have been awarded funding for the THEATRON Project !
European Commision Educational Multimedia Task Force
The primary objective of this project (budgeted at 1.5 million dollars) is to carry out a carefully focused programme of work which will address the use of multi-media for teaching European theatre history.
After gathering and closely evaluating examples of current needs and best practice in a variety of institutions engaged in the teaching of theatre, the members of a consortium of eight European academic and commercial partners will work together to create a prototype software and application.
This will consist of a selection of "virtual" theatres, with a user interface enabling students and teachers to access a great deal of both graphic and textual material, illustrating and exploring the history, evolution, variety and current range of theatrical practice in Europe.
In addition to providing extensive primary factual information, this prototype will aim to allow the student to access and study such essential elements of theatre as time, space, acoustics, lighting, and sightlines which are difficult to convey using conventional teaching materials.
Following the creation of the initial module, this prototype will be tested in a variety of "real-life" situations, and "feedback" will be assembled and evaluated, with further modifications and refinements incorporated into the final prototype.
This will then be widely disseminated in both CD-ROM and on-line versions amongst appropriate user-groups, to whom necessary training will be provided, with the intention that members of the consortium may subsequently wish to produce further networked materials, based on their experience in the project.