TAPS and FRAME
TAPS Theatre and Performance Symposium: IB DP Theatre brought to life with professional theatre-makers.
FRAME Film Research and Methods Exploratorium: three days of exploring and making film together, rooted in IB DP Film and open to any student keen to make films.
Why attend
Students work directly with professional theatre-makers and filmmakers, putting what they’ve learned in school into real creative practice.
New skills, fresh discoveries to take home, and a renewed sense of what they can achieve as artists and thinkers.
Peers from around the world, building trust, broadening perspectives and creating as an ensemble.
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What students gain
Hands-on experience and industry knowledge from expert artists and creatives.
A deeper understanding of IB DP Theatre and Film, through creative practice across cultures and disciplines.
Performances and screenings that provoke thought and enrich artistic perspectives.
IB arts students from around the world, sharing ideas and building lasting ensembles.
Inside TAPS and FRAME
From a past TAPS Perspectives: four sessions from one programme.
Staging play texts
With director Ned Bennett, students use Viewpoints and physical expression to experiment with staging and collaborative decision-making.
World theatre traditions
With physical theatre specialist Cheryl Stapleton, students explore masks, physical storytelling and the genre’s iconic characters.
Creating original theatre
Physical devising that sparks creativity, builds ensemble and shows how movement itself becomes a storytelling language.
Responding to live theatre
Students see Stranger Things: The First Shadow, sparking rich discussion of storytelling, technical innovation and audience.
Three days, five stages: explore, collaborate, make, shape and share. Students learn through making, not for an assessment.
Day 1 · Explore
Cinematography, editing, sound and writing. In each, an artist shares one idea through film extracts, and students test it straight away on their own devices.
Day 2 · Collaborate
In teams of four, students take the same one-page script. Each directs their own version, then crews and acts on their teammates’.
Day 2 · Make
No professional kit needed. Teams shoot on the devices they bring, with creative challenges drawn from Day 1, like an extreme close-up or an unexpected sound.
Day 3 · Shape and share
Teams cut their films to 60 seconds, then share them at a closing screening. Showing is always the student’s choice, and there are no prizes or rankings.
FRAME grew out of IB DP Film, but the skills travel: visual storytelling, collaboration and creative problem-solving matter whatever students study. Teachers join in as learners too, with two professional learning sessions of their own.
Coming up
From the ISTA Store
The official IB DP student handbooks for Theatre and Film, written with the IB to support students through the course.
On-demand learning for arts educators
On-demand courses made by ISTA’s global network of artists, educators and IB examiners: expert insight, filmed workshops and classroom-ready resources you can take at your own pace.
Courses on theatre practitioners, world theatre traditions, curriculum and assessment, with new titles added through the year.
Create a free ISTA account to watch preview lessons, then buy single courses or unlock the whole library with an All-Access Pass.
