Customer Reviews

Secondary Stages: Revitalizing High School Theatre

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How many teachers can you remember who have had a signficant influence on your life. You can probably count them on the fingers of one hand, which in itself says something about the math teachers we've all had. The one vital thing that most teachers never discover is that the greatest thing we can "teach"
is the excitement of learning, the thrill of discovery.

A great acting teacher is not one who can most effectively direct actors where on teh stage to stand and with what expression to recite their lines. A great teacher helps, directs, creates the environment wherein the students can make discoveries. And any discovery is part of self-discovery.

Jeff Bennet's book, SECONDARY STAGES is a roadmap to the process through which disovery becomes possible. It makes the journey dangerously safe, instructively fun. It methodically conducts us through the maze of adolescent psychology to the lovely place where spontaneity is possible.

It is able to be inspirational and simultaneously grounded in practical reality. It is pedagogical (in the best sense) and simultaneously personal. The book is logically organized. Its structure is a function not only of ideas but of the experiential progression of the teacher-student relationship.
It sets inspirational and practical goals, it offers pathways to get there, it identifies problem areas and offers incisive and practical ways of understanding them and solving them.

It is a great guidebook for any student or teacher of the craft of acting...and of teaching.

I have had the pleasure of being a former student of Jeff Bennett's classes in high school. Mr Bennett has shared a wealth of knowledge about the theater industry with me, but I believe he has taught me much more than just the theater.

Jeff Bennett is a sage of wisdom, and through our countless conversations he has guided me on the right paths, in life as well as my career goals. By being my mentor through the troubling years of high school woe, Mr. Bennett has been the most influential teacher I have ever had.

People who are involved in theater, or teaching theater at the secondary school level need to read this book.
Yet, life-long learners would benefit from reading Jeff's perceptiveness.

Jeff Bennett has the uncanny ability to connect with students of any age. Through this book, others can now share the privilege I have had for years.

This is a great book for high school theatre teachers! It's all about doing theatre, rather than talking about it. Specific exercises and lesson plans make the whole year's curriculum easy to plan. Students will love the hands on nature of the exercises, and teachers will get much more from their students. The author not only deals with what to do, he also covers what not to do. Get this book- you will use it!