How to Choose the Right Theater School or Workshop Leader

A workshop leader guides a small group during a trial session for a theater workshop.

September is traditionally the month when schools and many extracurricular activities start up again. It is also when children, teenagers, and adults choose a new theater workshop.

The range of options, especially in cities, can be very broad. Methods, goals, and content can differ enormously, just as theater itself can take many different forms.

There is no single school that is best for everyone, and no two workshop leaders are alike. Each brings their own training, experience, style, and particular vision of theater.

The question to ask is therefore not simply: “Is this a good school?”

You also need to ask: “Is this the right program for me or my child?”

Do Your Research Before Choosing

Before enrolling, it is useful to understand what kind of experience is being offered.

Some key questions are:

• Who is the workshop intended for?

• How old are the participants?

• Is previous experience required?

• What are the goals of the program?

• Will the work focus primarily on the body, voice, improvisation, scripted text, or collective creation?

• Does the workshop focus on a particular genre or theatrical language?

• Will there be a final performance?

• Will the group begin with a script chosen in advance, or will the production emerge from the group’s work?

• How large is the group?

• What kind of space will be used?

None of these features is inherently good or bad. They should, however, be stated clearly so that you understand what you are choosing.

For beginners, I would recommend a broad introductory workshop rather than one that is too specialized, allowing participants to explore different theatrical languages. Over time, as they continue to enjoy the work and acquire new tools, it will become easier to choose specific techniques, genres, and approaches to explore in greater depth.

The Trial Session

Many workshops allow prospective participants to attend a trial session. If one is available, take advantage of it.

A single session cannot provide a complete understanding of the program. During the first few weeks, the group is still taking shape, shared rules have not yet been established, and people may feel awkward or self-conscious.

A trial session can nevertheless provide some important indications.

Observe whether the workshop leader:

• explains the proposed activities clearly;

• listens to participants’ responses;

• notices difficulties without singling anyone out or humiliating them;

• engages the group without turning the session into mere entertainment;

• establishes clear and consistent rules;

• adapts the activities to the people present;

• can explain why a particular exercise is being done.

Do not judge the session according to the difficulty of the exercises or whether you feel you have witnessed something spectacular. A very simple activity can be pedagogically effective; an impressive session may leave participants with no lasting tools.

The Workshop Leader Must Earn Your Trust

The workshop leader must earn the group’s trust.

This does not mean that every activity must immediately feel comfortable or easy. A theater workshop asks participants to experiment, be seen, and confront their habits and difficulties. It may therefore involve moments of embarrassment or uncertainty.

But there is a clear difference between being challenged and being forced.

Participants may be encouraged to work through their resistance, but they must never be humiliated, manipulated, or forced into physical or emotional exposure without understanding why.

If trust breaks down during the program, discuss it with the workshop leader. Discomfort may have many causes, and the person leading the group needs to know about it so that they can understand what is happening and, if necessary, make changes.

Being responsible toward the group does not mean staying at any cost. If the discomfort continues and is not taken seriously, find another workshop.

No workshop leader is theater itself. A single negative experience should not become a final judgment on theater as a whole.

Credentials Matter, but They Are Not Enough

The workshop leader’s résumé is important, but it alone does not guarantee the quality of a workshop.

For anyone unfamiliar with the field, it can be difficult to assess qualifications, schools, seminars, and professional collaborations. This does not mean that such information is useless. It means that it must be considered alongside the pedagogical approach and what actually happens during the sessions.

A long list of courses does not automatically demonstrate an ability to lead a group. At the same time, a lack of theater training and relevant experience cannot be offset by simply knowing a large number of exercises.

It is useful to ask:

• What theater training have they received?

• Who trained them to lead workshops?

• How long have they worked with groups?

• Do they have sustained experience with the age group for which the workshop is intended?

• Do they also work actively in theater?

• What method do they use, and what goals do they set for the program?

• How do they address differences within the group?

Knowing many theater games is not enough. Workshop leaders must know why they are using them, when to use them, how to adapt them, and what to observe in participants’ responses.

When the Workshop Is for Children and Teenagers

For adults, the choice is more direct: they can gather information, attend a trial session, and personally evaluate what happens.

Children and teenagers require additional care. They often approach theater without knowing what to expect, simply because they have never experienced it before.

Parents choose the school, but their children are the ones who experience the workshop.

It is therefore essential for the workshop leader to have specific training in working with that age group. Knowing theater is not enough. Nor does working well with adults automatically mean that someone is capable of leading children or teenagers.

Anyone leading them must work with that age group regularly and know it well.

This experience may be gained in schools, workshops, educational projects, or the creation of productions for those age groups. What matters is that this is not occasional contact, but sustained work that allows the workshop leader to understand their ways of communicating, their rhythms, their needs, and their patterns of interaction.

Theater uses the body, voice, emotions, imagination, and relationships between people. It is not the only activity that involves the emotional sphere, but personal exposure and relationships within the group often become central elements of a theater workshop.

Managing them requires preparation and care.

A competent workshop leader does not turn the workshop into therapy, make arbitrary interpretations of participants’ personalities, or demand intimate disclosures. They work through theatrical language and create the conditions in which each person can express themselves without anyone intruding on their personal boundaries.

Age and Experience Within the Group

Especially when working with minors, it is preferable for participants’ ages not to be too far apart. As a basic guideline, I find it useful to respect at least the different stages of schooling.

A six-year-old child, a preteen, and a sixteen-year-old teenager have different abilities, needs, and ways of relating to others. Placing them in the same group requires a specific plan and cannot be driven solely by the need to reach a sufficient number of enrollments.

Participants’ previous theater experience is comparatively unimportant. A well-designed workshop can bring together people with different levels of experience, provided that the workshop leader can offer activities that are both accessible and stimulating for everyone.

The Final Performance

Having a final performance is not necessarily an advantage, and not having one is not a weakness.

It is important to understand what function the performance serves within the program.

If the script, characters, movements, and final result have all been decided before the group has even been formed, you need to ask how much creative space will remain for the participants.

A formally perfect performance can be pedagogically poor if the students have merely followed instructions. Conversely, a less impressive result may be evidence of a process in which they genuinely learned to create, make choices, and take responsibility.

The performance should be one stage in the process, not a reason to sacrifice everything participants are supposed to learn during the workshop.

The Deciding Factor

A good school is not necessarily the one with the best-known name, the most beautiful facilities, or the most impressive final performance.

A good workshop creates a group in which every participant can:

• make theater through serious play;

• acquire practical tools;

• develop creativity and independence;

• engage constructively with others;

• express themselves with, for, and through others;

• face difficulties without being humiliated;

• understand what they are doing and why;

• have fun.

Having fun is not the same as chaos or constant laughter. It is the pleasure of being fully involved, discovering something, and realizing that you are doing things that once seemed impossible.

Try it, observe, and ask questions.

The right workshop is the one that makes you want to return and keep exploring.

For programs run in public and private schools, you can email me at mirko@lagteatro.com