This thesis will examine the character of Mrs. Medlock in the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre's "Theatre for Young Audiences" stage production of The Secret Garden. While recording my preparation and performance of the role, I will be drawing on and integrating many of the skills I have been acquiring in my Master's Degree program at UCF, including not only acting, movement, and voice, but also theatre research. My goals are twofold: first, to document the method of creating a rich, multi-layered, remarkable character, and second, to try to solidify what I have learned about this process and thus prepare for future roles in my career.

This thesis presents a reflection on directing There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom by examining the relationship between the production and community engagement developed for it. It details the process of connecting theatre for young audiences (TYA) and community engagement and discusses how the project that resulted inspired a dialogue concerning bullying. This document addresses these questions: What is the relationship between TYA and community engagement and how can they be closely connected? How can community engagement inform the production of a play for young audiences? This document explores how collaborative partnerships with student audiences and teachers inspired dialogue and influenced production choices. It discusses how participation in multiple community engagement activities resulted in a rich experience for both actors and audience. It includes a discussion about how the work might be translated outside of the university and concludes with reflective practices for connecting TYA and community engagement. / text

Throughout the twentieth century, theatre for young audiences (TYA), or children's theatre, has been situated as something "other" or different than adult theatre, a kind of theatre--but not really theatre, a construct which opened the door to numerous "how to" philosophies geared specifically toward the theatre for young audiences practitioner. As a twenty-first century theatre practitioner, I am interested in how these philosophies are situated within or against current professional practices in the TYA field. This interest led me to the main question of this study: What are the predominant twentieth-century philosophies on acting, directing, and dramatic literature in the TYA field; and how do they compare to what is currently practiced on the professional American TYA stage? In order to explore current practice, I focused on three theatres, two of which are nationally recognized for their "quality" TYA work, the Seattle Children's Theatre and the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis. The third company, the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival, is one of the largest Shakespearean festivals in the country, and has a growing theatre for young audiences program. Between June and October of 2006, I conducted numerous interviews with professional managers, directors, and actors from these organizations. I also attended productions of Pippi Longstocking (Children's Theatre Company), Honus and Me (Seattle Children's Theatre), and Peter Rabbit (Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival). It was through these interviews and observations of these productions that I was able to gain data--methodology, techniques, and philosophy--on twenty-first century TYA acting, directing, and dramatic literature. My study has uncovered that although there are numerous twentieth-century "how to" philosophies, many current TYA practitioners are unfamiliar with them. Most of the twenty-first century TYA practice that I studied follows the trends of the adult theatre. This thesis serves as the culmination of my Master of Fine Arts in theatre for young audiences at the University of Central Florida. However, it is not a culmination of my study on the theatre for young audiences field. Past philosophies paired with current methodology, while providing models of quality, also open the door to numerous ideas for further study. This thesis challenges me in examining my own notions of quality acting, directing, and dramatic literature in the TYA field; and it is my hope that this challenge makes me a more informed, deliberate, and responsible theatre practitioner.

Queer Youth, or young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning, is a demographic with an increasing presence in contemporary society. Along with this increased presence has come an increase in support groups available to these youths that range from Gay-Straight Alliances at their schools, community groups from their local gay and lesbian center to, most recently, theater companies that have begun to offer workshops and performance opportunities within the Queer Youth Theatre genre. Queer Youth Theatre is an emerging form of topical theatre that deals with issues and situations queer youth may face in their daily lives. Few scripts exist that deal with topics related to LGBT youth, and most theatre groups that offer LGBT youth programs, such as the Pride Players from the Omaha Theater Company for Children and Young People in Omaha, Nebraska, rely on devising works for live performance. The Pride Players independently publish a “Best of” anthology for use by other groups wishing to use their devised material (Guehring2). Though these opportunities may be beneficial to the youths involved, there is still a need for scripted works to be available for queer youth to explore. This thesis project looks at two steps necessary to beginning the process of adapting LGBT young adult novels for the stage. First, an adaptation rubric must be created for use as a guide for identifying source material for translation to the stage. Second, the young adult novels Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan and Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez are evaluated for their strength as adaptations by applying the rubric with a directorial lens.

As a theatre for young audiences (TYA) practitioner and artist, I have noticed the prevalence of edited fairy tales on TYA stages. Artists tend to present versions of traditional tales that do not explore the dark places found in the original forms, the very same parts of humanity that young people often yearn to understand. Within TYA, fairy tales have become a safe option because many are well-known titles that generate audiences and income. Theatre practitioners and producers frequently present selections from the canon of fairy tales without exploring its many layers of meaning; failing to recognize the message that is being communicated to the audience. This thesis will explore how and why theatres continue to present these tales to contemporary young audiences. How do TYA companies create productions of fairy tales that capture the attention of a contemporary audience and still remain true to the traditional psychological framework? The staying power of fairy tales points toward a common human connection. Parents pass the stories down to their children, generation after generation. There must be a reason for this and I would like to examine it. Research on the long-term effects fairy tales have on young people focuses on the psychological values and ramifications of exposure to these classic stories. This thesis will explore the use of fairy tale structures in theatre for young audiences and where this author feels we can produce fairy tale shows in a manner that considers the developing psyche. I will consider the underlying significations in fairy tales and how theatre artists can provide young people a means to explore and understand these meanings, while avoiding metanarratives that reinforce submission and oppression. Guided by an understanding of research in psychology, productions already performed, and the definition of a contemporary young audience, I will look beyond the simple tale and find ways to create fairy tales onstage responsibly. I will analyze the works of Bruno Bettelheim, Jack Zipes, and Maria Tatar, compare and contrast their differing views on the place of fairy tales in a young person's psychological life, and define what a child gains from hearing these stories. Finally, I will interview three directors from around the world about their approach to directing fairy tales, then synthesize the information to create a view of how some companies currently present fully-actualized fairy tales. The prevailing presentation of fairy tales follows an edited and lighthearted way of looking at these classic tales. However, a growing movement exists to re-imagine our view of fairy tales. The work of three of these innovative directors--Kevin Ehrhart, Dougie Irvine and Andy Packer--inspired this thesis with their fearless approaches to teaching young people through the lessons created in fairy tales.

This thesis project explores the evolving relationship between Applied Theatre and youth-led environmental activism in Canada. It uses Ottawa-based 100 Watt Productions as its primary case-study, locating the company's performance history, creation methodologies, and pedagogy within English Canada's recent Applied Theatre and Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) landscapes. This analysis is accomplished through a mixture of textual analysis, performance analysis, and interviews with the company's founder, Kristina Watt Villegas. Particular focus is placed on Watt's approach to collaborating with young people on 12, the company's most recent theatrical production and most urgent call for climate action to date, having toured theatres, schools, board rooms, and government offices across Canada’s capital region. 12 is composed of a mixture of brief vignettes, poetic compositions, and verbatim excerpts regarding climate crises, described as a "cross-generation love story - a playful theatrical invitation [...] to stop, listen, and to consider what it actually means to take action at this point" (Watt, "Creations: 12"). This thesis project proposes that productions such as these demand a new subcategorization of Applied Theatre, formulated here as Youth Theatre for Adult Audiences (YTAA). This YTAA terminology describes Applied Theatre that has been specifically created by young people for adults, a performance dynamic that has proven to be particularly well suited to the unprecedented political challenges faced by our youngest generations, not only in its compatibility with the platforming of climate appeals, but also in its unique capacity to elevate those young voices through a reframing of the aesthetic experience, often incorporating the participants' own creation process into the audience's overall consideration of aesthetic experience. In this sense, 12 acts as a microcosm for YTAA's escalating significance as an Applied Theatre subcategory, pointing towards an urgent need for increased attention, both in Canadian theatre criticism and scholarship more broadly.

As a practitioner in the field of Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA), I have always been drawn to looking at literature and productions that challenge my preconceptions of what constitutes good theatre for youth. I enjoy the bold and innovative, versus the cute and playful. My training and education in this developing branch of theatre has undoubtedly exposed me to the many accomplishments of the American TYA system, but quite often - through attending conferences, as well as participating in class discussions - I find that many debates/conversations center around what more we need to do in this field or what else we can do to make this field more relevant and interesting to young people. In my experience, I've found that discussions and opinions center around Americans looking elsewhere for theatrical models on which to shape their own practices. I began looking at international models of TYA, particularly those of European countries. Historically, theatre has been recognized and valued as an essential part of traditional European life, and Sweden is often recognized as a forerunner in creating and supporting experimental art forms. With this, I question what American theatre educators and artists can learn from Swedish TYA as we work to create more artistic and educational outlets that incorporate the youth perspective of the 21st Century. For this thesis, my interest lies in what I can learn from Swedish TYA. I question how major social and cultural factors shape Swedish children's theatre as a field, and how those factors play out within the artistic arena. I dissect various social and cultural factors in Sweden that contribute to the TYA field, and examine if/how two pieces of Swedish dramatic literature for children reflect those trends and influences occurring in Swedish theatrical practice. Specifically, I also examine how Swedish TYA scripts use elements of non-realism, and deal with taboo topics. Through an exploration of The Dreamed Life of Nora Schahrazade and One Night in February, I find considerable use of elements that extend beyond realistic norms, and it is through those non-realistic approaches that the taboo issues are dissected and explored.

This essay is about theater for the youngest audience 0–6 years. The aim is to highlight the actor's role in the encounter with the small child and the question I am investigating is: How has my work creating and performing theater for young children over many years influenced and shaped me as an actor? I put into words many years of research into performing arts for children and I also practically investigate my question in a performance for adults - fake or fur. With my essay, I want to clarify the knowledge required to be able to meet a child who may be visiting a theater for the first time. What does it mean for an actor to play for young children? What is acting for the youngest audience and what are the creative processes like? I describe the specifics of theater for the youngest partly through reflection and narration of mainly three productions, Clothes off Clothes on (2-4 years), Bubbla and Bo both for an audience of babies 6-12 months and their adults. Long preparatory work and the necessity of a reference audience are described here. There are several stories about various audience meetings over the years. The second part of my essay describes my work with the scenic part of my master's project. I examine theme, form and appeal to an adult audience in order to find clear differences in acting for children and for adults. With my story, I want to highlight the specific skills required for an artistic dialogue with the youngest audience where the actor, in addition to his role in the performance, must be able to guide the children into a theatrical ritual. Going to the theater. It requires a special interest and perseverance, as well as being aware of one's responsibility both for the children and acknowledging one's own memory of being a child. A kind of ”soft” acting that can be quickly adapted to today's audience. It takes sensitivity, courage and a willingness to learn the language of the children's world.

The writing of this thesis was guided·by the question "how does one teach English as a second language through theater?" This thesis.contains the pedagogical research basis for teaching English as second language, a script with supporting materials for teaching English as a second language, and a playwright's.journal detailing the writing process for the dramatic work. Within the pedagogical research, there is a comparison between the different founding fathers of modem TESL methodologies, a comparison between the different methodologies, and a practical exploration of teaching English as a second language through Task Based Instruction. The script itself is the lyrical book for a ten day, episodic musical for Spanish speaking 3rd and 4th graders. The dramatic work was written to be performed in a voluntary extracurricular context, such as an ESL summer camp.

When directors in professional Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) practice inclusive casting, or, in other words, cast an actor with a disability in a role that is not written with a disability, several provocative questions emerge: What are the social implications of inclusive casting? How might stories on stage change due to inclusive casting? What does inclusive casting mean for professional TYA companies and directors? How might performers with disabilities examine their personal and professional relationship to disability when participating in inclusive casting? How might a young audience’s perspective change when inclusive casting is implemented? This thesis examines these questions through interviews with directors, performers, and young audience members. / text