This book opens doorways to new understandings, even as it poses a challenge to educators, theatre people, and others concerned about the lives of today's 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. Schonmann's 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 children's 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 children's 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. Schonmann's conception of children's 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.

Klappentext

This book is a journey into the dual territory of educational and theatrical settings. It advances the knowledge in these settings by touching upon provocative questions, by dealing with the limitations and challenging the new possibilities of theatre for young people. It is an attempt to bring intellectual rigour and some theoretical perspectives drawn from recent theatre and aesthetic theory to the field of theatre for young people. It fills the gap in the literature on theatre for young audiences. The author poses questions of the work that are penetrating and thought provoking and clearly stem from her own observations of and reflections upon various kinds of children's theatre (CT) and of 'watching children watching' CT over many years. This book is an analysis of images and arguments in theatre for young people. It aims at triggering the reader's interest in this subject as an artistic, educational and cultural phenomenon.

Inhalt
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 and the School Play: Social, Pedagogical and Artistic Dimensions.- Politics and Aesthetics in Theatre for Young People in Israel: A Concise View.