Despite the heavy emphasis placed on more analytical courses, every student can benefit from taking at least one collegiate theatre course.
More often than not, arts courses such as theatre are dismissed. Many people are under the impression that there is little to no educational gain in such classes. However, students of all backgrounds can find theatre courses advantageous in the long run. Whether it is a technical theatre course or an acting class, useful skills for the workplace can be reaped from all disciplines of theatrical arts.
Technical theatre courses offer insight into the design aspects of the art, where students can become familiar with how to physicalize ideas. The process of transferring thoughts into well-shaped and fleshed-out concepts, which culminate in a final product, is very rewarding. In the design process, each individual must work seamlessly with another to create a successful work environment and a cohesive idea, which can be clearly seen in the final results of the project. A lack of familiarity with this process can lead to a disjointed end project and ineffective communication. Therefore, the collaboration of individual pieces is an objective stressed in many theatre design courses. These classes offer experience in team building and time management, both of which are necessary skills in any profession.
While some may find a performance-based theatre course more intimidating, acting classes also offer a multitude of benefits for students. Even if an individual does not have any stage experience, the variety of coursework can help students become more acquainted with the foundations of effective public speaking. Eye contact and physical coordination are just a few of the many areas acting classes cover. Performance classes also focus on effectively transferring information to the audience. Good communication is a foundation of every professional occupation. Therefore, the edification of these skills can assist students with future speeches, presentations, product pitches and more.
In addition to this, becoming aware of the directing process is something that can provide students with much-needed leadership experience. Directors manage the many facets of a design team, maintain the cohesiveness of the overall show design and coordinate the activities of performers. This type of leadership is applicable to vocational fields that require leadership roles, most notably business management. There are courses specifically tailored to learning the directing process. In such courses, students become equipped with an array of experiences, which can be applied to future leadership roles.
Many may be quick to dismiss the educational value of theatre courses. However, these classes provide a plethora of applicable skills. Anyone seeking to gain experience with teamwork, comfortability with public speaking, useful leadership skills or just familiarity with the art of theatre itself, should take a theatre course. Students never know what they could learn from being on stage.
