How study guides bring school shows to life

A school performance begins long before the audience takes its seats. For students, the experience may include a coach trip, a new venue, a lively foyer, and an encounter with artists whose work feels very different from a classroom lesson. For teachers, it also requires thoughtful preparation, practical information and a clear connection to learning goals. Our education team treats the study guide as the bridge between these parts of the visit.

At Figueres a Escena, resources for school shows are developed around the particular production, the age of the audience and the realities of a shared theatre experience. A guide might support a class before the curtain rises, help students notice details during the performance, and give them useful ways to reflect afterwards. The aim is to make theatre accessible without explaining away its mystery.

This approach can be useful for educators anywhere, including Australian schools planning an excursion in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or a regional centre. A strong theatre learning resource respects curriculum needs while leaving room for imagination, conversation and personal response.

Starting with the production

The process begins with close attention to the performance itself. Members of the education team attend rehearsals where possible, read the script or examine the musical and visual material, and speak with the creative team. They look for the central ideas, recurring images, moments of tension, choices in movement, and sounds or design elements that students may notice.

This research is essential because a study guide should belong to the show rather than sit beside it as a generic worksheet. A dance work may invite students to consider rhythm, gesture and space. A play might open conversations about friendship, power, migration or belonging. A circus performance can lead to discussion about trust, risk, physical storytelling and the relationship between performer and audience.

The team also considers what students are likely to bring with them. A younger audience may respond first to colour, character and physical comedy, while teenagers may connect with questions of identity, justice or social pressure. These starting points shape the vocabulary, activities and level of background information included in the resource.

Connecting theatre with classroom learning

A study guide works best when teachers can see how it supports existing learning rather than adding an unrelated task. The education team maps activities to broad areas such as language, creative arts, humanities, wellbeing and collaborative learning. This does not mean turning every artistic experience into an assessment exercise. It means giving teachers several clear entry points.

For an Australian school, those entry points might connect with the Australian Curriculum, a school’s arts programme or a unit on local communities and cultural expression. A class in Melbourne could compare the production’s visual language with a contemporary theatre work seen at Arts Centre Melbourne. Students in Brisbane might explore how climate, place or movement influence a performance, while a regional school could discuss the practical and cultural value of touring arts.

Resources are written so that teachers can select what suits their group. A pre-show activity may take ten minutes and require no special equipment. A longer workshop might involve small-group devising, character diaries or a design challenge. Post-show prompts encourage students to describe evidence from the performance before moving into interpretation, helping them distinguish between what they saw and what they felt.

Writing for different ages and access needs

Age suitability is more than changing the size of the font or simplifying a few words. The team considers attention span, emotional development, reading confidence and the ways children communicate. Activities for early primary students may use drawing, sound, physical play or short observations. Older students may work with themes, staging choices, critical responses and the language of theatre.

Accessibility is built into the planning. Guides can include content notes, sensory information and practical advice about the venue, helping teachers prepare students who may benefit from predictable routines. Clear descriptions of lighting, sound, audience participation or moments of darkness can support students with sensory sensitivities and assist schools with individual adjustments.

The same principle applies to language and cultural context. A resource should explain unfamiliar references without assuming that every student has the same home experience. In a multilingual community, teachers may invite students to discuss the words, stories or traditions that shape their own families. This creates a richer exchange than treating one cultural viewpoint as the default.

Making the resource practical for teachers

Teachers need materials that are useful under real conditions. School days are busy, excursions involve permissions and risk assessments, and a class may have only a short period before travelling to the venue. For this reason, the education team organises each guide with clear sections, achievable activities and a distinction between essential preparation and optional extension.

The practical details matter in Australia as well. A school travelling from an outer suburb of Sydney may need to coordinate buses, lunch arrangements and a tight return schedule. A class visiting from outside Adelaide or Perth may be making a much longer cultural excursion, while a regional school may need digital preparation because regular theatre visits are less accessible. A well-structured guide helps teachers use the available time without making the artistic encounter feel rushed.

The resource also reflects the wider visit. Students may be encouraged to observe the architecture of Teatre El Jardí, the atmosphere of Sala La Cate, or the way audiences gather before a performance. Information about etiquette is framed positively: listening, respecting performers, sharing space and responding appropriately are presented as ways of taking part in a collective cultural event.

The visual identity of the resource matters too. Typography, colour and imagery affect whether a teacher can scan the document quickly and whether students want to engage with it. Our approach is informed by the same care given to season design process, where communication needs to be inviting as well as informative.

Testing, refining and extending the experience

A first draft is not the finished guide. The education team reviews activities with teachers, artists and, when possible, students. They check whether instructions are clear, whether a task genuinely relates to the performance, and whether the language leaves space for different interpretations. If an activity produces only one expected answer, it may need to be opened up.

Feedback after a school showing is equally valuable. Teachers can identify which prompts led to meaningful discussion and which sections were difficult to use. Students may reveal details the team had overlooked, especially in works that rely on visual metaphor, sound or non-verbal storytelling. This feedback helps shape future resources and strengthens the relationship between the venue and local schools.

Study guides can also lead into wider programmes. A theatre visit might be followed by an ATEB workshop, a classroom performance project, a conversation with artists or a student presentation. In this way, the show becomes part of an ongoing cultural learning pathway rather than a single event on the school calendar.

The best resources remain flexible after publication. A teacher may use one activity before the excursion, another on the return journey and a third weeks later when students are developing their own work. This flexibility honours the different timetables, capabilities and teaching styles found across schools, from large city campuses to small communities.

Schools and educators can explore upcoming performances at Figueres a Escena and use the accompanying resources to prepare students for a thoughtful, active theatre visit. Bring the guide into the classroom, adapt the activities to your learners, and let the performance continue through discussion, making and shared discovery long after the applause.