Effective Theatre Production Management: an indicator for Sustenance of Educational Theatre

Abstract

Historically, theatrical production dates back to ancient Greece. It can be a performance from high school, college productions, community theatre, or commercial theatre, among others, to attract different audiences. Regular theatrical practice, h owever, remains an important yardstick to determine the effectiveness of theatre on the audiences, who are an indispensable component of the theatre capable of exerting considerable influence on the production. The term “educational theatre” in this study refers to the theatre, which exists as part of formal educational institutions that educate both the student participants and the audience. Educational theatrical productions educate the students by using theatre productions as one might use a classroom as a learning tool. In this case, the audience sits in the theatre auditorium to watch the students demonstrate what they have learned, noting that “if a good theatre depends on a good audience, then every audience has the theatre it deserves”. It is against this background that the paper is focused on theatrical productions of the Department of Theatre Arts, Federal College of Education, Abeokuta, Ogun State, from its inception in 2004 2023, to find out the effectiveness of theatre production towards the sustenance of educational theatre as indicated in the NCE minimum standard. Without gainsaying, the study revealed that Sixty nine(69)play productions from the Department’s Annual theatrical productions tagged “Festival of Plays” and Twenty six (26) plays staged by the graduating students titled “Final Year Productions”, which cut across diverse tribes, culture and religion significantly fulfil the purpose and values of Educational Theatre practice in Nigeria and by extension justified its existence in the curriculum.