Theatre for Young Audiences in the UK: A Critical Handbook

One of the UK's most distinctive areas of arts practice is theatre for young audiences (TYA). This edited collection gathers together new original work on the topics, practices and critical perspectives that characterise the field. It features chapters on theatre and ownership, active spectatorship and audience interaction. Others focus on specific audiences such as children and young people with profound disabilities or nonverbal audiences. A chapter looks at creative methods such as using children’s play to create plays for children; another considers how to develop our understanding about children's perception of theatre created for them through interviewing them and studying their drawings. Other chapters discuss how to connect teenagers with Shakespeare's work; how theatre can engage with children in a globalised multicultural society; the current status of Theatre in Education in the UK; and the work staged by the National Theatre for young audiences. This wide range of topics is the first articulation of the emergent field of research into TYA in the UK and this publication is an important first milestone.