Theatre in the high school is both an academic discipline and a performing art. A study of theatre motivates students to study and develop ideas, insights and values. The primary component of theatre– dialogue– provides a uniquely effective method for studying the communicative functions of human language.

 

Theatre also provides a unique kind of learning through vicarious experience known as empathy.

Empathy is one of the most effective modes of learning through discovery because it involves students in an exploration of the thoughts and feelings of other people.
 

Opportunities to participate in both improvisational and formal theatre offer students diverse opportunities for self-expression. These creative experiences must be provided so that high school students will develop the ability to communicate through the art form. Communication raises self-expression in theatre to the level of an art.