Fine Arts
Theatre
Goal
Theatre is an art with roots that extend deeply into the human experience. In a time-honored tradition that stretches back to the first enacting storytellers, theatrical expression has enriched religious rite, voiced the concerns of individuals and society, and explored the frontiers of curiosity and creativity. From the need to communicate expressively, theatre has provided society with a unique way of examining its condition, its fears, hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Theatre provides students with intellectual, aesthetic, social, and technical proficiency. All MCPS students should have the opportunity to engage with and explore theatre:
- By using a wide variety of tools and materials that are authentic to the theatre-making process in order to create work that is personally meaningful and unique.
- By being presented with opportunities to make choices and to solve creative problems that are open-ended with the possibility of multiple solutions.
- By applying knowledge from other contents when creating theatre.
- From a wide range of times and places including contemporary works.
- Developed by artists of diverse backgrounds.
- Through the varying roles that theatre plays within our own culture and in other cultures around the world.
- By applying 21st century and literacy skills to think about and discuss dramatic works.
- Through conversations about theatre conventions, meaning, and influence.
- By selecting and preparing dramatic works for performance.
Courses
The MCPS Theatre Curriculum is aligned to the National Core Fine Arts Standards and the Maryland Fine Arts Standards. These standards are sequential, build 21st century concepts and skills, and address the core competencies identified in the MCPS strategic framework.
- Theatre courses should be taken in sequence when possible to provide students with the most appropriate instructional environment and to achieve the learning goals outlined in the curriculum.
- Students should be provided the opportunity to take a theatre course every year in alignment with Fine Arts COMAR language. This allows students with access to advanced courses and multiple opportunities/pathways in theatre. Theatre courses in High School levels 2-4 are identified as advanced level and provide opportunities for students to pursue rigorous and challenging studies that require abstract and higher-order thinking skills. An additional quality point will be added to grades of A, B, and C in these courses to determine a student’s WGPA and may be counted towards the MCPS Certificate of Merit diploma endorsement.
