Theatre as a Medium for Children and Young People: Images and Observations [Paperback]

This book opens doorways to new understandings, even as it poses a challenge to educators, theatre people, and others concerned about the lives of todays children. At once it raises a wealth of questions regarding the meanings of theatre, the role of imagination, the difference (especially for children) between the fictional and the real. Indeed, one of the attractions of Dr. Schonmanns book is her evident cherishing of open questions, many of which involve her readers in explorations of their own experiences and in a renewed wonder at what the arts can bring to human lives. Her focus is on childrens theatre as a unique art form with its own symbol system and its particular demands on audiences. Dealing as she does with images and enactments as well as with a range of theories, she makes readers aware of unexplored possibilitiespedagogical and aestheticfor early childhood and elementary education. Her core argument is that childrens theatre is not a reduced version of adult theatre. Nor is it arbitrarily concocted in accord with adult notions of children as incomplete adults. It is well known that the idea of a child as a being in process of growing, of becoming, stems from the work of John Dewey and others at the turn of the last century. Dr. Schonmanns conception of childrens theatre responds to such a view. Plays for children, whether in or out of school, whether performed by the young or by professionals, are not developed by formula.Boundaries: Between Theatre for Young People and Adults' Theatre.- An Experience: A Unique Cultural and Artistic Phenomenon.- The Audience: Levels of Communication with Children.- Catharsis: The Nature of Private and Public Catharsis in Children's Theatre.- Conventions: Shedding Light on the Sign System used in Theatre for Young People.- Criticism: Ways to Evaluate a Theatrical Performance.- Theatre for Young People as a School Event: Advantages and Disadvantages of Children Attending a Play en masse.- The Culture of Schools~