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

I define the youth respondent method as a process by which artists and/or producers involve children and/or young adults through planned theatre activities or discussions with the objective of answering specific questions about the development of the work and collect feedback to improve the text or further the production. This pluralistic practice grants agency for the target audience, while informing the creators of the possibilities of the play and answering challenging questions regarding the work. Considering a continuum that places creative dramatics and children’s theatre at its poles, the youth respondent method demonstrates a merger of the two genres affiliated with youth, theatre, and play. My dissertation documents the youth respondent method’s application in a number of mid-twentieth century and contemporary case studies from the U.S., all of which received national attention through festivals and professional productions at regional theatres throughout the country. These case studies include: Playwright Charlotte Chorpenning’s work with the Goodman Theatre (1940s), Deni Kruger’s play MUDDY BOOTS (2005), Jason Tremblay’s play KATRINA: THE GIRL WHO WANTED HER NAME BACK (2009), Lydia Diamond’s play HARRIET JACOBS (2008), and Duncan Sheik and Stephen Sater’s musical SPRING AWAKENING (2006). This diverse group of plays and musicals relied on variations of the youth respondent method at different stages of their development and production processes, in which youth took the reins to serve as collaborative creators. The child is another essential collaborator in determining how their generation can make a better future through the practice and art of theatre. I examine the dialectics between artists, scholars, producers, and children, applying the youth respondent method. This model strengthens Theatre for Young Audience (TYA) plays while it gives children the agency to learn, exchange ideas, and address subjects that are important to them. TYA is a continually expanding field, although there is a significant lack of scholarship documenting its growth and such important practices as this method. By documenting various forms of the best of this practice, I hope to educate other scholars and practitioners about its vitality. / text

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.

As Theatre for the Very Young (TVY) has only begun to be produced in the United States within the past 10 years, little is written about how the work is being developed and produced. This thesis serves to acknowledge the impact international TVY practice has on US work while simultaneously providing insight into development processes. This document questions: What goals, considerations and limitations exist when developing TVY? Who is currently creating TVY? How does the context for the creation of a piece influence the development process and the product? Within this thesis I examine the processes of current TVY practitioners and identity three different organizational structures where TVY is currently being created. I also cite examples from TVY development processes I have engaged in within each organizational structure. Finally, I name how engaging with and in TVY has impacted my evolution as a TVY practitioner. / text

Theatre has always existed as a didactic tool to educate society about society's own successes, failures, and foibles. The theatre and theatre artists have attempted to take society's interpretation of truth and place it on the stage for all to see and experience. Sometimes, theatre creates and performs its own truth in place of society's accepted truth by re-examining pre-existing societal constructs and creating an interpretation of truth that better represents the current state of affairs as the theatre sees it. Therefore, theatre becomes the mode by which society learns, explores, refutes, and at times, even dismisses accepted societal truths. As a didactic tool, it is in this vein of truth-seeking that theatre has entered the fickle work of social change. First and foremost, what is social change? Who can create change? How is this change measured? How does one measure the effected change on a particular audience? These questions (and more) as well as their subsequent answers are the job of the social change theatre artist and are explored in this study. This thesis is presented in several distinct chapters. Chapters one and two examine the foundations of theatre for social change and its place in the contemporary theatre world. Chapter three explores writing theatre for social change and yields the development of two original theatrical pieces of theater for social change as a direct result of the aforementioned research complete with a stage presentation of those pieces and an audience assessment (before the performance). The concluding chapters explore the results of the audience survey which explains my understanding of theatre for social change's effect on society and the need for society to continually be exposed to theatre which is socially conscious and contributive in order to firmly define America's socially conscious theatrical identity.

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.

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

This thesis presents a workbook for creating a course that combines researching both theatre for young audiences and devised theatre to create a touring production and company. Devised theatre is a form of theatre where the script originates from collaborative creation, improvisation, and physical movement. This course explored the past, present and future of theatre for young audiences both domestically and abroad. Students worked in a collaborative effort devising and producing a TYA piece based on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen and studied the child audience through reading assignments and practical experience. This thesis is intended to showcase the value of teaching college undergraduate how to perform TYA productions as well as to show how devised theatre can help foster the actor’s creativity and help to reach a whole new generation.

This thesis document provides an historical overview of the internationalization of theatre for young audiences (TYA) in the United States, which has been largely influenced by international populations and organizations since the early 1900’s. Contemporary practices and theories of international education are examined in order to consider its intersections with international TYA. Emphasizing Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and the research of established and emerging TYA scholars, I examine international TYA’s potential to increase the global consciousness of young audiences in the U.S. Through developing global sensitivity, global understanding, and global self (Veronica Boix Mansilla and Howard Gardner’s three components of global consciousness), international TYA presents diverse cultures and stories to young audiences, potentially dispelling stereotyping and ethnocentrism, promoting a global consciousness through theatre’s provocation of empathy. / text

In Uganda, relative to its neighbouring countries such as Kenya and Tanzania, the practice of Theatre for Development (henceforth TfD) has been considered quite problematic. Within the arts fraternity in Uganda, there have been critics who hold that TfD exists and is practiced in Uganda on one hand, while on the other there are those who argue that TfD does not exist as a distinct form of practice in Uganda. Those who dispute the existence of TfD in Uganda say that TfD is just a commercial label coined by people who want to take advantage of the large amounts of money from donors. These rivalling critical positions compelled me to postulate that TfD practice in Uganda could be embroiled in neoliberal tendencies where the funding factor shapes the nature of practice. Consequently, this thesis sets out to examine the nature of TfD practice in Uganda keeping in focus the basic principles that underpin its practice such as participation, giving voice, community ownership, dialogue, time and sustainability as the critical framework. Alongside these principles, the thesis kept in view the forces or processes which influence the TfD process such as postcolonialism/, power related dynamics, the politics of funding and global capitalism among others. The thesis focused on analysing how the above principles and forces have played out in projects by local and international practitioners in Uganda. It also made an effort to reflect on the nature of TfD practice in Uganda by drawing from my own practical experiences in a child rights TfD project. Looking at the work by local practitioners such as IATM, and Rafiki Theatre Company, this thesis discovered that TfD practice in Uganda has been hindered by the high-handed role of international development funders who determine the issues which the projects address. Through the work of international practitioners such as Jane Plastow and Katie McQuaid, it was however, discovered that implementing the ideal TfD process espousing the empowerment participation or the bottom up model in Uganda is not completely difficult to achieve. Their work offered a fundamental challenge to local practices in that the facilitators made a good effort to observe closely the core principles of effective practice such as participation, giving voice, balancing the dynamics of power and sustainability, something local practitioners need to emulate. However, the discussion in the thesis indicates that the work by international practitioners was not devoid of the influence of the forces that normally threaten effective practice such as the facilitator-participant power dynamics, issues related to project funding and postcolonial and neo-colonial inclinations.