Playwriting and Young Audiences: Collected Wisdom and Practical Advice from the Field

by Nicole Adkins, Matthew Omasta

Overview

Despite the fact that there is a thriving presence of theatre for young people in today’s society, there is, however, no contemporary guide dedicated to the writing of plays for young people in both professional and educational contexts. We only have to look at the colourful and compelling plays of Matilda, Annie and Cinderella to realise that there is a surge in plays for the youth of today. Playwriting and Young Audiences helps to fill this gap by offering a comprehensive guide to developing subjects for young people through the use of both practical and critical advice from playwrights on all aspects of new play development.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783207503
Publisher:	Intellect Books
Publication date:	07/01/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	150
File size:	495 KB

About the Author

Nicole B. Adkins is an award-winning playwright, artistic associate with YouthPLAYS, and incore faculty in the Playwright’s Lab graduate program at Hollins University, Virginia. 

Matt Omasta is associate professor in and assistant head of the Department of Theatre Arts at Caine College of the Arts, Utah State University.

Nicole B. Adkins is an award-winning playwright, artistic associate with YouthPLAYS, and core faculty in the Playwright’s Lab graduate program at Hollins University, Virginia.

Matt Omasta is currently Assistant Professor, Honors Advisor and Theatre Education Program Director within the Department of Theatre Arts at Caine College of the Arts.

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Playwriting and Young Audiences

Collected Wisdom and Practical Advice from the Field

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By Matt Omasta, Nicole B. Adkins

Intellect Ltd

Copyright © 2017 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-78320-750-3

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CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Among professionals working in the field of theatre with and for young people, myriad definitions of the term "young audiences" abound. Before we can explore how playwrights might approach work likely to be viewed by young people, we must first understand who young people are and what we mean when we talk about theatre for these individuals. This chapter therefore begins by exploring questions that include:

• Who are young audiences?

• What is Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA)? In what ways is it similar to or different from other types of theatre?

• Is it helpful or problematic (or both) to conceive of TYA as a separate type of theatre – a field distinct from or within the field of theatre more broadly?

• In what ways are the processes of actually writing plays for young audiences similar to or different from writing for other audiences?

Who are young audiences?

The question of who "young audiences" are can be a deceptively complex question; the answer varies based in part on cultural contexts. In the United States, for example, for (most) legal purposes people become "adults" at the age of 18, and as such we might consider anyone 17 or below to be an infant, child, or adolescent. However, people must reach the age of 21 to legally consume "adult beverages," and in many states people gain the "adult" right to drive a motor vehicle as early as age 16. Basing a definition of "young people" on arbitrary and conflicting laws is therefore problematic.

Given the conflicting ages associated with adult activities in the United States, it is not surprising that turning to international organizations for a definition of young people is also challenging. For example, the United Nations (UN) offers different/overlapping definitions of children and youth. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was ratified by all 197 member nations (except Somalia, South Sudan, and the United States of America), defines a "child" as a "human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier" (46), suggesting that the maximum age of a "child" is 17, but could be any younger age if an individual nation's laws so dictate. The UN simultaneously defines "the world youth population" as "the age cohort 15–24" (Resolution 50/81, 7). Therefore, as defined by the UN, people in most countries between the ages of 15 and 17 are simultaneously "children" and "youth," and (if these definitions are applied to a US–American context), people between 18 and 24 are both "youth" and "adults."

Clearly, there is no "magical" point at which all human beings transition from one presumed class ("young people") to another ("adults"). While people experience biological changes as they mature, most connotations associated with particular classifications based on age are social constructs: they exist because a critical mass within a society has chosen to adopt them. While these socially accepted definitions and classifications based on age may be artificial constructs, they nevertheless have very tangible effects that create divisions between groups of people, often privileging some while oppressing others. As Lee notes:

Chronological age is among the axes of human variability that have been linked to the social distribution of dignity and respect. Children can be marked out as a social group, distinguished by the visibility of their low chronological age. Their points of view, opinions and desires have often been ignored because their age has been taken as a sign that they are not worth listening to.

(1)

Similarly, Clark argues that as adults: "We value childhood. But we also dismiss it. We value the image even as we ignore the reality" (1).

Some scholars (e.g., Aries) posit that the notion of children and childhood was an invention of the twentieth century. Before this time, some argue, children were essentially seen as "miniature adults" who worked adult jobs and did not enjoy a space set aside for personal growth and development that many young people do today. That said, references to children as independent entities from adults (even in the context of theatre) can be found as far back as 2500 years ago in the works of Plato, 2000 years ago in the Bible, and throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as plays specifically for children flourished in some countries, as evidenced by texts such as Stephani de Genlis's 1787 Theatre of Education.

While there are many reasons societies have chosen to "mark out" children as a social group of lower status than adults, Kremar follows the work of Burman to posit that in recent years:

There have been political and economic reasons to assume that children lack knowledge and ability that requires them to have a (female) caretaker for a lengthy time. This results in a freeing of jobs for an adult, male workforce. These social and political forces define childhood, generating assumptions about it: namely that childhood exists, and these assumptions remain embedded in our cultural beliefs about children.

(40)

A number of scholars have analyzed how the arts, including but not limited to theatre, actively contribute to the social construction of childhood. Etheridge Woodson, for example, argues:

While humans must necessarily experience biological immaturity, childhood is the manner in which a society understands and articulates that physical reality. [...] Like early feminists whose work separated gender from sex and deconstructed understandings of "natural," I am interested in unpacking and exploring the ways in which US culture, and the varied discourses and practices of child drama in the US, shape and understand the "child" and the metaphorical geography of "childhood."

("Constructing" 132)

At the same time, not all scholars accept the notion that childhood is primarily a social construct. As Kremar, following the work of child psychologists such as Piaget, notes: "one of the most straightforward assumptions that guides work in developmental psychology ... is the assumption that children are qualitatively different from adults" (39, emphasis in original).

Recognizing that (A) from a biological perspective, children are different from adults, and that (B) most cultures have constructed notions of childhood that distinguish children from adults, it seems important to determine how TYA professionals define the term "young audiences" and what this classification means to people in the field. Whether or not producers, playwrights, and others in the field consider the people who sit in TYA theatre seats to be "qualitatively different" than those who attend other types of theatre, society's assumption that these audiences are different affects the work TYA artists write, produce, and publish. Below are representative responses we received that illustrate the broad spectrum of ideas held:

How do you personally define the term "young audiences"?

Drew Chappell

"I define 'young audiences' as people from preschool (around age 3) through college age. Yet I'm aware that most of the time, artists and producers define the ideal 'young audience' as between second grade and sixth grade (i.e., old enough to focus on a live performance for an hour and young enough not to wish they were watching something other than material marketed as 'for young audiences.'

Peter Duffy

"I tend not to think about the term young audiences. I will use the term 'TYA' as a category as I would 'farce' or 'comedy of manners,' but as a targeted group of people, I don't think in that way. I think good theatre is good theatre. If I were to direct The Music Man I wouldn't call it 'Theatre for Old People'; it's a musical and it has certain demands, appeal, and draw. I don't feel like we do ourselves any favors when we separate the art to become something apart from the broad and vibrant field of theatre.

Murry Hepner

"I define young audiences as anyone from elementary through middle school ages. I think of High School students and older as being in a different category, maybe 'young adult' audiences. For kids that are not yet in school – I think I'd call them something else: 'Very Young'?"

David Kilpatrick

"For people outside the field, it's easier for me to just say 'children's theater' and avoid a long drawn-out explanation met by blank stares. I don't necessarily get hung up on the negative connotations that others associate with that term. For those who work in the field, I'd say that the term 'young audiences' should mean anything on stage that can play for audiences under the age of 18, whether it's originally intended for young people or not."

Andy Manley

"Quite a few years ago somebody told me you weren't considered an adult, in ancient times, until you were 35. I have an idea it was Plato who said it; I could be wrong though. I like the concept. It makes sense to me. The idea that you are 18 or 21 and are now an adult seems strange. I think it seemed strange to me even when I was 18, but I couldn't have said why. That your theatrical taste will suddenly now be the same as your 70-year-old neighbor seems odd. I have watched shows that have left me cold while the 25-year-olds in the audience have completely loved it. I have seen King Lear three times in my life but I suspect it will have more impact the older I get. All that said, it probably wouldn't suit funders to believe that 35 was adulthood, it would mean that young companies would take half of the arts budget!"

Stephani Etheridge Woodson

"I think kids deserve to be treated like humans. Not humans in training."

* * *

As the quotes above demonstrate, there are discrepancies in terms of how the TYA field is perceived. In the United States, for example, people generally cease to be considered "young audiences" when they reach age 18, while individuals as old as 30 might be considered "young" audience members in some European and Australian contexts.

For the purposes of our book that primarily considers the US–American market, we consider "young audiences" and "young people" to be individuals between the ages of 0 and 17. While recognizing that any "dividing line" between "youth" and "adulthood" is arbitrary, needing some way to define the scope of this book, we turn to the constitution of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (ASSITEJ) to ground our definition. The constitution states: "ASSITEJ endorses Article 31 of the 1989 United Nations' Convention of the Rights of the Child that affirms the right of children to leisure time and the enjoyment of arts and cultural activities" (1). Article 31 of the UN Convention referred to in the ASSITEJ Constitution defines a "child" as a person age 17 or under (UN, Convention 46).

We also, however, recognize that TYA often functions as an "umbrella term" for numerous more specific types of theatre, such as Theatre for the Very Young (TVY), or Theatre for Teens. As with the general term TYA, these classifications mean different things in different contexts and elude specific, stable definitions; we explore these classifications in greater detail in chapter two. We also posit at this point that TYA is a type of theatre but is not a genre, style, or form of theatre. Indeed, TYA can be written and performed in any genre, style, or form, as discussed in the next chapter. For our purposes at present, what sets TYA apart is primarily who is in the audience (which can vary, and again is addressed further in the next chapter). It is also important to note that when we use the term "Youth Theatre" we are referring to material performed by young actors (for any audience).

TYA and theatre for general audiences

Just as there are differences in views concerning who "young audiences" are, when we asked respondents if they felt TYA was (or should be) different than work for general audiences, their views were diverse. Most of the playwrights, artistic directors, publishers, and other theatre professionals we interviewed indicated that, with some exceptions, there are significant differences between TYA and other types of contemporary theatre. At the same time, many of these individuals suggested that TYA should not or ought not be as removed from theatre for general audiences. In many cases, respondents implicitly or explicitly opined that TYA should not be regarded as a separate type of theatre because of the way theatre associated with young people has been marginalized (as it has been for centuries; texts documenting the history of the field discuss this in detail [e.g., Bedard 2005, van de Water 2012]). We believe, however, that recognizing that TYA has unique properties and has cultivated a field of practitioners who often work primarily or exclusively in TYA neither implies that it is a "lesser" type of theatre than any other, nor that it should be regarded as such.

There is no doubt that theatre with and for young people is currently marginalized by the greater theatre community, as we and our respondents explore in detail below. It is also undeniable, we believe, that the material circumstances of the TYA field are substantively different from those of many other types of theatre. Just as Applied Theatre and Theatre for Social Change share attributes of traditional theatre for general audiences but are clearly different in other respects, so is the case for TYA, and we do not believe that this is a bad thing. What we do believe must change is the way the field is perceived by others in the theatre community and society at large. We write this book in the hope of helping to be a part of that change, which is already under way. The twenty-first century has seen a TYA company win a Regional Tony Award, an issue of American Theatre dedicated to the field that largely praised its work, and the production and publication of countless high-quality scripts for young people that have received positive reviews from newspapers around the country. Despite these advances, there is much to be done. We hope that readers of this book will join us and the many professionals who participated in this project in an effort to advance the profile of the field, a goal we know can be achieved.

Differences between TYA and theatre for general audiences

TYA faces gatekeepers not present in other types of theatre; young people are "captive audiences"

While in theatre for general audiences, adults purchase tickets when they have decided that they want to attend a particular performance, this is not the case in TYA. It is individuals, rather (generally educators and parents) who typically decide what theatre productions young people will attend. These adults thereby serve as "gatekeepers," metaphorically standing guard at the theatre's entrance to determine who is permitted to see any given production. As Zacarías notes, "in TYA, the kids are usually present in the audience because someone has brought them, and I feel a deep responsibility to honor their time and their limitations of choice by creating a play that is hopefully relevant to their lives" (para. 13).

Some artists such as Moses Goldberg, while noting that "choice as an element in attending the arts is missing [for school audiences], so some aspects of the school time performance are less than ideal" (Essays 172), also accept that gatekeepers "have the right and duty to make judgments about their children's lives [and that he is there] to assist them in reaching those goals" (Essays 164–165). Others, like Kim Peter Kovac, argue that TYA companies' assumptions about gatekeepers lead them to engage in a priori censorship. He notes that companies "protect [their] audiences from words, situations, or subjects that [they] have somehow decided are not appropriate or too complex for a particular group. Or, [they] anticipate in advance what the gatekeepers (parents and teachers) will deem inappropriate, and [they] 'protect' based on that" (as quoted in Omasta, "Contract" 111).

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Playwriting and Young Audiences by Matt Omasta, Nicole B. Adkins. Copyright © 2017 Intellect Ltd. Excerpted by permission of Intellect Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments 

Preface

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Genre, Style, and Form

Chapter 3: Ethical Considerations

Chapter 4: Practical Considerations

Chapter 5: Adaptations

Chapter 6: New Play Development

Chapter 7: Production and Publication

Chapter 8: Marketing and Promotion

Chapter 9: Income Potential

Chapter 10: The Present and the Future

Appendix A: General Playwriting Resources 

Appendix B: Organizations Serving the Field

Appendix C: Recurring TYA New Play Development Opportunities

Appendix D: Grants, Fellowships, and Awards

Appendix E: Select TYA Publishers and Producers

Bibliography

Notes on Contributors

Index