Thesis (B.A. (Hons.)) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Drama, 1994.

The aim of this study is to investigate theatre plays for children staged by the State Theatres and private theatre companies in one specific theatre season in Bursa in terms of their essential language, physical, educational, entertainment and social characteristics. More specifically, the present study examines appropriateness of theatre plays for children in term of these essential characteristics stated by the experts and also opinions of audiences, parents, teachers, and professionals gained by interviews. Twelve preschool children between the ages of 5 and 6, ten parents who had 5 or 6-year-old children, and two preschool drama teachers were asked about their opinions after attending one or more of the theatre plays which were chosen for the study. The theatre plays which were chosen for the study were also scored according to the five different essential characteristics by two coders by using the &ldquo / theatre for young audiences evaluation rubric&rdquo / which was developed by the researcher based on the literature. The study presented the composition of the information gained from the interviews and the characteristics scores of each theatre play. The results revealed that As an outcome, this study documented general information about the existing, required and desired characteristics of theatre plays for children / specific information about the current status of theatre plays for children in Bursa / and also implications and suggestions for parents, educators, playwrights, theatre directors and further studies.

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 Swedish professional theatre for children and young audiences is in a constant change, development and renewal due to adulthoods shifting view and understanding of the child and childhood through the ages. The shifting discourse of childhood can be seen both in the various theatre performances for children and young audiences throughout the 20th century, but also in the constant shifting discussions and debates about what sort of performances are appropriate for children. The base of this thesis is a performance analysis of a recorded version of Unga Klara’s För att jag säger det from a gender perspective, with a focus on the stage setting and the mise-en-scène, along with the actors’ performative actions. The purpose is to examine if and how these theatrical signs counteracts or correlates with gender and hetero norms, but also investigate if the complex relationship between childhood and adulthood can be seen in the performance. To do this, I use a combination of hermeneutics, theatre semiotics and phenomenology as my main methodological starting point. Theories about gender performativity and discourse analysis in childhood studies serve as perspectives to the analysis and interpretation of the performance. The analysis starts with a brief introduction to the performance along with a discussion about the dramaturgical structure and the course of events and situations taking place in För att jag säger det. The analysis continues with a discussion about the theatrical space, in particular the stage space in relation to the starting point of the performance, along with the theatrical communication between the actors and the audience. Then, I discuss the theatrical signs that first caught my attention; the actors’ performative bodies and the music and stage sounds, where I analyse my comprehension of the actors’ performative bodies from a gender perspective. The analysis then continues to a more argument based interpretation of the interactions between the actors and the audience, and follows by a discussion of the actors impersonation of childhood and adulthood. In the last part of the analysis I identify and discuss my understanding of various themes and messages in För att jag säger det. The result of the study implies that a few sequences of the staging along with the actors’ performative bodies in För att jag säger det correlates to gender and hetero norms, but mostly the performance discourages normativity in general. The complex relationship between childhood and adulthood are however well established in the performance’s staging, and can be found in how the actors portraits childhood versus adulthood. It is also visible in the interactive communicational parts between the stage and the auditorium, which only occurs under the terms and conditions of the actors.

Theatre is the passport to the creation of a balanced educational system in the United States (US), while standardized testing is the downfall of the ideology behind ‘No Child Left Behind’ (NCLB). As an educator, I was greatly influenced by Howard Gardner, theorist of Multiple Intelligences and Neil Fleming theorist of learning modalities. This work has carried over into my work in theatre as a director. Theatre does not have to didactically serve formal education, which emphasizes mathematics and reading/writing, nor does it have to be merely a spectacle. Theatre can be experimental, artistic, cathartic, foster social and intrapersonal skills and increase intelligences in all areas for children and adults. The adaptation of the children’s book The End by David LaRochelle into a play for children demonstrates the potential that lies within the art of theatre to be more than just entertainment. Furthermore, my work on the adaptation of The End was greatly influenced by my research and participation in the production of Pinocchio with Ohio Valley Summer Theatre in the fall of 2008. From this production, I gained considerable knowledge on the topic of Commedia Del’ Arte which impacted my work on my own production The End.

Theatre "Minor" From The Year 1989 Up To Present (Changes In a Staging Style) This thesis concerns itself with the Minor Theatre after the year 1989, namely with changes in a staging style of this prague platform that focuses mainly on a production for the child audience. In the production of the theatres principal directors (Karel Makonj, Jan Jirků, David Drábek, Jiří Adámek) we can observe distinctive courses of staging methods, that shape the Minor's character. The primary aim of this thesis is to attempt to reflect these staging courses and demonstrate them using profile plays. An excursus into the history of the Minor Theatre precedes these analyses to define its character. Biographies of the said directors are also included in the thesis, as well as the list of theatre's plays form 1990 (with the dates of premieres) and photographic material ilustrating the theatricals analysed here.

This thesis concerns itself with the Minor Theatre after the year 1989, namely with changes in a staging style of this prague platform that focuses mainly on a production for the child audience. In the production of the theatres principal directors (Karel Makonj, Jan Jirků, David Drábek, Jiří Adámek) we can observe distinctive courses of staging methods, that shape the Minor's character. The primary aim of this thesis is to attempt to reflect these staging courses and demonstrate them using profile plays. An excursus into the history of the Minor Theatre precedes these analyses to define its character. Biographies of the said directors are also included in the thesis, as well as the list of theatre's plays form 1990 (with the dates of premieres) and photographic material ilustrating the theatricals analysed here.

This master thesis is concerning the role of the manager in working with children and young audience in the world of theatre. The first chapters undertake the definition of the theatre for children and theatre played by children and brief history of this genre in the Czech Republic. It describes the history and rich tradition of festivals and parades in this area for different age categories until presence. The following chapters are dedicated to the relationship of theatres with their both audiences, current and potential. The thesis also appoints different possibilities of working with the audience and its development, its active engagement through interactive elements and impulses and building the long-term relationship with them. It defines the role of the manager in working with children and young audiences, it describes the activities of organisations concerning the theatre for children, dramatic education and concerning working with the audience and its development. In following chapters, there is description of specific needs of children and student audience and their characteristics. In next chapter there, is the analysis of the level of using marketing instruments and managerial attitudes in theatres, and the possibilities of financing activities of theatres aimed at children audience and youth. By studying the literature and conduction of my own quantitative research, I learnt about the level of cooperation between theatres and schools, and I evaluated the attitude of theatres towards children and youth audience and I was curious if the theatres are nurturing their future spectators.

The theme of this Thesis is the subject of propaganda and an attempt to establish the measures by which propaganda posed an influence on the form of the children's theater in the 1950's. The goal of this thesis is to capture the changes and the evolution of the Municipal Theater for Youth (prev. Theater of Jiri Wolker since 1953) during the time period of 1949 - 1959, using the analysis of stage drama and play texts of that time period. The author has chosen the Theater of Jiri Wolker because it was the single and only official professional drama theater that specialized exclusively in the production of performances for children in Prague. The author of this thesis will attempt to capture and show evidence of how the attitudes and stances of the authorities, during the given time period, have changed and morphed towards certain kinds and genres, as well as present the deviations and editorial changes that were made to the original texts (i. e. main character, motive, theme, language, the ratio of propaganda and art, life expectancy, ratio of czech and soviet titles, and the switch from a fable to a fairy tale genre).

CHILDHOOD REVOLUTION AT UNGA KLARA - A performance analysis of ’För att jag säger det’ from a gender perspective LINNÉA WÄISÄNEN Abstract The Swedish professional theatre for children and young audiences is in a constant change, development and renewal due to adulthoods shifting view and understanding of the child and childhood through the ages. The shifting discourse of childhood can be seen both in the various theatre performances for children and young audiences throughout the 20th century, but also in the constant shifting discussions and debates about what sort of performances are appropriate for children. The base of this thesis is a performance analysis of a recorded version of Unga Klara’s För att jag säger det from a gender perspective, with a focus on the stage setting and the mise-en-scène, along with the actors’ performative actions. The purpose is to examine if and how these theatrical signs counteracts or correlates with gender and hetero norms, but also investigate if the complex relationship between childhood and adulthood can be seen in the performance. To do this, I use a combination of hermeneutics, theatre semiotics and phenomenology as my main methodological starting point. Theories about gender performativity and discourse analysis in childhood studies serve as perspectives to the analysis and interpretation of the performance. The analysis starts with a brief introduction to the performance along with a discussion about the dramaturgical structure and the course of events and situations taking place in För att jag säger det. The analysis continues with a discussion about the theatrical space, in particular the stage space in relation to the starting point of the performance, along with the theatrical communication between the actors and the audience. Then, I discuss the theatrical signs that first caught my attention; the actors’ performative bodies and the music and stage sounds, where I analyse my comprehension of the actors’ performative bodies from a gender perspective. The analysis then continues to a more argument based interpretation of the interactions between the actors and the audience, and follows by a discussion of the actors impersonation of childhood and adulthood. In the last part of the analysis I identify and discuss my understanding of various themes and messages in För att jag säger det. The result of the study implies that a few sequences of the staging along with the actors’ performative bodies in För att jag säger det correlates to gender and hetero norms, but mostly the performance discourages normativity in general. The complex relationship between childhood and adulthood are however well established in the performance’s staging, and can be found in how the actors portraits childhood versus adulthood. It is also visible in the interactive communicational parts between the stage and the auditorium, which only occurs under the terms and conditions of the actors. Keywords: Unga Klara, gender, performativity, performance analysis, childhood revolution, theatre for children and young audiences