Definitions and Principles

Abstract

The subject of this book is theatre created specifically with young audiences in mind, for the most part in Great Britain but with some comparative references to what has gone on and what is going on in the United States of America and in East Germany. For practical reasons, it will be limited to theatre which expresses itself in plays and plays performed by human actors, and it will not attempt to encompass and thereby possibly do scant justice to puppetry and dance. It will also concentrate on plays produced by professional or amateur companies. This is in no way to undervalue the work of Youth Theatres. Youth Theatre is defined by the Standing Conference of Young People’s Theatre (SCYPT) as ‘theatre done by young people themselves, usually led by a teacher or under the auspices of a Young People’s Company’. I acknowledge the fact that such work can sometimes issue in an artistic statement of high quality but its value resides at least partly in the benefit it affords to the participants and, in the last analysis, this takes priority. It is exclusively with theatre for young people as an art form and as practised by adults that the book will deal.