The Joy of Hearteache

As a theatre teacher, I use very few filmic resources in my theatre classroom. Perhaps it is because I also teach film, so I see the glaring differences between how both arts present stories, and therefore in my viewpoint, films do not meet my theatre educational objectives. The only film I use consistently is a DVD of the Broadway production of Into the Woods in order to examine design elements.

Now, however, I have found a film that brings with it a whole new problem. I could use it everywhere in my theatre classroom. I am in the middle of a directing unit in my advanced class, and I tried to find clips from my extensive library of filmed theatrical texts (yes, we do have a rather large library, though most go unused) to show to the class to demonstrate the idea of a director's concept. I have a 4 DVD collection of Beckett's works that are quite well done, but the Beckett texts are a bit dense, so students unfamiliar with them struggle with determining how a director's concept supports or does not support the likes of Rockabye. What to do?

Well, I pulled out a DVD sent to me as a Christmas card from the BYU TMA department. On the disc was an adaptation of a Chekhov short story, Heartache. The film was brief and very theatrical. Because students could see the piece as a whole, and the text had depth but was easy to understand on a single viewing, it was a success. Students discussed the affect of the production (I avoided calling it a film), and the unities and disunities in it. We discussed using a Brechtian approach on a Realist text. We talked about the structure of the script. They discussed the emotional impact of the piece and how the elements of staging, design, and performance influenced that impact. We talked about director's concepts.

Now that I have found a filmic text that works wonderfully in my theatre class, the problem is finding the best place to use it. This student-produced short film could be used in a directing unit, as I demonstrated. Or, it could be used in a performance unit, examining the approach of the actors in the use of voice and body to communicate the story and subtext. Or, I could use it in a playwriting unit by looking at the source short story and them comparing the story in its script form (What works or does not in this transition to "stage"? What would they have done differently in adapting the script?) Or, I could use it in teaching about modern theatre movements, specifically Epic Theatre. It's short, sweet, and versatile. Who could ask for anything more, other than knowing how to best use it?