Young People New Theatre

Young People, New Theatre is a ‘how-to’ book; exploring and explaining the process of collaborating creatively with groups of young people across cultural divides. Organized into exercises, case studies and specific topics, this book plots a route for those wishing to put this kind of theatre into practise. Born out of the hugely successful ‘Contacting the World’ festival, it is the first practical handbook in this field. Topics include: debating the shared world What is collaboration? different ways of working adapting to specific age groups and abilities post-project evaluations.

Young People, New Theatre is a ‘how-to’ book; exploring and explaining the process of collaborating creatively with groups of young people across cultural divides. Organized into exercises, case studies and specific topics, this book plots a route for those wishing to put this kind of theatre into practise. Born out of the hugely successful ‘Contacting the World’ festival, it is the first practical handbook in this field. Topics include: debating the shared world What is collaboration? different ways of working adapting to specific age groups and abilities post-project evaluations.

Youth Theatre: Drama for Life defines the youth theatre process, by outlining its constituent parts and explaining how these activities work in order to support young people’s development. As well as describing what is done in youth theatre, it also explores why it’s done and how to ensure the best possible outcomes. The book is in four parts: Part 1 explores the nature and purpose of youth theatre, drawing on Michael Richardson’s extensive personal experience as a practitioner and manager. Part 2 explains, in detail, the youth theatre process: warming up, playing games, voice work, developing skills, devising and the presentation of devised work. Part 3 discusses how to create an appropriate environment within which the youth theatre process can be most effectively applied. Part 4 covers the most common applications of the youth theatre process, namely using it in different education environments; and youth theatre productions and performance. On top of this, two appendices give a list of over 60 games that are useful to use in youth theatre; and a list of recommended further reading that supports this book. As well as giving key tips and advice from his own invaluable experience, Richardson offers comments from practitioners and participants on what makes a successful youth theatre experience. Michael Richardson has worked in youth theatre for over 20 years, has been involved in the training of other practitioners, and in the strategic development of the youth theatre sector in the UK.

Devising Critically Engaged Theatre with Youth: The Performing Justice Project offers accessible frameworks for devising original theatre, developing critical understandings of racial and gender justice, and supporting youth to imagine, create, and perform possibilities for a more just and equitable society. Working at the intersections of theory and practice, Alrutz and Hoare present their innovative model for devising critically engaged theatre with novice performers. Sharing why and how the Performing Justice Project (PJP) opens dialogue around challenging and necessary topics already facing young people, the authors bring together critical information about racial and gender justice with new and revised practices from applied theatre, storytelling, theatre, and education for social change. Their curated collection of PJP "performance actions" offers embodied and reflective approaches for building ensemble, devising and performing stories, and exploring and analyzing individual and systemic oppression. This work begins to confront oppressive narratives and disrupt patriarchal systems—including white supremacy, racism, sexism, and homophobia. Devising Critically Engaged Theatre with Youth invites artists, teaching artists, educators, and youth-workers to collaborate bravely with young people to imagine and enact racial and gender justice in their lives and communities. Drawing on examples from PJP residencies in juvenile justice settings, high schools, foster care facilities, and community-based organizations, this book offers flexible and responsive ways for considering experiences of racism and sexism and performing visions of justice. Visit performingjusticeproject.org for additional information and documentation of PJP performances with youth.

“A New Theatre should attract an audience far greater than just the theater world; in fact, it should be of interest to everyone in search of a book that is readable, keenly observant, and witty.” —New York Times “Guthrie’s writing as usual is fresh, witty, sometimes caustic, and always invigorating.” —Library Journal After a long and storied career as one of Britain’s great stage directors, Sir Tyrone Guthrie had become disillusioned with the artistic standards and financial compromises found in the commercial theater of Broadway and London’s West End. He discovered that outside of New York most of America did not have access to professional theater. To remedy this problem Guthrie and his colleagues proposed starting a nonprofit, repertory theater company in a city far removed from Broadway. Scouting and pitching his idea to several major U.S. cities, Guthrie finally found a home for his theater in Minneapolis. A New Theatre chronicles how a coalition of local Minneapolis businesses and philanthropic leaders worked with Guthrie to create the Guthrie Theatre in the early 1960s. In his amusing and personable style, Guthrie welcomes readers on a tour of one of the most dynamic young theatrical institutions in the world, exploring its years of planning, Ralph Rapson’s design of the original building and the thrust stage, the first productions and their receptions, as well as discussing his larger views of theater’s future and its role in society. Sir Tyrone Guthrie (1900-1971) was managing director of the Old Vic and Sadler’s Wells and helped found the Stratford Festival of Canada and the Guthrie Theater in Minnesota. Joe Dowling is Artistic Director for the Guthrie Theater.

What makes young people care about themselves, others, their communities, and their futures? In Why Theatre Matters, Kathleen Gallagher uses the drama classroom as a window into the daily challenges of marginalized youth in Toronto, Boston, Taipei, and Lucknow. An ethnographic study which mixes quantitative and qualitative methodology in an international multi-site project, Why Theatre Matters ties together the issues of urban and arts education through the lens of student engagement. Gallagher’s research presents a framework for understanding student involvement at school in the context of students’ families and communities, as well as changing social, political, and economic realities around the world. Taking the reader into the classroom through the voices of the students themselves, Gallagher illustrates how creative expression through theatre can act as a rehearsal space for real, material struggles and for democratic participation. Why Theatre Matters is an invigorating challenge to the myths that surround urban youth and an impressive study of theatre’s transformative potential.

Digital Storytelling, Applied Theatre, & Youth argues that theatre artists must re-imagine how and why they facilitate performance practices with young people. Rapid globalization and advances in media and technology continue to change the ways that people engage with and understand the world around them. Drawing on pedagogical, aesthetic, and theoretical threads of applied theatre and media practices, this book presents practitioners, scholars, and educators with innovative approaches to devising and performing digital stories. This book offers the first comprehensive examination of digital storytelling as an applied theatre practice. Alrutz explores how participatory and mediated performance practices can engage the wisdom and experience of youth; build knowledge about self, others and society; and invite dialogue and deliberation with audiences. In doing so, she theorizes digital storytelling as a site of possibility for critical and relational practices, feminist performance pedagogies, and alliance building with young people.

This book is a journey into the dual territory of educational and theatrical settings. It advances the knowledge in these settings by touching upon provocative questions, by dealing with the limitations and challenging the new possibilities of theatre for young people. It is an attempt to bring intellectual rigor and some theoretical perspectives drawn from recent theatre and aesthetic theory to the field of theatre for young people.