Performing Pedagogy in Theater Education: Student and Faculty Member Perspectives on Applied Practice

This study examines a real-time, audience-engaged practice in undergraduate theater education from both students’ and faculty members’ perspectives. It focuses on the Four Short Plays staged for the 40th Short Play Writing Competition between December 2023 and March 2024. The study asks what experiences participants gained during the rehearsal and staging process, what challenges emerged, and what strategies were developed to address them. This descriptive qualitative study adopts a single case study design. The working group included 71 students and 10 faculty members from drama writing/dramaturgy, acting, and stage design. Data were gathered through two open-ended questionnaires and analyzed by content analysis. Students described their experiences in predominantly positive terms, while spatial and budgetary constraints emerged as the principal challenges; both groups prioritized communication as the primary means of resolving them. The Four Short Plays tradition embodies the theory–practice unity of performing arts education and demonstrates the weight of institutional culture and solidarity in theater training. Cite this article as: Belkıs, Ö., & Güngör, İ. (2026). Performing pedagogy in theater education: student and faculty member perspectives on applied practice. HAYEF: Journal of Education, 23, 0080, doi: 10.5152/hayef.2026.26080.