Example · Theatre · Grade 11 · United States

Bridging Voices: Verbatim Theatre

Rosa, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Built by ALF Studio from exactly what each teacher typed, then changed the way that teacher teaches.

What she typed · word for word

“Juniors build a verbatim play from real words: public comment at City Council about Pittsburgh's bridges, the NTSB report on the Fern Hollow collapse, and interviews with neighbors who crossed it every day. They stage it at a Carnegie Library branch with council staff invited.”

On the form: United States (Common Core and NGSS) · Grade 11 · Theatre · 6 weeks · 3 lessons a week, 60 minutes · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Why it is here

Verbatim theatre turns a civic failure the whole city remembers into art performed for the people who have to answer for it.

What a school would ask first

Written consent from interviewees, no minors interviewed, no private individuals named on stage.

Example teacher

Rosa

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Teaches: Grade 11 Theatre, United States (Common Core and NGSS).
Her lessons: 3 a week, 60 minutes.

Standards on the form

Anchor Standard #4: Select, analyze and interpret artistic work for presentation.Suggested by ALF, kept
Anchor Standard #5: Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.Suggested by ALF, kept
Anchor Standard #2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.Chosen with Choose your own

The unit as she left it

Drafted Oct 8 in 28 seconds · 6 changes since

Theatre · Grade 11 · 6 weeks

Bridging Voices: Verbatim Theatre

Driving question

How can we stage real community voices about our bridges to hold leaders accountable?

Standards

Anchor Standard #4

Select, analyze and interpret artistic work for presentation.

TAUGHT IN Week 1, activity 1; Week 1, activity 2; Week 3, activity 2; Week 6, activity 2; Week 6, activity 3; Week 5, activity 2ASSESSED BY Text Analysis and Interpretation

Anchor Standard #5

Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.

TAUGHT IN Week 1, activity 3; Week 3, activity 3; Week 4, activity 1; Week 4, activity 2; Week 5, activity 1; Week 5, activity 3; Week 5, activity 4; Week 6, activity 1; Week 6, activity 2; Week 5, activity 2ASSESSED BY Artistic Technique and Performance

Anchor Standard #2

Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.

TAUGHT IN Week 2, activity 1; Week 2, activity 2; Week 2, activity 3; Week 3, activity 1; Week 3, activity 3ASSESSED BY Script Selection and Arrangement

Arts units use the 11 National Core Arts Standards anchor standards, not the grade-level arts standards.

Overview

Eleventh-grade theatre students research, script, and perform an original verbatim documentary play about Pittsburgh's bridge infrastructure following the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse. Working in small ensembles, students transcribe City Council public comments, parse technical findings from federal investigation reports, and conduct interviews with community members who crossed the bridge daily. They edit and sequence these exact words into dramatic text, rehearse vocal and physical techniques for documentary performance, and present their staged reading for neighborhood residents and municipal leaders at a Carnegie Library branch.

Entry event

The teacher projects aerial footage of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse alongside an audio recording of a resident speaking at a Pittsburgh City Council public comment session. Students examine printouts of official inspection logs versus resident testimony, comparing the cold engineering notes to the speaker's trembling voice. The class then maps out the dozens of bridges they each cross every week to get to school.

Need to know

What makes verbatim theatre different from regular scripted drama?
How do we turn legal transcripts and engineering reports into spoken dialogue?
What ethical responsibilities do we have when performing a living person's exact words?
Who needs to hear these stories, and how do we get them to our performance?

Week by week

Your lessons: 3 a week, 60 minutes.

Week 1

Examine verbatim theatre techniques and analyze primary source texts for dramatic potential.

Analyze clips and scripts from documentary theatre works to identify how real transcripts create dramatic conflict.
· 1 lesson
Read excerpts of the NTSB Fern Hollow report and Pittsburgh City Council public comments to code key dramatic themes. Let students choose whether to perform an edited council speaker verbatim or compose a chorus piece from five speakers' lines.
· 1 lesson
Practice documentary vocal delivery by performing raw one-minute speech excerpts with neutral, truthful staging.
· 1 lesson

Supports

Provide sentence frames and vocabulary glossaries for engineering terms to multilingual students, provide highlighted transcripts and chunked text for students with an IEP or 504, and encourage students ready for more to cross-reference state inspection data with federal reports.

Deliverable

Coded primary text excerpts with performance notes on speaker intent and vocal inflection.

Week 2

Collect community testimonies and organize source materials into dramatic structures.

Draft interview questions and role-play ethical recording techniques to interview neighbors about daily bridge travel. Hold rehearsals of the neighbor scenes in Frick Park near the rebuilt bridge so actors hear the traffic and the creek the way the real speakers did.
· 1 lesson
Transcribe recorded interviews word-for-word, preserving hesitations, pauses, and natural speech patterns.
· 1 lesson
Create scene beat sheets that pair resident interviews against technical government findings and council responses.
· 1 lesson

Supports

Provide graphic organizers for scene beat sequencing to students with an IEP or 504, allow audio-recorded interview responses in home languages with peer translation support for multilingual students, and have advanced students structure complex multi-voice choral dialogue.

Deliverable

Interview transcripts and an initial beat sheet mapping out the scene sequence.

Week 3

Write and arrange an ensemble verbatim script that juxtaposes civic data and human stories.

Assemble dialogue blocks into draft script scenes using only verbatim text from reports, testimony, and interviews.
· 1 lesson
Table-read draft scenes to analyze dramatic pacing, rhythm, and clarity of contrasting perspectives.
· 1 lesson
Revise script transitions and add staging directions that convey setting and character physicalization.
· 1 lesson

Supports

Provide color-coded script formatting templates for students with an IEP or 504, offer bilingual transcription checks for multilingual students, and challenge advanced students to score scripts with precise musicality and tempo markings.

Deliverable

Completed draft ensemble script with integrated stage directions.

Week 4

Refine vocal and physical performance techniques during staged table reads and staging rehearsals.

Execute vocal drills focusing on projection, dialect integrity, and accurate cadence of real speakers.
· 1 lesson
Block staged reading formations for the public-comment scenes, integrating minimal props and physical gestures that reflect character age and occupation.
· 1 lesson

Supports

Offer visual blocking maps and movement cue sheets for students with an IEP or 504, provide recorded pronunciation guides for multilingual students, and support advanced students in coaching peers on physical stillness and posture.

Deliverable

Staged reading run-through scored against performance criteria.

Week 5

Incorporate critique and polish performance delivery for a public library venue.

Incorporate guest artist and peer critique by adjusting vocal clarity, pacing, and emotional authenticity.
· 1 lesson
Block and rehearse the neighbor scenes, integrating them into the full staged performance before adjusting for the venue.
· 1 lesson
Adapt blocking and sound projection for an open library space, testing sightlines and acoustic clarity.
· 1 lesson
Execute a full technical dress rehearsal without stopping, followed by final ensemble adjustments.
· 1 lesson

Supports

Provide sensory-friendly rehearsal options and clear cue cards for students with an IEP or 504, pair multilingual students with language buddies for rapid vocal feedback, and task advanced students with directing scene transitions.

Deliverable

Final polished technical run-through.

Week 6

Perform the verbatim play for community members and city leaders, then reflect on civic impact.

Travel to the Carnegie Library branch to set up staging, test space acoustics, and run vocal warmups.
· 1 lesson
Present the verbatim theatre showcase to invited community members and city council staff, followed by a talkback.
· 1 lesson
Write a reflective essay evaluating how faithfully the performance communicated community reality and civic responsibility.
· 1 lesson

Supports

Provide flexible participation options during the audience talkback for students with anxiety or an IEP, offer written reflection sentence starters in home languages for multilingual students, and guide advanced students to write follow-up civic advocacy briefs.

Deliverable

Live performance at the library and an individual written reflection.

Critique and revision

End of week 4, activity 3

Students present a full rehearsal run-through for peers and an invited local documentary theatre artist, using a structured rubric to evaluate vocal authenticity, text rhythm, and dramatic balance before adjusting staging in week 5.

Student reflection

Students complete a written evaluation analyzing how their interpretation honored the words of living community members and how the performance impacted audience understanding during the community talkback.

Final product

What they make

An ensemble verbatim theatre performance presenting exact spoken records from government reports, public council comment, and neighborhood interviews regarding bridge infrastructure.

Options

Students choose which interviewed subjects and public records to foreground, whether to perform multiple contrasting roles or focus on one continuous testimony, and how to arrange ensemble choral movement. Cut the full-length run time to 35 minutes so the library can host it in a single evening slot.

Who sees it

Community members, bridge neighbors, and Pittsburgh City Council staff at a Carnegie Library branch on the second lesson of week 6.

Teams

Ensembles of 4 to 5 students, formed by combining complementary research interests such as engineering facts, transit access, and neighborhood personal history.

Rubric3 rows · 4 levels

Criterion	beginning	developing	proficient	advanced
Script Selection and Arrangement Anchor Standard #2 · team	The script strings transcripts together loosely without a clear dramatic structure or thematic progression.	The script organizes real words into clear scenes, but transitions feel abrupt and contrasting perspectives are poorly balanced.	The script effectively organizes and develops verbatim quotes into dramatic scenes that contrast technical findings with human impact.	The script skillfully weaves technical data and personal testimony into a cohesive, rhythmic dramatic work with compelling narrative flow.
Text Analysis and Interpretation Anchor Standard #4 · individual	The actor recites dialogue with little attention to speaker background, emotional context, or subtext.	The actor identifies basic speaker motives but relies on generic vocal inflection rather than specific textual clues.	The actor analyzes and interprets the primary source text accurately, making deliberate choices that convey the speaker's true intent.	The actor demonstrates deep textual interpretation, revealing subtle layers of subtext, hesitation, and emotional reality in authentic delivery.
Artistic Technique and Performance Anchor Standard #5 · individual	Vocal projection, articulation, and physical choices are inconsistent or difficult to hear in the performance space.	Vocal delivery is audible and physical posture is steady, but technique softens under performance pressure.	The actor refines and sustains vocal clarity, dynamic pacing, and purposeful physicalization appropriate for documentary theatre.	The actor delivers a seamless, nuanced performance using refined vocal control, dialect accuracy, and physical control tailored to the space.

Script Selection and Arrangement

Anchor Standard #2 · team

beginning

The script strings transcripts together loosely without a clear dramatic structure or thematic progression.

developing

The script organizes real words into clear scenes, but transitions feel abrupt and contrasting perspectives are poorly balanced.

proficient

The script effectively organizes and develops verbatim quotes into dramatic scenes that contrast technical findings with human impact.

advanced

The script skillfully weaves technical data and personal testimony into a cohesive, rhythmic dramatic work with compelling narrative flow.

Text Analysis and Interpretation

Anchor Standard #4 · individual

beginning

The actor recites dialogue with little attention to speaker background, emotional context, or subtext.

developing

The actor identifies basic speaker motives but relies on generic vocal inflection rather than specific textual clues.

proficient

The actor analyzes and interprets the primary source text accurately, making deliberate choices that convey the speaker's true intent.

advanced

The actor demonstrates deep textual interpretation, revealing subtle layers of subtext, hesitation, and emotional reality in authentic delivery.

Artistic Technique and Performance

Anchor Standard #5 · individual

beginning

Vocal projection, articulation, and physical choices are inconsistent or difficult to hear in the performance space.

developing

Vocal delivery is audible and physical posture is steady, but technique softens under performance pressure.

proficient

The actor refines and sustains vocal clarity, dynamic pacing, and purposeful physicalization appropriate for documentary theatre.

advanced

The actor delivers a seamless, nuanced performance using refined vocal control, dialect accuracy, and physical control tailored to the space.

Materials

Excerpts from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation reports on the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse
check before use
Public comment video recordings and official written transcripts from Pittsburgh City Council meetings
check before use
Digital voice recorders or smartphone audio recording apps for conducting neighborhood interviews
Local documentary theatre artist or director to attend rehearsals for critique
check before use
Space reservation and chairs at a local Carnegie Library branch
check before use

Week 5, ready to teach

3 lessons · Built Oct 8 in 61 seconds

The week card on her unit reads: "Started from your changes to weeks 1, 2 and 4: Made it local, Gave students a choice, Trimmed it, Cut." Each lesson is a page for her, the task sheet is for the class, and ALF wrote the attachments the lessons hand out.

Week 5 · Lesson 1 of 3

Vocal Cadence and Report Delivery

Minutes60

Prep8 minutes

Parts4

BuiltOct 8

Checkpoint

Each ensemble marks verbatim cadence annotations and vocal pacing adjustments directly onto their performance scripts, verified through partner critique logs collected at the door.

Objective

Students will develop and refine artistic techniques by interpreting recorded vocal inflections, hesitations, and technical text to convey character truth without mimicry or parody.

Need to know

How do we speak real people's exact testimonies without turning their pain or technical facts into caricature?

Sequence, 60 minutes46 of 60 minutes planned. The rest is yours.

Hook · 6 min

Review last week's staged table read formations and project two audio excerpts of council testimony. Ask ensembles to identify how natural speech pauses expose genuine civic concern versus formal government statements.

Mini-lesson · 10 min

Explain that verbatim documentary performance uses audio-recorded inflection, hesitation, and breath patterns to convey character truth without mimicry or parody. Outline how the National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the January 28, 2022 Fern Hollow Bridge collapse cited uncoated weathering steel deterioration and clogged drain troughs as direct structural causes. For example, speak an official report excerpt mechanically at one hundred sixty words per minute, then re-deliver it at the target delivery pace of 120 words per minute, inserting natural breaths before the phrase clogged drain troughs to emphasize civic consequence.

Work time · 23 min

Each student uses the vocal critique rubric to evaluate their partner's verbatim delivery of testimony passages from the master documentary script. Both partners critique delivery rhythm, revise breath breaks, and write the vocal pacing adjustments and refined cadence annotations marked directly on performance scripts to create the marked performance script. The teacher circulates to ensure students honor natural speech patterns rather than adopting exaggerated accents.

Check and close · 7 min

Collect each student's completed vocal critique rubric along with their marked performance script showing breath symbols and pause annotations. The teacher provides targeted three-line pacing feedback cards during the opening of next class for any student whose script lacks clear annotations. Next lesson integrates neighbor scenes and adapts vocal projection for the Carnegie Library branch reading room.

Materials

havethe master documentary script

makethe vocal critique rubric

findtwo audio recordings of city council testimony

havepencils and highlighters

Watch for

Students may caricature emotional community members; direct them to ground vocal choices in actual breath breaks and factual testimony rhythm.

Differentiation

Scaffold.Writing load and rapid audio decoding: provide vocabulary lists in home languages where the school has them, with pictures where it does not, alongside marked audio pause guides.

Extension.Students score complex cross-talk sections from the council transcripts, layering overlapping speaker pauses to intensify theatrical conflict.

Next class

Lesson 2 blocks the neighbor scenes and establishes perimeter movement patterns for the library space.

Her three edits

Each labeled by ALF after the save

What Rosa changed in the draft, in her own words, with the label ALF gave each change and the reason it suggested.

Made it localWeek 2 · Activity 1Probably: local context
Draft interview questions and role-play ethical recording techniques to interview neighbors about daily bridge travel. Hold rehearsals of the neighbor scenes in Frick Park near the rebuilt bridge so actors hear the traffic and the creek the way the real speakers did.
Gave students a choiceWeek 1 · Activity 2Maybe: fits my students
Read excerpts of the NTSB Fern Hollow report and Pittsburgh City Council public comments to code key dramatic themes. Let students choose whether to perform an edited council speaker verbatim or compose a chorus piece from five speakers' lines.
Trimmed itFinal productProbably: time
Students choose which interviewed subjects and public records to foreground, whether to perform multiple contrasting roles or focus on one continuous testimony, and how to arrange ensemble choral movement. Cut the full-length run time to 35 minutes so the library can host it in a single evening slot.

Then she pressed Adapt this week

Week 4 · Running behind

Her note, with Running behind picked

“Interview transcripts came in late. Cast and block the public-comment scenes first and slot the neighbor scenes in next week.”

ALF suggested. Move neighbor scene staging into Week 5 to prioritize public-comment scenes.

Kept · ChangedTrimmed it
Block staged reading formations, integrating minimal props and physical gestures that reflect character age and occupation.
Block staged reading formations for the public-comment scenes, integrating minimal props and physical gestures that reflect character age and occupation.
Prioritizing the public-comment scenes keeps blocking focused while waiting to slot in neighbor scenes.
Kept · RemovedCut
Run a complete rough performance for peer critique and an invited local dramaturg or theatre artist.
Postponing the complete rough performance frees up rehearsal time in Week 4.
Kept · AddedGave it more time
Block and rehearse the neighbor scenes, integrating them into the full staged performance before adjusting for the venue.
Adding the neighbor scenes here accommodates late interview transcripts without cutting material.

She kept 3 of 3.

Then ALF built week 5. The week card reads “Started from your changes to weeks 1, 2 and 4: Made it local, Gave students a choice, Trimmed it, Cut.” Read the lessons.

Build one from your own idea

Type what you want to teach the way Rosa did. ALF drafts the unit, and you change whatever does not fit your class.

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