out there, this is a great one to add to your collection if you teach theater or acting in public schools.

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for teachers of adolescents. It's about theatre, but any bright, creative teacher can find lots of value here.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great exercises in this one. I borrowed it from the library, but it's time to buy a copy for me.