International Journal of Education & the Arts

Citation: Webster, L., & Esfandiary, R. (2024). Teaching practicality in theatrical design: Feasibility into sustainability. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 25(si2.4). http://doi.org/10.26209/ijea25si2.4

The theatrical design classroom equips students in developing and expressing creativity, largely through the facilitation of what is called “unrealized” projects. While developing unrealized scenographic projects is integral in nurturing the student as an artist, it proves to be problematic when students are placed in the position of designing for a realized stage production. Students are suddenly confronted with boundaries of reality: budgets, timelines, labor, safety, and the laws of physics. Translating and transferring the creative imagination into the world of feasibility is one of the greatest struggles for burgeoning and junior designers. Thus, it is important to bridge the gap between unrealized projects and realized production by integrating practical and logistic parameters in the training of design students. We ask how we might incorporate concerns for feasibility into the design curricula without compromising the exploration and expression of creativity. Environmental considerations for theatrical design in higher education are also discussed.