Acceso usuarios
Charles Patterson
Teachers of early modern theater often recognize that it is difficult for today’s generation of students to approach old dramatic works as actual plays instead of written texts. Two methods for dealing with this difficulty have emerged in recent decades. On the one hand, some teachers have increasingly emphasized the value of performance activities in the classroom as a way to not only bring the works to life for students, but also as an interpretive methodology. This strategy has the advantage of requiring an active approach to learning, but has the disadvantage of obligating students to participate in a genre with which they are generally unfamiliar. On the other hand, some teachers have come to recognize the importance of viewing and analyzing film versions of early modern works with their students. This strategy has the advantage of connecting the works to a medium that students regularly consume, but has the disadvantage of being a fairly passive engagement with the plays. This article argues that the way to achieve the best of both approaches is to assign an amateur video project, and reports on the outcomes of a course in which such a project was used.
