Theatre activities ask adolescents to empathize with those who are different from themselves. Recognizing divergence invites self-reflection and kindles compassion. These actions tap students’ inner cores while at the same time deepening their understanding of privilege, a key component of critical consciousness.
Through the lens of critical pedagogy and feminist theory, this book explores the mutually reinforcing development of spirituality and emerging critical consciousness fostered by high school theatre experience. By examining her own public high school theatre program through description, analysis and interpretation, Gonzalez explores why and how theatre work can simultaneously fortify teens’ spiritual growth while activating dawning awareness of the socio-political dynamics in their own lives and the world around them. The book includes the original one-act play Free to Fly, which introduces young people to the dangers of sex trafficking of minors.
Temporary Stages III will appeal especially to secondary theatre teachers, theatre education pre-service teachers, and graduate students studying theatre pedagogy and critical cultural theory.
Table of Contents:
Introduction to the Book
Section One: Ways spirituality manifests in a high school theatre program
Introduction to Section One
Chapter 1. Intersections Between Faith-Based and Secular Theatre Education
Chapter 2. Connecting Spirituality to the Rehearsal and Performance Experience
Chapter 3. Processing Grief and Trauma
Chapter 4. Reconciling with Challenges of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic
Chapter 5. How Failure in High School Theatre Fortifies the Spirit
Chapter 6. Rooted Deeply in Spirituality, the Artform of Mime Intrigues and Challenges Teens
Section Two: Ways critical consciousness manifests in a high school theatre program
Introduction to Section Two
Chapter 7. Insights for Understanding and Suggestions for Including the LGBTQ+ Community in High School Theatre Programs
Chapter 8. Theatre Teachers of Color Discuss Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
Chapter 9. The Complexity of The Crucible’s Tituba: Casting Conundrums for Actors and Directors
Chapter 10. Teaching Racism through Socially-Conscious Theatre Pedagogy
Section Three: The reciprocal nature of spiritual strength and critical consciousness
Introduction to Section Three
Chapter 11-A. The Devised Scene, Foundation of Free To Fly
Chapter 11-B. DEVISED SCENE on HUMAN SEX TRAFFICKING OF MINORS
Chapter 12. Free To Fly, An Original One-Act Play for Young People that Draws Attention to the Dangers of Human Sex Trafficking of Minors
Chapter 13. Problematizing Free To Fly
Chapter 14. Portraying Despicable Characters – How Introspection, Empathy, and Critical Analysis of Coercion Impact the Teen Brain
Chapter 15. The Physiological Function of Respiration - Breath Fortifies the Spirit and Exercises Critical Consciousness
Epilogue
About the Author :
Jo Beth Gonzalez, MFA, Ph.D. teaches theatre and public speaking and directs the drama program at Bowling Green High School in Bowling Green, Ohio, USA. Gonzalez is the recipient of the Bowling Green State University 2015-2016 Educator of the Year Award, Educational Theatre Association’s 2015 Ohio Theatre Educator of the Year, and the 2002 Wilson National Mentor’s Award to a High School Drama Teacher from the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America. In 2018, she participated in the U.S. State Department’s “Teachers for Global Classrooms” program. A Thespian Troupe Director, her students are actively involved in regional, state, and international Thespian events.
Review :
''In the current moment when teachers and students alike confront fatigue, polarization, and fear, Temporary Stages III feels both timely and necessary. Gonzalez’s vision of “critical-spiritual pedagogy” reframes theatre education as a practice of wholeness: art-making that attends to body, mind, and spirit, and activism that begins with empathy. This book extends Gonzalez’s lifelong inquiry into what it means to teach, while offering a profound argument for why the work of high-school theatre still matters.'' Lauren Gorelov, New York University for ArtsPraxis
