All's Well that Rehearses Well: How Theatre-informed Practices Foregrounds Equity and Empathy in Public Language Arts Classrooms

In this thesis, I investigate the ways in which public secondary language arts classrooms can benefit from integrating practices developed in theatrical spaces. Namely, I outline the equity-centered benefits inherent in restructuring the classroom around continually reading aloud and in incorporating discussions of consent into academic spaces for high school students. These practices have the potential to make long-lasting impacts on students, including but by no means limited to evening the academic playing field for ESL/ESOL students and students who have been failed by the standardization of language arts education thanks to No Child Left Behind. I examine the capacity for drama-based practice to enrich a study of Renaissance plays and include some sample materials for how to teach such a unit per the Virginia BOE's 2025 mastery standards.