Trey Tatum
M.F.A. Playwriting, Actors Studio Drama School
Teaching Philosophy
Important skills I want to teach my students
The art of design is the act of storytelling, of taking inspiration, funneling it through your personal experience, and translating it into a tangible medium. Learning the tools of design-shape, color, texture, proportion-enables you to take a concept and realize it, while giving you the vocabulary to attach theme and emotional context to your ideas. Students learn how to collaborate and how to visualize complex solutions to design problems.
Teaching methods to reach these goals
Tech theater is a hands-on class where basic construction and painting skills are paired with a heightened awareness of how the tools of design combine to tell stories and add emotional weight. The art of collaboration is taught, where students work together to create production concepts and hone communication skills to convey complex ideas.
My favorite projects
My entire year is one project. Theater is a cumulative experience—the combining of separate areas of design into a cohesive project, of translating concept into production. You can’t light a set until you’ve built it. You can’t create the soundscape of a world until you’ve collaborated with other designers to discover that world.
What I like best about teaching at Seven Hills
In a time when many schools struggle to add arts education to a busy docket, Seven Hills has prioritized arts as a cornerstone of a well-rounded education. Students have access to lots of activities, in the classroom and beyond, in both the visual and live and performing arts.