"Imaginative complicity": Audience education in professional theatre
Date
2001
Authors
Prendergast, Monica M.
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Abstract
Belfry 101 is an arts partnership in education between the Belfry Theatre and both public and private senior secondary schools in and around Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. This partnership seeks to address questions around the development of cultural/aesthetic literacy and its relationship to audience education in the professional arts. This audience education project is also an example of synthesis between drama education and theatre education. Drama education strategies deepen students' interest, involvement and understanding of adult-audience professional theatre productions. Employing drama strategies in a professional theatre setting - in cooperative and interactive partnership with the theatre company involved - supports emerging theatre artists and may encourage future youth theatre attendance.