New Directions in Theatre Education

[Richard Plant]

Hello Blair Fisher:

By the time my message gewts to you, likely a number of other people will
have taken time to reply to your query. Alas, it comes at a particularly
busy time of the year for myself and others. So, only a short note will
have to suffice this time.

The changes in theatre education are extensive over the past twenty years.
this is reflected most recently in the number of programmes making
significant revisions to their mandates and offerings. Some of the changes
are the result of major changes in the institutions which house the
programmes ( universities, colleges, etc), changes in the theatre world
itself, changes in the governments contributing (or not contributing) to
cultural activity, and the list goes on. The programme changes are
reflected in extensive literature available in books and journals. A list
here could be very long, but would include the calendar offerings of
various departments, the records of theatre training schools and private
teachers, and articles and books such as the exchanges in Theatre Research
in Canada (see Ric Knowles' article and the responses, vol 16, no 1/2, and
Tibor Egervari's commentary 17, 1). But this is just a mention of a single
source.

So, in response to one of your questions: yes, theatre and theatre
education have been under great change over the past while.

Richard Plant
Dept of Drama, Queen's University
and
Graduate Centre for Study of Drama,
University of Toronto