A strictly literary study of drama can be misleading, but plays brought alive through dramatic activities and productions may be the most profitable core of the secondary-school humanities program. The practical study of drama requires the student's active imagination, self-discipline, creative and positive responses to situations, improvisation, and script-interpretation. Although this emphasis upon personal interpretation may prevent drama from fitting neatly into the traditional definition of English as "an intellectual discipline whose end is literacy and the intelligent acquisition of certain appreciative skills," dramatic activities can be of great value in helping a child develop his personality and come to terms with reality. Beginning with unscripted improvisation, students can progress to productions of Brecht, Ibsen, Shakespeare, or Chekhov. While teachers should be careful not to let stage business interfere with the artistic unity of a production, theatrical experience can help students understand as fully as possible what the dramatist says and the means by which he says it. (LH)