International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Theatre Student Handbook

The International Baccalaureate (IB) and the International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA) are thrilled and proud to announce the release of the Diploma Programme Theatre Student Handbook.

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Released in April 2023, this handbook is written by experts to give comprehensive coverage of the IB Theatre guide and provides students with everything they need for their IB theatre journey.

The IB and ISTA recognised a need for theatre students and teachers to be able to access a quality resource that could both supplement course delivery from a subject- specialist teacher, and help steer those students who are working independently.

In the first commercial publication of its kind, the Theatre Student Handbook has been created with the idea that each student in a class would have their own individual copy that they can personalize and write in as a accompaniment to their own theatre journal.

Inside the theatre student handbook

The opening chapter, Welcome to DP theatre, provides an overview of the theatre course, identifies the ways in which student work is assessed, considers the role of the theatre journal in documenting the journey through the two-year course, and highlights links between theatre and the DP core. The second chapter leads students through the processes, roles and responsibilities of Being a theatre-maker – including the creation of theatre through performance and production elements, and the practical construction of moments of tension, emotion, atmosphere and meaning. The rest of the handbook leads students through each of the core syllabus and areas and associated assessment tasks in turn.

• Staging play texts and the production proposal, in which students adopt the role of the director-designer to choose a play text to stage which will fulfil their own original theatre- maker intentions.
• Exploring world theatre traditions and the research presentation, in which students discover previous unknown practices and conventions from within a prescribed tradition and undertake a rigorous process of practical and physical engagement as a means of somatic research.
• Collaboratively creating original theatre and the collaborative project, in which students work as a member of an ensemble to devise a unique piece of theatre which is performed to a live audience.
• Performing theatre theory and the solo theatre piece (HL only), in which students undertake research into a theatre theorist to develop and perform their own unique piece of solo theatre as a means of bringing the researched theory to life.

The handbook also contains the assessment criteria for each task, providing students with everything they need to accompany them on the journey through the course.

The book is richly visual and communicates essential understandings through the use of imaginative and engaging images, tables, charts and diagrams. It is intended as a working hands-on resource for students to use in their theatre classrooms and has spaces provided throughout for them to capture and retain their own developing ideas, designs and reflections.

The handbook contains a wide variety of practical theatre activities and collaborative group exercises which specifically target each area of the theatre course. Visual sign-posts are used throughout to highlight top tips, subject-specific definitions and to emphasise key IB assessment requirements.

A unique collaboration between the IB and ISTA

Mike Bindon, the IB’s Curriculum Manager for theatre, oversaw the development of this imaginative resource and collaborated closely with the principal author, Dinos Aristidou. For Mike, this handbook is the result of a long creative partnership.

“From decade’s worth of collaboration between ISTA and the IB, this resource is an amalgamation of shared ideas, conversations, connections, experiences from IB teacher and student workshops, continuous stakeholder feedback, practical training sessions, and much playful exploration. This handbook would not have been possible if it weren’t for the many individuals who have dedicated time, energy and passion into this book to fulfil the mission of global learning through theatre. I hope that the Theatre Student Handbook Textbook inspires those students and educators who read it to foster a lifelong desire to share, learn, create and connect with others through theatre.”

The creative team behind the handbook acknowledge the contribution of its principal author, Dinos Aristidou, who unexpectedly passed away shortly before publication of the handbook. Dinos’ influence on both the IB’s theatre course and on ISTA is immeasurable. The Theatre Student Handbook is dedicated to his memory, and it is hoped that a new generation of theatre-makers will be inspired to shine his light far and wide and to continue his visionary work of global learning through theatre.

Using the theatre student handbook

Teachers can use this handbook in a variety of different ways to support, supplement and enrich the delivery of their DP theatre course. It is our hope and continuous aspiration that this handbook acts as a bridge for both students and teachers to be engendered with greater confidence in their individual and collective learning outcomes. Students, in particular, now have access to an imaginative and practical ‘roadmap’ to help navigate the theatre course at their own pace. Furthermore, an overarching intention of producing and disseminating this resource, is that students can now access and engage with the theatre course at their own pace, whilst still gaining the invaluable knowledge and support that their teachers and education providers offer.

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