Incite/Insight Spring-Summer 2019 Incite_Insight—Spring_Summer 2019 Final | Page 6

Using technology, such as Skype,
in a theatre classroom of any sort
can come across as a medium
mismatch. Theatre, like teaching,
is built upon an interpersonal
connection that can only come from
sharing the same physical space.
And while there have been both
advancements made and pushes
towards using online learning tools
(including video conference) in
academia, there have not been
formal study and documentation
of the benefits or limits of online
learning in the practical study of
theatre. And of all the practical
topics of study in theatre, learning
how to direct a staged reading
using online learning technology
seems particularly pedagogically
problematic.
A stage reading is, fundamentally,
about seeing how a new script
affects a live audience. One could
argue that a staged reading tests the
somewhat immeasurable “electric
charge” that happens when the
work and the audience are in the
same space. What would it look
like to explore the creation of such
an immeasurable “electric charge”
through seemingly impersonal and
distancing technology of video
conferencing?
Skype time was structured with
the following formula: On Monday,
INCITE/INSIGHT 6
the guest instructor would lecture
generally about their insights on
staged readings. Then, a play or
task (such as case studies) would be
assigned via email. The assignment
would then be shared by the students
and analyzed on Wednesday. This
curricular progression allowed for a
comfortable routine for students and
guests.
Now that the unit is over, and each
of the graduate students got to
experience the four guests through
video conferences and incorporate
the knowledge gleaned from the
guest artists’ expertise into their own
staged reading process, I reached
back out to the four guests to get
their take on what their intentions and
objectives were when starting there
subsection of the unit to lead and
what they got out of their time spent
virtually with the students.
The first question I asked them to
reflect on concerned characterizing
a healthy director/playwright
collaborative relationship during a
staged reading process. Each of the
artists responded with some version
of “clear communication.” As one
of the artists commented, “It’s easy
for both playwrights and directors
to take for granted that their way of
seeing something unfold on stage is
the way that makes the most sense,
and it’s easy to get caught off guard
by differences in perspective and
subsequently frustrated. So heading
that off at the pass is a must.”
Another artist further expanded on
the urgency in establishing clear
communication right from the first
director/playwright conversation by
stipulating that “getting on the same
page [through discussion] about
the primary goal of the reading” is
the best way to establish a healthy
playwright/director relationship.
Clearly, nothing should impede these
initial foundational conversations
between collaborators, especially not
distance. To that end, an argument
could be made that Skype could
be used to ensure the possibility
of establishing and building the
dialogue between a director and
a playwright by expanding the
methods through which the student
artist could connect; however, in this
instance, all of the grad students
relied on meeting face-to-face with
their creative writing collaborators in
the early phases of establishing their
working relationship.
I enquired about if there were
misconceptions of the staged
reading process which were
discussed. The responses ranged
from directors thinking that it is “their
job to fix the playwright’s script,”
to focusing too much on the visual