As the Theatre II students prepare for their production of Radium Girls, they are well on their way to demonstrating some of the top 21st Century Learning skills that are so highly touted by top educational researchers. From Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind, to Richard Florida’s The Rise of the Creative Class there is a preponderance of evidence pointing to the critical need for improving creative skills. Innovation, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, information, media, technology, life and career skills are all part of the emerging ideas about where education should be heading. Perhaps forgotten in this race to the top are school programs that have been focused on these core skills for more than a century.
Megan Taylor and Andrey Dias-Barros have been hard at work creating properties for the production. They researched historical sources for just the right item in order to recreate or adapt modern versions to fit the needs of the production. Design thinking requires a carefully orchestrated series of decisions that require creativity, research, problem solving and implementation. Jacob Lieberman and Jianmarco Barbeau envisioned a set design that would pull the audience into the world of the play. Employing historical research and an understanding of the requirements of the play they created a design that could be both realistic and timeless. Their ability to employ collaboration and communication enabled them to solve unique problems of the design and theater space. Makela Brown and Desean Munson worked together to design, program and install a lighting design that enhanced the story and illuminated the action. Using digital technology Teresa Cardenas research, designed and taught the actors how to transform their appearance to mimic radium poisoning. Overcoming technical issues, space constraints and time limitations the technicians worked collaboratively to enhance the set design and actors performances.
Actors and technicians have always been required to have a unique mix of skills that are now considered critical to living in the 21st Century. Many schools are investing heavily is maker spaces in efforts to maximize those skills. The theatre students are taking a more humble approach. After all, creativity, communication, collaboration, technology skills and empathy are all a part of educational theater.
