Giving witness: the power of live theatre
As schools continue to navigate the new senior curriculum in Queensland, it is important for educators to remind themselves and celebrate the extensive benefits of students seeing live theatre.
Critical and creative thinkers, communicators and innovators, these are the skills that dedicated teachers and schools seek to foster in their students and can be attained through the experience of live theatre.
Live theatre has the power to transport, to transform, to nourish and therefore, to sustain. The landscape of education, and more broadly our world is changing at an unparalleled rate. Students who know how to collaborate, demonstrate cultural awareness, are resilient, show empathy and use their curiosity and imagination will achieve success in a domain where innovation and enterprise are the key drivers of change.
Bringing students to live theatre exposes them to the broad range of pathways that exist within the arts industry, after all, the economy of culture and the creative industries plays a key role in the growth of our nation. Developing authentic relationships between schools and arts companies assists students in making informed decisions about their study and employment options. Live theatre experiences are empowering and allow our young people to be the agents of their own learning and future.
Queensland artists congratulate Arts educators who are providing their young people with the opportunity to attend live theatre, connect with people of all ages and backgrounds, support their local companies and grow through the arts. For those outside of metropolitan areas we acknowledge that access to live theatre can be difficult and thank those educators who understand the very great power of the arts and bring live theatre into their classrooms through touring productions.
We look forward to welcoming both new and familiar faces into our audiences this year and into the future, to share in the magic and wonder of live theatre.
Download the full statement (172 KB PDF).