Reviews for The Drama Teacher’s Survival Guide: A complete toolkit for the theatre arts
Act One…Learn
This was a very useful tool for a fledging class. My students have enjoyed doing the various activities. I would
highly recommend it!
-C. Moore via Amazon November 26, 2011
Excellent Thorough Teacher’s Guide
My daughter wanted a comprehensive review before starting to teach drama. She was very pleased with this guide and
how thoroughly it covered all the material.
-Karen Estes via Amazon May 1, 2011
Good For A Very Beginner
Most of this book centers on the actual production process of putting on a show. If you’re looking for a balanced teaching tool for all parts of classroom work, look elsewhere.
- Board Game Babe via Amazon April 22, 2011
The Best Out There
This is probably the best, all round, “how to” book for theatre teachers I have ever seen. No amount of classroom games, theatre exercises and readings of Shakespeare will ever prepare you for mounting a play like this book does. I started my 30 year teaching career with an MA in theatre and would have given anything to have had this book when I started. It is excellent!
-S. Scoville via Amazon May 11, 2010
Everything You Need!
Excellent source if you are putting on a full-scale production for middle or high school.
Good But Still Incomplete.
This book’s subtitle says that it is a complete tool kit for the theater arts. While itdoes cover all aspects of producing a play it does not cover the essentialelement of the drama teacher’s job: drama class. I purchased this book hoping that it could help me with my day to day class, but instead I got everything I need toknow about doing a production (which is not my job at my school.) So, if you’re looking for help producing a show by all means pick this book up, but if you’re looking for something thatwill help you in a drama class setting this book is seriously incomplete.
-M. Grady via Amazon August 10, 2009
It is from this review that I sat down and started working on my new chapter dealing with classroom activities, which evolved into my second book, The Drama Teacher’s Survival Guide #2 . The author was absolutely right.
Excellent!
I purchased this book when I was preparing to direct a play in which children as well as adults would appear and I wanted tips on working with children. The children I worked with were younger and much less experienced than Ms. Johnson’s groups but I found her her very honest anecdotes helpful. Thankfully, my experience is almost over and while it’ll be a long time before I’ll want to work with youth theater again, this book was a great reference.
Ms. Johnson’s advice on solving the universal problems stemming from competing for space, time and personality conflicts as well as the importance of providing a respectful atmosphere and positive reinforcement were quite valuable and not just useful in a school setting. My young (and old!) actors responded well and managed to finish the play’s run on excellent terms with each other and the theater. If I ran a school drama program, I’d be using this book daily.
- Jody, via Amazon, February 9, 2009
Great Buy
This was a great purchase that I wish I had from the beginning of my drama career. It was still very helpful.
- Christina G. Casale, via Amazon, January 14, 2009
Great Resource
I am entering my 10th year as a Theatre teacher and I still found this book useful. It is a good reminder of those things you have let slip over the years for whatever reason. I think it is a good refresher for us old dogs, but I think it would be a wonderful resource for a first or second year teacher, too. I loved it.
- Rosalie Hull, via Amazon, July 22, 2008
Wonderful Tool For Anyone Involved In Theater
This handy guide covers literally every aspect of putting on a production, and not only does it apply to high school theater, it is extremely helpful for any level of theater, from elementary, to high school, to amateur, to community, to professional.
Margaret Johnson covers basics from selecting shows, to securing the theater, to casting and auditions to opening night. The best part is that this book doesn’t read like stereo instructions, there are personal touches from the author through out including her memories and stories of different shows she has worked on. This book also includes audition sheets and other pages you can photo copy to pass out and have actors fill out. Literally every question you could possibly have involving your theatrical production, this book covers it. Nothing will remain unanswered. Also, it’s important to note that I’m not a high school drama teacher, but I am a long-time theatrical passionate and I have been using this book as a holy grail while directing my first show.
- Erick Rasmussen, via Amazon, April 29, 2007
Teaching and Directing Youngsters
Most young people love making theatre if given the opportunity, but they demand activities and dramatic material that relate to who they are — newly emerging individuals struggling with school, friends and parents, eager to explore and find a place in the great big world. This month’s roundup of new books speaks to those needs from the viewpoint of both the youngsters and the adults who guide them. Since many schools no longer have drama programs, teachers in related (or even unrelated) disciplines often find themselves pressed into service to put on a play. They find themselves in the same position as the newbie full-time theatre arts instructor — where to begin? To the rescue comes The Drama Teacher’s Survival Guide: A Complete Tool Kit for Theatre Arts. Author Margaret F. Johnson provides detailed, step-by-step information, examples and suggestions about how to direct a school drama program with a minimum of mistakes, trouble and delay. Most important for the beginning director, Johnson provides examples, illustrations, photos and reproducible handouts and forms, plus an annotated list of additional resources.
- Stephen Peithman, Stage Directions Magazine, Jun 6, 2007
The Theatre/Cinema Shelf
Both experienced and beginning drama directors have easy, experience-backed tips on directing from THE DRAMA TEACHER’S SURVIVAL GUIDE: A COMPLETE TOOL KIT FOR THEATRE ARTS. When this book says ‘complete’ it means it: collections strong in drama will appreciate the range of tips from instructions on organizing tryouts ñ complete with tryout sheets ñ to blocking out rehearsals, technical aspects of scene set-up, tips on locating costumes, and more. It’s a ‘must’ for any library which caters to actors or drama teachers.
- Midwest Book Review, July 2007
For anyone directing or working with student drama productions The Drama Teacher’s Survival Guide will prove an invaluable resource. The nearly four decades that author Margaret Johnson spent as a drama teacher and director inform this well-rounded book of tips, as she discusses both the artistic and logistical aspects of theatrical production. The presentation and style of the writing allow easy access to the suggestions, anecdotes, and troubleshooting guides Johnson has compiled.
Johnson, who taught drama for 37 years at Sentinel High School in Missoula, lays out her ideas with the assurance of someone who knows the art of extracurricular directing and diplomacy through and through. Yet with all her advice and administrative wisdom, Johnson never loses sight of the ultimate goal: to bring the hard work of cast and crew to the public as successfully and painlessly as possible in order to really enjoy the art of process and performance.
- Bente Grinde MONTANA ARTS COUNCIL State Of The Arts, September/October 2007
Whether you are a seasoned drama director or a beginner, you will find this book to be an invaluable tool kit of aid and assistance! Written specifically for the middle school or high school drama director, this book is about how one person can run a successful extracurricular drama program, from administrative detail and play selection to the actual performance before an audience. This is not intended as a manual or a comprehensive study of stagecraft but rather as a collection of suggestions and vignettes of personal experience. Nineteen chapters cover everything from rehearsal schedules to budgets to hair and makeup. It’s just possible, though, you’ll love the additional resources even more with 20 pages of various reproducible forms to use and hand out, followed by an extensive glossary of theatrical terms and a bibliography of additional resources. Published in 2007, this book is an exceptional value for only twenty bucks!
- Pioneer Drama Service, Fall 2007
Margaret Johnson has collected the knowledge she accumulated during thirty-seven years of teaching drama into this 256-page book, which is subtitled “A Complete Tool Kit for Theatre Arts.” It’s basic enough to serve as a blueprint for teachers who are just starting out, but also filled with details and savvy production tips that veteran drama directors will find useful, too. 256 pages
- EdTA store, Fall 2007