I took advantage of the college convocation scheduled in the theatre today to address the professors and suggest ways in which performances in the theatre might be used as anchors for classroom instruction and other activities. My unit is not organized under any academic division so I don’t get a lot of group interaction with faculty. But there they were all gathered in my lair. What more could I ask for?

Last year I worked with two literature professors on a series of events connected to the 400th anniversary of the performance of MacBeth. We presented MacHomer, a really fun show where one man channels the voices and personalities of the Simpsons performing the Shakespeare play. Then we followed with screenings of Orson Welles’ MacBeth and Akira Kurasawa’s Throne of Blood. Finally, we had an evening where student presented projects in the courtyard and students and faculty performed scenes from MacBeth and music from Elizabethean times.

I made suggestions of similar connections with shows this season. Some of the performances have clear associations with botany, astronomy, literature, language arts, music, cultural heritage so it was fairly easy to suggest. I reinforced the point that instruction topic and the performance don’t necessarily have to coincide but that the faculty could use it as an anchor for discussion throughout the semester.

Alas, no one approached me with any ideas for connections during the breaks. I did get to do some additional evangelizing about some other arts organizations during those periods though. I promised to send some additional information out with pictures to the campus faculty email list so they haven’t escaped me yet!!!

One of the other things I specifically mentioned (and do so again here so you can go out and make the same point) was that theatres are essentially big illustrations of practical applications of physics. We deal in properties of light, additive and subtractive color, focal lengths of lenses, calculation of wattage on circuits, rigging of pulleys and counterweights.

If ever a student asked, what will I ever need this for. It is easy enough to point out that even if you never have ambitions to work in theatre, film/tv and dance clubs where theatrical equipment is used, there is always careers such as commercial electricians, engineers, construction et. al. where the skills learned in physics and performance tech classes can be employed.