Praxis Theatre case studies
Praxis Theatre · Put your knowledge to work in context.
Praxis Theatre (5641) is an ETS Praxis Subject Assessment used in the educator-certification pathway for prospective theatre teachers. ETS describes the Praxis family as measuring "core teaching skills and subject knowledge for educator licensing in the U.S.," and its Subject Assessments are the licensure tests taken by candidates who already hold or are completing content preparation in a specific teaching field. The Praxis Theatre case studies are 5 cases and about 3,997 words.
1Masks, a Chorus of Fourteen, and a 412-Seat House
A director is staging a 90-minute adaptation of Euripides' Medea in a 412-seat proscenium house: a 28-foot-wide by 16-foot-high opening, a 12-foot apron, and a 22-row orchestra. The chorus is 14 students wearing rented molded full-head masks with only a narrow mouth aperture and no usable eye holes; the mask's eye position sits above the actor's own eyes.
803 words, about 4 min2A Minimum Orchestration, Seven Volunteers, and a Board That Wants Four
A 186-seat community theatre has licensed a Golden Age musical for a 12-performance run. The license packet the company signed specifies a minimum orchestration of nine players and prohibits substituting recorded accompaniment without written approval.
787 words, about 4 min3A Slap, a Kiss, and a Guardian Who Has Not Read the Script
A high school director working with students aged 14 to 18 has chosen a contemporary drama whose climax includes one character slapping another and a brief, non-explicit kiss. District policy requires written guardian notification for staged intimacy and violence, requires that stage combat be supervised by a trained fight choreographer, and requires administrative review if a student or guardian objects.
781 words, about 4 min4One Tech Day, Forty-Three Moves, and a Motor on Backorder
The stage manager of a non-union regional production is calling a two-act drama with 34 light cues, 11 sound cues, and 43 scenic moves executed by a six-person running crew. Load-in lost six hours when the truck arrived late.
791 words, about 4 min5A Thrust With No Front Light
A lighting designer is plotting a naturalistic two-act play on a 3/4 thrust with seating on three sides and no front-of-house catwalk. The only frontal positions are two box-boom bays at the upstage corners of the side seating, roughly 55 degrees off center.
835 words, about 4 min