Have you ever attended a play and wondered how in the world the artists created what you experienced?
Trike Theatre‘s process is the same one that students use in their STEAM strategies. STEAM is an educational approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking. STEAM learning promotes problem-solving and creative and analytical thinking and can be introduced to children at any age.
In Trike Theatre’s production of Go, Dog. Go!, they approached the creative process through their own STEAM thinking. They used SCIENCE in designing the lights (angles, illumination, color), TECHNOLOGY in programming and running the lights and sound cues, ENGINEERING in designing and building the set, props and costumes, ARTS in staging the play, creating vivid characters and composing the original music, and MATH when measuring and building the production elements.
When they create theatre, they have to solve problems (How do we bring P.D. Eastman’s book to life on stage? How do we truthfully engage an audience of 6 & 7-year-olds?) and be both creative and analytical in their thought process. In designing the set, props, and costumes, Trike Theatre creates many drafts before settling on the version that seems right. In the rehearsal process, the actors take creative risks, collaborate, make mistakes and try again.
Theatre is a collaborative art form that completely embraces the STEAM approach to learning and creating. When schools embed STEAM learning, students’ inquiry, collaboration, kinesthetic creativity, and critical thinking lead the classroom culture and teachers become facilitators of students’ learning. Trike Theatre believes that the arts engage, strengthen social and emotional skills and connect students to themselves, each other and their world.
To learn more about Trike Theatre’s production of Go, Dog. Go! download their performance guide.
