High School Theatre Operations

These days many junior and senior high schools are being built or re-modeled with a state-of-the-art theatre on campus. School administrators who normally specialize in instruction and learning find themselves appointed to manage a theatre. This book will take you behind the scenes and give you insight into what matters to a high school theatre’s operations, and give you a better understanding of the essentials to consider, such as: what consumable equipment to stock, how to create versatile lighting, sound, stage and communication systems; how to develop customized operational policies and procedures that improve personal safety, protect property, and mitigate liability; what systems, forms, scheduling procedures are needed; how to set budgets and fees; and more. 

Want more in depth help to leveling-up support and funding for your school theatre?  Be sure to check out the Theatre Management course based on this book.

Available Here on Amazon.com.

Review on Amazon:
Extremely useful book, providing information for architects, administrators and academics. Theatres are not a known quantity in the public education system, so this book is a wonderful resource for teachers to use in building convincing arguments for why one person certified in English might not always be the best choice for that open drama teacher vacancy, through a series of well reasoned and readable experiences of the author. As a 7 year teacher, going into my third year of teaching drama after 10 years as an actor, this book is gold for me as I learn to get better at this strange new craft of teaching a subject I care deeply about.

The High School Theatre Lighting Rep Plot

High school theatres often host such a variety of different events that they essentially operate as a “roadhouse”, which can cause a variety of conflicts between its users.  Although every event that comes into a theatre is unique, there is a way to provide a lighting system that can easily be applied to many uses of the space. This is called a Rep Plot (short for Repertory Plot). A Rep Plot is a standardized lighting system, which is versatile for almost all performances and can be easily adapted to provide lighting for any event from class meetings, speakers, film presentations, variety shows, band and choir concerts to plays, musicals and dance recitals, while allowing for show-specific flexibility within a reasonable time frame. This book will take you through a step-by-step process to design, hang, focus and patch your own rep plot at your high school. If you’ve never had a Rep Plot before, or if your Rep Plot needs a bit of TLC, once you follow the step-by-step process in this book to design, hang, focus and patch your own rep plot, you will be able to tame the Chaos inherent in running a “roadhouse” in a high school setting.

Available Here on Amazon.

Want to know more about stage lighting?  Check out the LITT tutorials!
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High School Theatre Lighting for Architects

These days many high schools are being built or re-modeled with a state-of-the-art theatre on campus. Architects who normally specialize in educational facilities find themselves appointed to design theatres and their stage lighting systems. If you personally don’t have a practical working knowledge specifically in theatrical lighting, it’s nearly impossible to anticipate what today’s end user may need in terms of functionality. This book will ‘virtually’ put you in the mind of a theatrical lighting designer, so that you can learn how the lighting is designed and then in turn design the lighting system to fulfill the functions needed. In short, we will start in the theatre and end at your CAD file. In other words, Designing Backwards. 

Available Here on Amazon.
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High School Theatre Signs and Documents 

Contains generic signs, forms, handouts and checklists common to high school theatres. Most pertain to safety and security standards intended to control and minimize the hazards typically found in your school theatre. Employers are required by law to provide safety documentation, warning posters and signs. However most educational administrators don’t have the specialized knowledge to assess the dangers inherent in a school theatre and consequently don’t know what forms and signs to provide explicitly for their school theatres. Your school theatre is not just another classroom. A high school theatre facility contains many mechanical, electrical and other physical hazards, which can constitute a risk of injury or in extreme cases, death, especially to those unfamiliar with the procedures and practices of the industry. So it’s essential to enforce school theatre safety and security rules to everyone who uses your school theatre. But you can’t be everywhere with everyone all the time. It is therefore imperative to post signs and warnings, and required forms to be filled out and checklists adhered to.

Available Here on Amazon.

Want to help your students learn more about theatre safety?  Check out the Safety Webinar!

​​High School Theatre Safety Manual
​for Proscenium Theatres 

Employers are required by law to provide safety manuals. However the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), as the name suggests, applies only to people in “occupations” - in other words “employees”. OSHA does not apply to, nor are there Entertainment Industry standards specifically for, students, volunteers and outside users of school theatres.  Even if your performance space is an “auditorium” or “multi-purpose room” school theatre safety applies to you too. This High School Theatre Safety manual is a policies and procedures document of safety standards intended to control and minimize the hazards typically found in your school theatre. It addresses proper training, equipment maintenance, the dissemination of appropriate information, and enforcement of policies and procedures in order to maintain a safe and healthy environment for everyone in your school theatre. Simply cut the pages out of this book, three hole punch all of the pages, photocopy the pages onto your school or district letterhead and place the pages of the Safety Manual into a three-ring binder. Some pages can also be photocopied and hung on the walls backstage, in your scene shop, etc, as constant reminders of the safety rules.

Available Here on Amazon.

Want to help your students learn more about theatre safety?  Check out the Safety Webinar!

​​High School Theatre Safety Manual
​for Black Box and Flat Roof Theatres 

This High School Theatre Safety Manual for Black Box and Flat Roof Theatres is a comprehensive compilation addressing the safety conditions found in a wide range of high school theatre operations in black box and flat roof theatres. Simply cut the pages out of this book,  three hole punch all of the pages, photocopy the pages onto your school or district letterhead, and place the pages of the Safety Manual into a three-ring binder. Some pages can also be photocopied and hung on the walls backstage, in your scene shop, etc, as constant reminders of the safety rules.

Available Here on Amazon.

Want to help your students learn more about theatre safety?  Check out the Safety Webinar!

a little LIGHT science 

a little LIGHT science contains six easy to conduct guided Discovery Activities on the science of light, specifically intended for young Light Scientists, to help them become more aware of the presence of, and importance of, light in the world around them.

The young Light Scientist is guided to discover the answers for themselves and then reflects on these discoveries, thus promoting critical thinking, and making the outcomes more meaningful and memorable. Included in a little LIGHT science is a Results and Reasons section, which lists the results they should expect for each guided Discovery Activity, the reasons the results happen, plus interesting facts. All of the items used in the guided Discovery Activities use common household items. 

Available Here on Amazon.
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Want to know more about stage lighting?  Check out the LITT tutorials! for a hands on activity on the Science of Stage Lighting!
WANT 9 MORE RESOURCES TO HELP YOU LEVEL-UP SUPPORT AND FUNDING FOR YOUR
​SCHOOL THEATRE?