This thesis is a play for children. The story and the characters were derived from traditional Norwegian fairy tales. The central character is Billikin Whiskers, a billy-goat, who is captured by three trolls--Sparky, Garr and Pragg. The play is set on a mountain in Norway. The central idea of the play is the issue of intelligence--represented by Billikin Whiskers--versus physical strength--symbolized by the trolls.

After an extensive survey of available literature in Readers Theatre and Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, the purpose for this thesis was to cut and convert The Merry Wives into the twentieth century idiom from the authorized version found in the 1623 folio.

In an age of standardized testing and quality-controlled classrooms, teachers have lost the freedom to integrate imagination and creativity in their lessons, ultimately cheating today’s youth. In the classroom, students no longer have the outlets that transport them from the harsh realities of life. This thesis is an attempt to provide a venue for the Orange County Public School System that will engage the imaginations of under-represented or underprivileged students. The thesis will chronicle the development of a script with the intent of producing it in Title I elementary schools located in lower socio-economic areas of Orlando, Florida. The script will be based on Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale “The Ugly Duckling.” The final product will be a musical theatre piece to take into the school system to be performed by the students. The body of the thesis will contain my prior experiences of bringing musical theatre to underprivileged youth. The document will also include chapters detailing the process of creating the script and composing the music. Research will determine the socio-economic challenges prevalent in the under-represented cultures in the urban schools of Orlando. Finally, the thesis will contain a section of the actual script and will conclude with a chapter summarizing the reactions to the first reading of the play

As an active director of productions featuring youth actors, I find myself debating the same questions continuously: Are there clear and demonstrated differences between working with young people and adults when directing a youth theatre production? Are there approaches and methods of working with young people that differs greatly from working with adults? Are these methods supported and utilized by those working professionally in the field? Is there an ideal format for a theatre producing only productions with youth? I believe that directing young actors tends to require a shift in focus due to the pliability, sensitivity, and inexperience of the actors. I feel the director must take into account the emotional, developmental, and educational needs of the young people and at the same time remain focused on the creation of a product with artistic integrity and clear storytelling. Due to the didactic nature of Youth Theatre, directing young people often requires an awareness of process over product despite the similar end goal of directing adults. Since little research or literature exists about the differences between working with adults versus young people, I will pursue information by interviewing several recognized professionals in the field of Theatre by and for Youth. I will examine their multiple methods, techniques, and practices of working with young people. In addition, I will use my personal experience working with youth at the Orlando Repertory Theatre in Florida and Coterie Theatre in Missouri. Through an investigation into the emerging field of Youth iv Theatre coupled with my education, I plan to develop a workable and effective youth theatre company based upon these findings with the hope it might inspire others working in this field

O teatro infantil, no contexto do teatro contemporâneo compartilha com manifestações estéticas da dança, das artes visuais e o cinema, uma crise de identidade e uma indefinição de seu estatuto epistemológico. Somam-se a isso os fenômenos diferenciais dentro deste campo do teatro, cujas formulações desestruturam qualquer unidade ou homogeneidade do conceito teatro infantil que se tente construir. Não há, portanto, um Teatro Infantil, mas sim diferentes conceitos, identidades, práticas ou disciplinas teatrais que dialogam com as diversas infâncias e suas performances culturais e que contribuem para a sua definição. Nesse sentido, esta dissertação pretende refletir sobre a presença das crianças no teatro cubano, colocando em discussão o fenômeno do teatro infantil e o teatro com crianças à luz do teatro contemporâneo, para entender os principais enfoques pedagógicos do teatro com crianças em Cuba. / The children\'s theater, in the context of contemporary theater shares an identity crisis and a blurring of their status epistemological with other expressions of this art; as well as aesthetic manifestations such as dancing , arts visual and cinema. The identity crisis and a blurring of their status epistemological therefore, added to this the differential phenomena inside the field of theater, increase the impossibility of defining the children\'s theater in simple terms. One cannot say a that there is a Children\'s Theatre, but rather different concepts, identities, practices or theatrical disciplines that establish a dialogue with the various kinds of childhood and their cultural performances. Accordingly, this research intends to reflect about the presence of children in the Cuban theater, discussing the children\'s theater phenomenon and the theater with children in the light of contemporary theater, in order to understand the main pedagogical approaches of the theater with children in Cuba.

O teatro infantil, no contexto do teatro contemporâneo compartilha com manifestações estéticas da dança, das artes visuais e o cinema, uma crise de identidade e uma indefinição de seu estatuto epistemológico. Somam-se a isso os fenômenos diferenciais dentro deste campo do teatro, cujas formulações desestruturam qualquer unidade ou homogeneidade do conceito teatro infantil que se tente construir. Não há, portanto, um Teatro Infantil, mas sim diferentes conceitos, identidades, práticas ou disciplinas teatrais que dialogam com as diversas infâncias e suas performances culturais e que contribuem para a sua definição. Nesse sentido, esta dissertação pretende refletir sobre a presença das crianças no teatro cubano, colocando em discussão o fenômeno do teatro infantil e o teatro com crianças à luz do teatro contemporâneo, para entender os principais enfoques pedagógicos do teatro com crianças em Cuba. / The children\'s theater, in the context of contemporary theater shares an identity crisis and a blurring of their status epistemological with other expressions of this art; as well as aesthetic manifestations such as dancing , arts visual and cinema. The identity crisis and a blurring of their status epistemological therefore, added to this the differential phenomena inside the field of theater, increase the impossibility of defining the children\'s theater in simple terms. One cannot say a that there is a Children\'s Theatre, but rather different concepts, identities, practices or theatrical disciplines that establish a dialogue with the various kinds of childhood and their cultural performances. Accordingly, this research intends to reflect about the presence of children in the Cuban theater, discussing the children\'s theater phenomenon and the theater with children in the light of contemporary theater, in order to understand the main pedagogical approaches of the theater with children in Cuba.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study duplicates the research done by Vedeler (1997) in which she investigates dramatic playas a format for" literate language". Particular attention is given to the limitation she identified in her study, namely that the same results might not be obtained in studies using children from other cultures/ socio-economic environments. This study using children from another cultural! socio-economic environment, in this case a particular South African environment, was undertaken to determine whether or not her postulation that, sociodramatic play elicits literacy, was true. The extent to which Vedeler' s findings are transmittable to a third world context was also investigated. In this study Vedeler's methodology was implemented as far as possible. The results of this study partially confirm Vedeler' s postulation that studies usmg different participants could produce different results. They also partially contradict her postulation. The present study confirms that cultural context probably affects the results obtained in duplicating Vedeler's experiment. However, sufficient evidence was found to confirm Vedeler' s hypothesis that participation in sociodramatic play results in the use of more advanced syntactic language by children. The conclusion can be drawn that, although the findings in her research can be generalised to different contexts, strong account will have to be taken of various factors. These factors are the nature of the cultural context in which the experiment is conducted, the development of the child in this context and the influence this context has on the child's language development. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie is il duplisering van Vedeler (1997) se studie wat ondersoek ingestel het na dramatiese spel as il formaat vir "geletterde taal". Die doel van die huidige studie was om die leemte wat Vedeler in haar studie geidentifiseer het, naamlik dat die resultate met kinders van ander kulture/ sosio-kulturele omgewings as deelnemers mag verskil van haar resultate, aan te spreek. Die huidige studie waarin kinders van il ander kulturele/ sosio-ekonomiese omgewing, in hierdie geval il spesifieke Suid-Afrikaanse omgewing, gebruik is, was onderneem om vas te stelof haar postulasie, naamlik dat sosiodramatiese spel aanleiding gee tot geletterdheid, korrek is. Daar is ook ondersoek in hoe h mate Vedeler (1997) se resultate binne il derdewêreld konteks veralgemeenbaar is. Die huidige studie het so na as wat moontlik was die metodiek van Vedeler gevolg. Die resultate in die huidige studie verskaf gedeeltelike bevestiging van Vedeler (1997) se postulasie dat die resultate met ander deelnemers van háár resultate mag verskil. Dit verskaf ook gedeeltelike weerlegging van haar postulasie. Die huidige studie bevestig dat die kulturele konteks waarskynlik die resultate wat vanuit die duplisering van Vedeler se eksperiment verkry is, geaffekteer het. Voldoende bevestiging is egter gevind vir Vedeler se hipotese dat deelname in sosiodramatiese spel aanleiding gee tot meer gevorderde sintaktiese taal in kinders. Die gevolgtrekking kan gemaak word dat, alhoewel die bevindings van haar navorsing binne verskillende kulturele kontekste veralgemeenbaar is, daar met die invloed van verskillende faktore noukeurig rekening gehou sal moet word. Hierdie faktore behels die aard van die kulturele konteks, die ontwikkeling van die kind binne hierdie konteks en die invloed wat die konteks op die kind se taalontwikkeling het.

No description available.

論文分為四個章節。前言部分做創作動機的論述，接著針對流浪動物跟街友議題做文獻回顧，然後延伸到此次創作的構思以及劇本創作的文獻處理，最後則是劇本的呈現。 此次兒童劇本創作主要鎖定國小高年級小朋友及其以上的族群，以便對於社會議題有些認知，也較得以吸收相關的概念。文本內容部分，則針對街友和流浪動物議題做結合和脈絡式的劇情鋪陳，提供小朋友們從小建立對於社會議題的概念，從觀賞戲劇的趣味中，進一步達到教育劇場的效果。 / The main audience are upper grade elementary school children, who are aware of some social issues and this play could help them absorb the related concepts. The script mainly contains two subjects, homeless people and stray animals. This story makes children and adults learn these concepts. The aim of this play is to hope children can have fun from the theater and achieve the effect of educational theater.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Duquesne University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-298) and index.