Interview Project Part One Survey
Interview Project Part Three - Connect With Your Group
Interview Project Part Two - Theater Personnel
Theater_100_Spring2022_Syllabus
Theater 100--Interviewing Working Artists: Open for Antiracism (OFAR)
Overview
This is a lesson used in a Theater 100 Intro to Theater classat West Los Angeles College in 2022. Students were part of an open-pedagogy process that connected them with stage artists of color whom they interviewed about their careers in stage design, writing and directing.
Artists were contacted directly and volunteered to be part of the project. Most were delighted to speak with students aboout their careers.
Theater 100: Directors and Designers Speak
Artists were culled in part from the Bipoc Arts Database.
"BIPOC Arts was developed in July 2020 out of a desire to have a collective place that features and celebrates BIPOC individuals in opera. Created by Alejandra Valarino Boyer, BIPOC Arts is a one-click response to “I just don’t know any good BIPOC [opera professional] to hire”. We are here. We are valuable. We are talented.
BIPOC Arts is developed, maintained, and run by a couple who each have full-time jobs and full-time lives. We will work diligently to best serve BIPOC professionals, and have hopes to expand the site. This will take us time and we appreciate your patience.
We are committed to antiracism. This is an ongoing journey and we will make mistakes. We invite you to hold us accountable. "
You can find much information about BIPOC designers at bipocarts.com
This lesson was designed to help students connect with, learn from and relate to working artists of color in the American theater. Theater 100-Introduction to Theater requires students to learn terminology and define the roles of different theater artists working on a stage prooduction. But many of the texts, glossaries and resources available in OER and elsewhere on the web feature work and/or interviews only with white artists. This open-pedagogy project attempts to change that by having students create questions and Zoom-interview working artists of color. The interviews were recorded, edited and uploaded into the cloud.
Contents
- BIPOC Artists Directory
- Assignments for Students (Samples)
Four Steps for Students
Many students come into Theater 100 with little or no experience with theater or theater arts. Before interviewing the artists, students had to be aware of:
- what theater is
- what is looks and sounds like
- what differentiates it from other art forms
In other words, before launching into interviewing artists, the students had to be aware of context and terms. By the time they did this project, they had studied theater in general, read a play, and seen a short piece performed.
Attached are four lessons that walked students through the process
- Step One - a survey to determine interest
- Step Two - an exercise to define artitsic roles in the theater
- Step Three - connecting with groups
- Step Four - writing interview questions
Step One: Survey Assignment
Attached is the assignment requiring students to answer survey questions to determine areas of interest.
Step Two: Terms and Personnel
Attached is the second part of the assignment, where students studied the different artists who work on the theater production.
Step Three: Connecting With a Group
Attached is the assignment requiring students to connect with their assigned groups to prepare for creating their interview questions.
Step Four: Writing Your Questions
Attached is the lesson for students to work in groups to create specific questions to interview an artist of color.
Course Syllabus
Attached is the course syllabus. This assignment helps fulfill the course outcome: Students will recognize and describe the roles of difference theater artists and personnel in a production.