Although children's theatre has been a part of American culture from early times, historians have not always included it in the documentation of our theatrical heritage. Sometimes more the product of the educator and the social worker than the producer or the theatre artist, theatre with and for young people has been neglected in traditional theatre history studies; yet as early as 1792 Charles Stearns began creating his plays and dialogues for school children. The traditions and success of eighteenth-century school drama inspired social workers to explore similar activities in their playground and settlement house work, and at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, professional producers began experimenting more vigorously with the commercial possibilities of children as audience. This book is a collection of essays by leading authorities in the field on various aspects of the historical development of children's theatre in the United States. The discussions focus on the marked differences that have occurred from group to group and examine the ways in which children's theatre began to find definition, as theorists and writers such as Winifred Ward and Charlotte Chorpenning strove to articulate the differences between the child as participant in creative drama and the child as audience member. The introduction provides a review of early concepts and the evolution of present-day thought, and the essays illuminate facets of the rich and varied history of American theatre with and for children. This trailblazing study will serve as the beginning of a fuller understanding of the field and a challenge to others to document the missing pieces.

Do you find it hard at times to get kids interested in the literature you assign? Engage every child in your classroom with this creative toolbox of teaching ideas for introducing literature in fun and exciting ways. Grades 4-10

First published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

‘Here’s a knocking indeed!’ says the Porter in Shakespeare’s Scottish play (Act II, Scene 3) and immediately puts himself into role in order to deal with the demands of such an early call after a late night of drinking and carousal: ‘If a man were porter of hell-gate...’. But what roles does the porter of curriculum-gate take on in order to deal with drama’s persistent demands for entry? Ah, that depends upon the temperature of the times. We, who have been knocking for what seems to be a very long time, know well that when evaluation and measurement criteriaare demanded as evidence of drama’s ef cacy, an examiner stands as gatekeeper. When the educational landscape is in danger of overcrowding, we meet a territorial governor. And how often has the courtesan turned out to be only a tease because the arts are, for a brief moment, in the spotlight for their abilities to foster out-of-the-box thinkers? In this text, we meet these ‘commissionaires’ and many more. The gatekeeping roles and what they represent are so familiar that they have become cliches ́ to us. We know them by their arguments, ripostes, dismissals, their brief encouragement and lack of follow-up. And we know that behind each one (however rmly they think they keep the keys) is a nancial and political master whose power controls the curriculum building and everything in it.

"Lesson plans for getting students interested in literature who normally do not like to read."--Preface

A sense of mystery surrounds the subject of drama within primary and junior education, compounded by the assumption that the individual modalities of the experts in the field are exclusive rather than inclusive. This has fostered obscurity and confusion as to what constitutes drama, and indeed how drama should be taught. The direct consequence of such misconception and erroneous supposition is the beggared implication of drama. However, in an era of primary and junior education when the Arts generally, and drama specifically, are being given a dutiful nod at best, it is of critical importance that a solution to this problematic predicament be established. This work offers such knowledge by deconstructing the methodologies and philosophies of Winifred Ward, Peter Slade, Brian Way, Dorothy Heathcote and David Hornbrook within the neutral framework of Aristotle's dictates for drama. These pioneers from the field of drama within education exemplify individual, unique and exclusive styles. Traditionally they would have been considered as incompatible. However, an unbiased examination and analysis of their work exposes mutual concerns, common threads, as well as polemic opinions. A defin