Drama One: Theater and the Self
Essential Questions:
How can theatrical tools help me to understand, make meaning of, and express my own human experience?
How have other individuals and societies used theatrical tools to understand, make meaning of, and express the human experience throughout history?
Drama Two: Theater and Society*
Essential Questions:
How do groups and societies use theatrical tools to understand, make meaning of, and express collective experiences?
What is the relationship between theatrical form and the social / historical context in which it is made?
About BHS Drama Teacher, Caitlyn Louchard
My teaching career began in the summer of 2008, when, just after graduating from NYU with my BFA in acting, I taught Shakespeare Camp with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Exploring Shakespeare with young people was a revelation: each student brought their own truth to the text and taught me to hear it in new ways. I was hooked on teaching, but continued to work as a professional actor in the Bay Area from 2008 - 2017, with such companies as Shotgun Players, Cutting Ball, Berkeley Rep, and Cal Shakes. In 2013 I rode my bicycle across North America by myself and wrote poetry about it. When I returned (much changed!) I created a small radical Shakespeare company called The Free Theater, which focused on a queer feminist approach to the classics. I ran TFT from 2014 - 2017, then paused my professional theater career to address my calling to teach. I completed a masters degree in education at Mills college, and taught theater and writing in a variety of settings, including the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, BUSD elementary and middle schools, and the woods. I hold a single subject credential in English, along with a CTE credential in theater. My personal creative practice continues to evolve; my focus is currently on physical theater, clown, writing, and experimental solo performance. As an educator, my highest priority is to remind my students to respect their own instincts and passions, and trust in the wisdom of their bodies. I hope to offer my students an experience of freedom, empowerment, joy, and meaningful connection.
About the BHS Drama Program
Theater is a relational art that enables participants to develop skills and capacities for listening, empathy, vulnerability, collaboration, self-awareness, and social-emotional well-being. By participating in the BHS drama department courses and productions, students will develop:
Confidence to express themselves clearly in public contexts by mastering technical skills;
A repertoire of tools for leadership and collaboration across difference and through conflict;
An understanding of play as a resource for resilience and innovation;
Integrative approaches to make meaning of complex human experiences;
Awareness of self, and greater comfort in one’s body and identity;
An empowering relationship to theater as a cultural inheritance and tool for transformation. Our Drama department invites you into the conversation..
THEATRE
