ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how a theatre class was designed to help all undergraduates approach life's unscripted problems through high-impact educational practices and metacognitive strategies in order to understand and manage some of the significant issues associated with twenty-first-century learning, such as complexity, diversity, flexibility and social change. Students are provided with opportunities to develop intellectual and practical skills, to confront complex real-world problems and social challenges through an in-depth or capstone project. Through analytical papers, students demonstrated their knowledge about why the original Living Newspaper, its purpose and theatrical techniques, continues to inspire today's theatre practitioners interested in innovative ways to dramatise social ideas. Social issues are complex; they also can be intimidating and emotionally charged, but they provide powerful opportunities for students to assess their personal thoughts about, for example, race and ethnicity. The social interaction between mentors and students allowed the novice artists 'to participate in skills beyond those that [they are] independently capable of handling.'.
