A junior high drama coach wants to find a way to communicate to students the joy that acting can be. Across town, a youth ministry director wants to teach a group of teenagers some fundamentals of acting to perpare them to stage a comedy revue to raise funds for the church's youth activity treasury.

What both of them need is a proven way to put even more fun into the process of learning how to act. Teacher Maria C. Novelly offers youth leaders plenty of help in her book, Theatre Games for Young Performers.

This book gives youth leaders: (1) information and ideas to reach sixth- through tenth-graders at their intellectual eye level; (2) wake-'em-up, imagination-expanding exercises adaptable to any subject or theme; (3) samles of worksheets for organizing students' work on specific dramatic skills; and (4) help in adapting acting lessons to drama class, English class, histoy class, church discussion group, Scout troop meetings, etc.

All the fundamentals of backstage work are outlined in William H. Lord's theatre text, Stagecraft 1.

Everything the aspiring stage technician needs to know to get started is explained in nineteen chapters. Major topcs adressed are: stages and rigging, production staff, properties, sound, lumber, tools and hardware, scenery construction, lighting instruments, control of light and color, and electricity and devices.

Each chapter contains a glossary of technical terms that may be unfamiliar to the beginner. Photographs, diagrams, and illustrations demonstrate key concepts and ideas. A comprehensive index makes reference easy.

The Stagecraft 1 Student Workbook is a saddle-stitched book drilled for insertion into a 3-hole binder. Format allows for structured note taking. Worksheets contain 23 crossword puzzles and illustrations.

The Stagecraft 1 Teacher's Guide is a 76-page saddle-stitched book that includes all the student workbook pages with the general answers filled in and answers to the crossword puzzles. It also includes copyright approval to make overhead transparencies along with a CD-ROM with quizzes, tests, exam, and student workbook information.

112 Acting Games includes more than one hundred performance-tested activities to help students of all ages develop their acting skills. The activities, culled from more than fifteen years of workshops and study sessions, target a broad range of acting fundamentals, yet each is flexible enough for use in a variety of classroom and rehearsal situations.

The exercises are divided into twenty sections: 1. Relaxation, 2. Body Awareness,
3. Observation, 4. Memorization, 5. Sensory Awareness, 6. Concentration and Focus,
7. Ensemble, 8. Characterization, 9. Imagination, 10. Improvisation, 11. Action and Reaction, 12. Trust, 13. Knowing Your Objectives, 14. Life Experience, 15. Spatial Awareness, 16. Motor Skills, 17. Nonverbal Communication, 18. Making Choices,
19. Performance, 20. Thinking Outside the Box.

Each activity is explained simply and clearly. Possible variations, sample discussion questions, and explanations of each activity’s objectives are also provided along with tips for incorporating the activities into a larger lesson. A resource section is included.