Intermediality and the child performer

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis report details examples of praxis in the creation and presentation of Joy Fear and Poetry: an intermedial theatre performance in which children aged 7–12 years generated aesthetic gestures using a range of new media forms. The impetus for the work’s development was a desire to make an intervention into habituated patterns of positioning children in society while challenging the ‘worthy but unprofessional’ discourse surrounding the field of theatre for children and young people in Australia [Watts, R. (2013). “Turning the Tables: Youth Theatre for Adult Audiences.” ArtsHub. Accessed April 20, 2016. http://performing.artshub.com.au/news-article/news/performing-arts/turning-the-tables-youth-theatre-for-adult-audiences-197207]. Through an academic investigation of performance techniques, the study aimed to extend the practical and theoretical means by which artists and children might collaborate to produce aesthetically rich works for public audiences. The practice-led study examined dramaturgical, directorial and design strategies with the potential to harness and maintain performer focus, motivation and cognitive engagement. The result was a constructivist performance praxis that applied theories of knowledge construction to the process of theatre making. When applied, this praxis dictates that the stage become an intermedial play-space that affords new modes of theatrical expression and perception, which expand the communicative potential of child performers and the experience of audiences.