Monday, August 26, 2024
Children’s Participative Theatre for Social Impact
HowlRound Theatre Commons: Although in general we understand that minors are citizens with rights, in practice, we do not include them in decision-making. We typically believe that children are not prepared to discuss the complex social issues that afflict us, as they are humans “in development.”
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2 comments:
I think the biggest reason for most discipline issues in schools is that kids either don’t feel heard and valued, or aren’t being given useful outlets for their intelligence or talent. Theatre is a great space to get kids involved, and when it allows them to participate in the process and discuss their own interpretations and ideas, it has the power to fill that void. I love that this company welcomes children into the experience of these performances and invites them to share their input and creativity. I especially like the focus on helping the children navigate and reflect on different emotional responses, since it gives them tools they can use in the future, and how it makes the kids feel listened to by representing stories from their lives. I think the quote about letting them have their “imagination validated” sums up nicely the point of the company: helping kids feel like a part of the world and understand that they have something to offer.
Sara = I am a counselor at a theater summer camp and I work with children from all sorts of backgrounds. I would love to do an activity such as this at my camp and see what kind of ending we could come up with. I wonder if their ideas for endings would be less imaginative/original because they are all theater kids and have preconceived ideas of how stories and plays should end. This goes back to another comment I made about the lack of diversity in big musicals and plays. If kids have done lots of theater before, will they be more influenced by what they’ve already seen and less of a “blank slate?” I also thought it was very interesting that kids from less-developed areas with fewer resources tended to be less imaginative and circle back to the “they lived happily ever after” ending, whereas kids with more resources in stable homes were very imaginative and original.
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