Matt Omasta

Lifelong Impact: Adult Perceptions of Their High School Speech and/or Theatre Participation

This study sought first to determine in what ways participation in high school theatre/speech classes and/or related extracurricular activities may have positively influenced and affected adults after graduation, and secondly, it sought to identify and advocate the potentially beneficial and “lifelong” impacts that speech/theatre participation during adolescence can contribute to adulthood. A mixed-methods survey was purposively distributed to North American adults who participated in these activities; 234 responses were received and analyzed. The key assertion of this study is: Quality high school theatre and speech experiences can not only influence but even accelerate adolescent development and provide residual, positive, lifelong impacts throughout adulthood.

Adult Stakeholder Perspectives on Social Issues in Theatre for Young Audiences

Producers of theatre for young audiences (TYA) often face the question, “Is this appropriate for children?” when reviewing potentially controversial plays for production. The “this” under consideration can be any topic: bullying, racism, sexual assault, gang violence, or profanity. This study presents the results of a survey of more than 300 adult stakeholders in TYA designed to ascertain what motivates them to produce, fund, or bring young people to particular theatre productions. Participants included TYA professionals (artistic and managing directors, actors, playwrights, and educational staff), school teachers who bring students to TYA productions, university faculty specializing in TYA, and funding agencies. Questions considered participants’ perspectives regarding the role of sometimes controversial social issues in TYA and the functions and responsibilities of different groups involved in TYA production, reception, and funding. In addition to sharing respondents’ views, this article contextualizes their answers by citing related literature from theatre and young adult literature and by critically probing the larger implications of their responses for the field.

Student perceptions of high school theatre programs: An investigation of social issues and call for replication

ABSTRACT This study investigates students’ perceptions of high school theatre programs. Students indicated whether they believed theatre productions could influence audience members’ perspectives and opinions and, through an open-ended qualitative questionnaire, shared their views on whether their school should specifically address (or avoid addressing) myriad social issues. The study analyzes demographic and other factors that appear to have influenced participants’ responses. Additionally, this study serves as a template for replication studies, which are seriously lacking in the education field (and theatre education in particular), and calls for similar studies to seek the views of students in diverse communities throughout the country.

The Reader's Theatre Script for “Lifelong Impact: Adult Perceptions of Their High School Speech and/or Theatre Participation”

This article includes a readers theatre script adapted from a full-length qualitative study, “Lifelong Impact: Adult Perceptions of Their High School Speech and/or Theatre Participation.” The report first reviews readers theatre as an arts-based form of research representation and presentation, then surveys key figures from qualitative inquiry and theatre education involved with interdisciplinary collaborations. The coauthors then discuss one of their key learnings from their experiences with performing the research, labeled “reinteracting the data”—a triple compound word of acting, reacting, and interacting with the dramatized text and our audiences.