The Young Audience: exploring and enhancing children's experiences of theatre

by: Matthew Reason

ISBN: 9781858564500

Price: £20.99

Quantity:

188 pages
244 x 170mm
July 2010


Children's theatre in the UK is thriving. Debates about why children should watch theatre and what educational, emotional and expressive benefits it can provide inform cultural policy on education. Children aged 4-11 are increasingly taken to watch tailored theatre performances, yet there has been virtually no reflective research on what theatre means to children. This book is the first to investigate the nature of children's theatrical perceptions and their experiences of being in an audience.

Mathew Reason uses innovative visual-arts based audience research, practitioner interviews and contextual analysis to explore the nature of young children's experiences of live theatre and the iplications for its providers. He investigates three key areas:

• the cultural policy, educational and creative contexts in which theatre for children is made


• children's aesthetic experiences of theatre


• the approaches through which children's engagement with theatre can be enhanced, extended and deepened.

The Young Audience provides vital insights into how we can better support and enhance children's engagement with theatre. Its exploration of how young children perceive and respond to live theatre performances is invaluable for teachers, artists, researchers, students, policy makers and other professionals working with theatre or with young children in other contexts and environments.

Authors details

Dr Matthew Reason is senior lecturer in Theatre at York St John University and writes extensively on children and their experiences of theatre.

Contents

Part One: Contexts and Questions

Chapter 1 Theatre for Children and Education
Philip Pullman: Theatre - the true key stage

Chapter 2 From Audience Development to Cultural Rights
Tony Graham: Children grow up not down

Chapter 3 Quality in Theatre for Children
Peter Manscher and Peter Jankovic: Eye-level

Part Two: The Theatrical Experience

Chapter 4 Researching Children's lived Experiences of Theatre
Chapter 5 Theatrical Illusion and Material Reality
Chapter 6 Theatrical Competence
Chapter 7 Moral or Metaphorical Engagement

Part Three: Enhancing Engagement

Chapter 8 Enhancing Engagement
Chapter 9 Drawing on the Experience
Chapter 10 Talking about Theatre
Talking about Theatre resource

Conclusion
'Looking': Photographs by Lisa Barnard
The Audience's Gaze

Reviews

...a colourful and fascinating account of children's experiences of theatre... This book demonstrates how, when done well, educational research can have transformative and emancipatory effects on participants - British Journal of Music Education

A fantastic resource for everyone interested in children's theatre. Mathew Reason's groundbreaking research provides fresh insights into children's experiences of live theatre which are of great benefit to arts and education communities across the world - Tony Reekie, Chief Executive, Imaginate

This inspirational book, that cares passionately about the child's gaze, should be welcomed and cherished. - Tony Graham, Artistic Director, Unicorn Theatre

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