http://hdl.handle.net/2451/75072 2026-04-11T04:22:02Z 2026-04-11T04:22:02Z Essex, Jennifer http://hdl.handle.net/2451/75308 2025-08-28T19:59:04Z 2019-06-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Co-operative Make-Believe as Practice in Children’s Interactive Dance Theatre Authors: Essex, Jennifer Abstract: Interactive dance theatre for young children will often rely upon a successful willing suspension of disbelief for both participating and non-participating audience members (commonly ‘interactors’ and ‘non-interactors’). This is through a combination of “user freedom and system design” (Ryan, 1997 pp. 677-707). In my research, led by the instructions from performers, audiences are able to enter into a co-operatively constructed make-believe world. These co-constructed physical movement and physical actions are contained by a pre-prescribed narrative arc. In other words, the closed narrative form contains an open dramatic form. This offers audiences a satisfying story whereby the narrative arc is coherent to both interactors and non-interactors, giving rise to two distinct experiences—an active, make-believe experience for interactors and a more passive, spectator experience for non-interactors. This paper explores how this dual narrative might be achieved; what autonomy and what limitations might exist for interactors and non-interactors in contemporary children’s theatre practice. This paper also discusses some possible solutions—the role of children’s creative input and the extension of collaborative practice to include co-operation between children and professional artist-makers in research and practice.

2019-06-01T00:00:00Z Chatterjee, Manjima http://hdl.handle.net/2451/75307 2025-08-28T19:58:10Z 2019-06-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Drama for Democracy: Material Theatre Authors: Chatterjee, Manjima Abstract: The paper discusses the importance of drama in establishing the principles of democracy in the classroom. It introduces Material Theatre as a form of theatre in education that celebrates materials—both natural and constructed—and the idea of democracy in the performance space. By way of a close look at the rationale behind Material Theatre and the ways in which it comes to be, it raises questions about the gaps that exist in the educational space under the traditional school system, and even in some of the progressive schools in India. It queries the negative attitudes that we hold against some forms of sensorial engagement while upholding others. By way of a case study, it enters a classroom which has introduced Material Theatre as a part of its curricular transactions, and documents the events that follow. It suggests that the introduction of Material Theatre in the classroom opens up possibilities of challenging the power structures in the classroom and engaging deeply with the universal ideas that sustain democracy.

2019-06-01T00:00:00Z Branner, Mark Poblete, Mike http://hdl.handle.net/2451/75306 2025-08-28T19:57:25Z 2019-06-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Getting Serious about Playful Play: Identifying Characteristics of Successful Theatre for Very Young Audiences Authors: Branner, Mark; Poblete, Mike Abstract: In their research to develop a piece of theatre for very young audiences at the University of Hawaiʻi, Mark Branner and Mike Poblete noticed patterns in productions that are well received by critics, parents, and the young audience members themselves. This article addresses prevailing skepticism, and makes the case for “theatre for babies” as an established and worthy artistic pursuit. It then touches on a few varied approaches to this form, and references a set of criteria for evaluating “success” within this discipline. Finally, this article outlines a list of characteristics that seem to consistently apply to theatre for very young audiences that, by the referenced criteria, are deemed “successful.”

2019-06-01T00:00:00Z Rocchio, Rivka http://hdl.handle.net/2451/75305 2025-08-28T19:56:23Z 2019-06-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Breaking the Cultural Hierarchy: Using Drama to Teach English in Samoa Authors: Rocchio, Rivka Abstract: Teaching English is connected to teaching culture and ways of being and thinking. U.S. American ideals are interwoven into language itself. Based on Rivka Rocchio’s experience teaching in local schools in Western Samoa with the Peace Corps, this article shares how using drama-based pedagogy offered chances to level teaching missteps and misunderstandings that had previously exacerbated the power structures involved with teaching English in a foreign country. The article ends with an example of a lesson that demonstrates pedagogy in action. By exploring a case study and the challenges of practicing culturally responsive pedagogies, Rocchio advocates for the power of drama to address sites of contact between cultures.

2019-06-01T00:00:00Z