Shakespeare-based Theater Director And Performance Teaching Research

This thesis proposes to analyze the theater pedagogy in Yale School of Drama, especially about Shakespearean acting and directing. Comparing Shakespeare pedagogies and performances in China and at Yale, the paper also demonstrates that Shakespeare's plays take an important role in theater art as well as in training students'professional abilities. However, the Bard's importance is developed too slowly or even downplayed in China. Therefore, the paper further suggests that drama schools should strengthen Shakespeare pedagogies and increase the opportunities of performing Shakespeare on stage. For example, students are required to direct or act in at least one Shakespeare's work before graduation, putting theory into practice. Most importantly, while having a lot of educational and artistic exchanges with Shakespeareans from other countries, China needs more local Shakespearean scholars and practitioners to teach and produce Shakespeare in order not only to foster the Shakespeareans of next generation but to raise concerns about Shakespeare pedagogies and practices.This thesis is divided into five parts: the preface, the pedagogy in Yale School of Drama, the analysis of the Shakespeare directing and acting pedagogy in Yale School of Drama, the suggestions about enhancing the pedagogy on Shakespeare's theater in China and the conclusion. The first chapter encompasses the history and situation of Yale School of Drama, the process of making Shakespeare an important learning material, the arrangement of acting and directing courses, and the reasons why Shakespeare becomes an indispensable part of theater education in Yale School of Drama. The second chapter includes the contents of learning step by step, studying independently, starting with soliloquies, emphasizing character analysis, transferring the dominance from teachers to students, encouraging the collaborations between acting and directing students. The third chapter talks about increasing the proportion of Shakespeare in the courses designated for acting and directing major students, producing Shakespeare's plays as their theses, and fostering Shakespearean teachers and practitioners in China.