Students Hone Presentation and Communication Skills in Theatre I Class (By Ivan Klousia, Director of Theatre)

Theatre I, a spring semester Fine Arts course, has gotten off to a great start! Since performance has roots in the art of storytelling, students begin their Theatre I experience adapting a familiar fairy tale or folk tale and performing their work for the class. What better way to tell stories than around a campfire, even if the fire is a stage prop! Next, students will be composing, memorizing and performing monologues. While many of these students were in the fall semester Improvisation & Sketch Comedy class and are now used to getting up in front of an audience, for some of these students it will be their first time performing on stage. In either case, the communication, interpersonal and self-efficacy skills gained by theatre students are some of the most important benefits of theatre education.