IB Approaches and Sources
The curriculum sources provided for both the pre-IB and IB Theatre programs are carefully selected to create a holistic and rigorous educational experience. The collection of texts, ranging from seminal practitioners' guides to contemporary academic articles, addresses the multifaceted nature of theatre as a discipline that is both a practical art form and a critical field of study. The sources can be analyzed across five key thematic areas: foundational performance skills, collaborative devising, production and design, global theatrical traditions, and advanced theoretical frameworks.
core skills
A significant portion of the resources is dedicated to developing the actor’s core skills and fostering effective ensemble collaboration. Texts like Stanislavski’s An Actor Prepares and Boleslavsky’s Acting: The First Six Lessons provide a historical and methodological grounding in actor training, focusing on truthfulness, emotional recall, and character development. To complement this, Spolin’s Improvisation for the Theater and Linklater’s Freeing the Natural Voice offer practical, game-based, and physiological approaches to spontaneity and vocal freedom, essential for both individual and group performance. The academic articles, such as Phillip Zarrilli’s work on actor training and the theatrical body, elevate this practical work by placing it within a critical, scholarly context, encouraging students to consider the theoretical underpinnings of their physical and vocal choices.
devising and collaborative creation
The second major theme is devising and collaborative creation, which is central to the IB curriculum. Sources like Warchus and Daldry’s Devising a Play and Meth’s The Collaborative Playwright act as practical guides for students to navigate the process of creating original work from diverse stimuli. Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed is a particularly crucial source, providing a methodology for creating politically and socially engaged theatre, which is a powerful tool for devised work. The academic contributions from JSTOR, such as Richard Schechner and Alan Read’s articles on the history and aesthetics of devised theatre, provide a sophisticated theoretical lens through which students can analyze and articulate their creative process, preparing them for the rigorous documentation required by the IB.
production, directing, and dramaturgy
The curriculum also places a strong emphasis on production, directing, and dramaturgy. This is addressed by a range of texts that move beyond the actor-centric approach. Katie Mitchell’s The Director’s Craft and Harold Clurman’s On Directing offer different perspectives on developing a cohesive artistic vision and working with actors. For a deeper, more intellectual understanding, Susan Jonas’s Dramaturgy in American Theatre and the accompanying JSTOR articles on dramaturgical practice help students understand the vital role of research and critical analysis in shaping a production. These sources prepare students for the Production Proposal assessment by providing the tools to analyze a play text, develop a directorial concept, and articulate a complete production design.
world theatre traditions
To ensure a global perspective, the curriculum includes a rich collection of sources on world theatre traditions. Slocum’s Theatre Histories and Rubin’s The World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre provide a broad overview, while specific texts like Salz's A History of Japanese Theatre and Rudlin's Commedia dell'arte offer focused practical and historical insight. The academic sources are key here; Patrice Pavis’s article on intercultural theatre and papers on specific traditions from JSTOR provide the critical vocabulary and conceptual frameworks for students to analyze how theatre is shaped by its cultural context. This directly prepares HL students for their Research Presentation, pushing them to engage with theatre as a global, rather than purely Western, phenomenon.
academic and theoretical frameworks
Finally, the most advanced layer of the curriculum is its embrace of sophisticated academic and theoretical frameworks. Through multiple JSTOR articles, the curriculum introduces students to the work of scholars like Phillip Zarrilli, Richard Schechner, and Patrice Pavis. These sources move beyond simple descriptions of theatrical practice to a critical analysis of performance, a key distinction for a prestigious program. They cover topics from the aesthetics of devised theatre to the politics of intercultural performance, providing students with the tools to critically deconstruct and articulate their theatrical experiences. This academic rigor is what ultimately distinguishes the IB Theatre program, preparing students not just as practitioners, but as thoughtful, well-read scholars of the art form.
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