TRAINING THE YOUNG ACTORS OF THEATRE ASHBURY

Simpson, a veteran drama teacher, recounts his career and his pedagogical philosophy of theatre as education.

The author directed the theatre program at Ashbury College in Ottawa, Ontario, for 31 years, until 2011. Now, he passes on his teaching methods in these pages. Specifically, the book aims to work as a “how-to…that explains how interested teachers and students can put Theatre as Education into practice.” The concept is to explore ideas with students by working with them on stage productions; it’s an effective way to address provocative topics, he says, such as racism, misogyny, and gun violence. After a thorough description of the methodology, Simpson presents specific case studies. For example, the author and his students produced dark, complicated plays, such as Stephen Karam and P.J. Paparelli’s columbinus, which addresses the 1999 Columbine school shooting, as well as several plays about the Holocaust; he also tells of staging a production of The Laramie Project, a play about gay teen Matthew Shepard’s murder, and plays that focused on the AIDS epidemic. It’s clear from the text that Simpson has immense respect for his students’ intellect and maturity; he expected a lot from them, but he clearly received excellence in return. However, in his explanation of his methods, he skims over a few concepts too briefly, such as the use of mannerisms in an acting performance, and he speaks disdainfully of what he calls “Generation Me”—kids whose parents, he argues, were too “coddling,” causing “self-absorption, excuses, and extreme narcissism”—which may not appeal to all readers. Ultimately, though, Simpson’s book is likely to be a useful text for teachers and teachers-in-training.

A useful and educational text for drama instructors, as well as educators in other humanities.