Become a member and save up to 70% on tickets to theatre, dance and music. See if you qualify to join TDF.

Educational Resources

Free tools for educators, students and parents

Share:

Facebook Twitter

Video Resources

These recorded presentations are available to any educator, student or parent looking for arts education workshops free of charge. These workshops are led by TDF's talented and creative teaching artist partners and can be delivered in person or virtually live for a nominal fee.

How to Prepare Auditions for College and Professional Calls

A three-part series for high school students. Teaching Artists: Raphael Peacock, Thomas Picasso and Channie Waites

 

 

---

A Close Read on How to Prepare a Shakespeare Monologue

With special attention paid to actors of color working on The Bard. Teaching Artist: Raphael Peacock

---

Creating Intentional Classrooms: Trans and Non-Binary Inclusion

Vocabulary and discussion 101 for making intentional spaces for trans students and people in classrooms and public spaces. Teaching Artists: Maybe Burke and Michael Leibenluft

---

"Be a Catalyst for Change"

Sharing best practices and lessons learned, Lisa Carling, Director of TDF Accessibility Programs, spoke on the "“Disability, Diversity and Inclusion: Broadway Master Class” panel as part of the United Nations 14th Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This event took place on June 18, 2021.

---

How to Create Costuming Vision Boards Using Padlet

A tutorial on using the free app Padlet for creating vision boards for costuming, along with a workshop approach for using this app with students working on a selected show and the role and approach of costume designers. Teaching Artist: Carrie Elleman Larsen

---

How to Produce Theatrical Work Via Zoom

A two-part technical tour de force. Teaching Artist: Jenna Woods

 

---

Adapting Theatre Exercises to a Virtual Space

A beginner's guide. Teaching Artist: Stephen DiMenna

---

Pedagogy and Approach to Ritual Theatre-Making for Educators

Shape Light creates a participant-centered experience with: meditations, live music, ritual, theatre and performance explorations. A two-part series that explains the pedagogy of ritual theatre making and walks the educator through a step-by-step approach to working remotely and in person devising and facilitating ritual theatre. Teaching Artist: Noelle Ghoussaini

 

---

Study Guides

These handbooks are available free of charge and have been created via commission by the TDF Education Team. Please contact gingerb@tdf.org if you'd like to have a study guide designed for your production.

Come From Away

Developed in partnership with Seattle Repertory Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse.

Photos of the real citizens of Gander


Death of a Salesman

Developed by TDF Education

death of a salesman study guide preview


Girl From the North Country

Girl from the north country study guide preview


Life of Pi

Developed by TDF Education

Life of Pi

 

Accessibility Resources

Open Captioning Basic Information Sheet


What is open captioning?


Open captioning is a text display of words and sounds heard during a performance or event. The display is positioned so that it's visible to individuals in a particular seating area. It is considered passive assistance, a service that is there to use or ignore.


Who is it for?


Open captioning is a service for people with hearing loss who use assistive listening devices, hearing aids, cochlear implants, sign language or lip read. It provides the broadest access to people who are hard of hearing or deaf. Approximately 20% or 48 million Americans have hearing loss as per the Hearing Loss Association of America. Roughly 1% of this demographic uses American Sign Language as cited in Psychology Today's 2023 article "Not Everyone With Hearing Loss Knows Sign Language."


How can my venue offer it?


For do-it-yourself open captioning, you can use PowerPoint slides, a projector and drop-down screen visible to people with hearing loss in a designated seating area.


For open captioning provided by an independent, professional caption operator who will do all the prep work and bring state-of-the-art equipment, TDF’s longtime service provider for live theatre performances is c2.


Contact: David Chu, davidchu.2@gmail.com, (917) 733-3515
c2 pioneered and introduced live theatrical captioning for patrons with hearing loss and is responsible for launching theatre captioning programs around the country. The company has collaborated with theatres nationwide, providing live on-site captioning, digital captioning and subtitled captioning. Work includes live open captioning on Broadway, Off Broadway, national performing arts venues and touring houses, and top-shelf regional theatres. c2 remains dedicated to maintaining the artistic integrity and authentic experience of live theatre, ensuring that all audience members can enjoy the performance equally.


How can my venue offer unscripted open captioning?


Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART), also called open captioning, live captioning or real-time captioning, is the general name of the system that court reporters, steno captioners, voice writers and others use to convert speech to text. The text appears in real time, while the words or speakers are heard, on a big screen that everyone can see. CART can also be displayed on a laptop or a mobile device. TDF uses TotalCaption for unscripted events.

Contact: Lauren Schechter, lauren@totalcaption.com, (201) 301-2435, TotalCaption.com


How else can my venue support patrons with hearing loss?


If possible, providing an assistive listening device (ALD) in conjunction with open captioning is optimal. Levels of hearing loss vary, and any opportunity to take in sound is important. Require an advance reservation for assistive listening units to ensure you have enough on hand. Tickets should be available for purchase online. For in-person ticket sales, a hearing loop system is recommended for the customer service area as well as the event seating area.


Open captioning service fees*


• Independent contractor captioning for one performance (script formatting, previewing, synchronized text scrolling with display): $1,500- $2,000
• Independent contractor captioning for second performance of the same production: $1,000-$2,000


* = pricing is approximate and subject to change.