TAPS – More to Theatre

Aarushi Singh, A&E section editor|October 2, 2017

Theatre Arts Programe Symposium, commonly known as TAPS, is a workshop for IB theatre students. Students from a lot of international schools come and take part in this workshop full of learning, which is also fully catered towards the IB theatre diploma. Although it is held every year, every single TAPS is different. Students learn about theatre practitioners, different works of theatre, and how to create a meaningful experience for the audience.

International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA) quotes the TaPS event as being “a fantastic resource for further explorations of IB DP Theatre back in school, engaging each and every participant with the philosophy of the program, its core components and the required assessment tasks as well as the tools and strategies required for managing their own learning in theatre.” The TAPS events also offers training to teachers, as ISTA is the official organiser of IB Theatre training. “Mr. A and myself, along with the teachers from the visiting schools, will get to learn something new which we can then teach to our students, enriching our own knowledge as well as theirs,” explains HS drama teacher, Augusta Harison Denby.

TAPS is more of a learning experience to gain new ideas and different experiences. Ms. Denby says, “this is actually my first time attending a TAPS although I have several years of experience in attending and hosting ISTA’s Middle School and High School festivals, as well as their teacher training. I have been eager to attend a TAPS since I began teaching many moons ago because of the advanced level of the workshops on offer for teachers and the students. I was so excited when I was offered the HS Drama Teacher job at ISB because I knew that we were hosting this year!”

Even if you are not a theatre student, you can still enjoy all the wonderful performances they put on.There are three performances coming up, two of them are at ISB itself and one is downtown at the BangkokCommunity Theatre.