Welcome to the study guide directory and database! I hope that you will find this resource useful to your teaching and professional development. I have created a collection of study guides available online from professional and regional theatres throughout the United States and beyond. Although you will find a plethora of study guides from an assortment of theatres, there are many more theatres that offer study guides. I have only truly begun to skim the surface of available study guides resources. Most of the study guides featured in this directory are geared towards the high school classroom, however I am certain that many of these guides offer resources for middle school students as well. These study guides are those that are accessible online as of August 2009. It is possible that in later months theatres will remove some guides from their websites. If you encounter a guide that is no longer present online, please feel free to contact me at pag6@unh.edu. In an effort to keep the database as current as possible, I plan to make monthly updates to remove or add study guides. This will only be possible with your help. Do not hesitate to contact me with questions or comments.

 

 

The Study Guide Directory features a list of the theatres used to compile the database. Below each theatre’s name you will find the list of available online study guides offered by this particular theatre. The directory also lists the study guide features typically included as a part of the theatre’s guides. Please note that not all study guides offered by a theatre will include all of the same features. I have tried to choose those features that appear most frequently.

 

 

The Study Guide Database features study guides for over four hundred plays from twenty-two regional and professional theatres. The database is broken into three categories: General Topics in Theatre, Plays, and Musicals. Each category is alphabetized by name of the play or study guide topic. Each listing includes the name of the play or topic, the theatre from which the guide is taken, and the URL address for the study guide. The URL address should link directly to the study guide; however, in several instances the study guide was featured online as a Word document. In these instances I included a link that will take you to the theatre’s page of study guide titles where you should easily be able to find the guide you are looking for.

 

 

As a part of my project, I created a survey that was distributed to and taken by various classroom teachers, teaching artists, and study guide creators. A concise look at the results from this survey can be found below.

 

The majority of those people surveyed use study guides either once or twice a year. A smaller percentage of survey participants claim to use study guides three or four times a year. It is apparent from these numbers that study guides are not ignored by teachers. Although not every element of the study guides may be used, most study guides are used for one reason or another throughout the school year. This is encouraging to those theatres that provide study guides as a part of their education and outreach programs. A stronger testament to the usefulness of these study guides is the huge percentage of survey participants who stated they had been satisfied with the study guides they had used in the past. However, there is room for improvement. Some participants stated that they felt the material was below the level of their students. Theatre students were looking for more advanced activities and discussion questions. Participants frequently commented that the study guides were only useful up to a certain point. They provided excellent background information, but were not particularly in depth. When asked what aspects of a study guide were most useful to their teaching, the majority of participants chose “notes on the historical and social context of the play.” This was followed by “classroom activities,” “interviews with directors, designers, or actors,” and “discussion questions.” Survey participants generated an insightful list of information that they would like to see included in more study guides. The list includes; actor biographies, with particular focus on the actors’ education, theatre etiquette, curriculum standards, a stronger focus on the technical elements of the show, scene excerpts from the play, thematic breakdowns for the exceptional student, and a look at the decision making process in design and directing. Participants encouraged the use of other resources in addition to study guides. Study guides make a great springboard for classroom lesson plans, but if used as a stand-alone source, they may leave some gaps in these lessons. Teachers can look to outside research and sources, such as theatre reviews and film, to fill in the gaps. As useful as study guides may be, teachers cannot forget to do their own research about the play or topic at hand. It should also be noted that plays can be interpreted in more ways than are addressed in one particular study guide. Take a look at the play the students are studying from multiple angles and the resulting lesson plans will be far more comprehensive and fascinating.

 

It is my hope that this study guide directory and database will provide you with a large breadth of resources. Much like a study guide itself, this is certainly not the end all, be all of sources. Take the opportunity to explore what else is out there. Allow this directory and database to serve as a jumping off point in your search for study guides and resources in your classroom. Best of luck!

 

- Pam Freedy