MENTAL CATHARSIS IN CHILD THEATER PERFORMANCES
Authors: AL-KUBAISI Iman Abdul Sattar Atallah 
Published: May 2021

In the twenties of the twentieth century there appeared a tendency declaring that art has a major task is to cleansing reality from everything that seems strange to it. But this proposition took another characteristic of the German director and writer (Berthold Brecht) after he initiated a revolution that declared its rejection of the previous concepts of theater and Aristotelian drama in the introduction of alienation in his theatrical doctrine, which was later called (dialectical theater), This is a shift towards another concept of purification that goes beyond the emotion towards addressing the mind and changing ideas, so Brecht has a different function to theater, which is to change and reject the miserable and revolutionary reality. In child theater performances, the research problem was formed in the following question: What are the representations of mental cleansing in child theater performances? As for the objectives of the research, it is represented by (revealing the concept of mental cleansing, and revealing representations of mental cleansing in child theater performances). The current research was determined by child theater performances in Iraq for the period from (2010-2020) that take mental cleansing as its goal. As for the second chapter, it focused on three axes. The first was philosophical mental cleansing, while the second axis was concerned with the philosophical foundations of the Barkhati approach, while the third axis focused From the theoretical framework on the Westernization of Berthold Brecht. As for the third chapter, it was clarified that the researcher adopted the descriptive approach (the method of content analysis) being more appropriate to the current study procedures, which dealt with the research community represented by the presentations that were made for the period between (2009-2018) in Baghdad, which reached (16) theatrical performances. After the sample was randomly selected by lot, it was (a little chalk circle) play. After analyzing the sample, the results of the research were extracted, which are responsible for answering the objectives of the research and the extent of their achievement. The first goal was achieved through what was reviewed in the theoretical framework and what was extracted from it. As for the second goal, which aims to reveal the representations of mental cleansing in theatrical performances directed at the child, it was achieved after analyzing the selected sample, and the results appeared as follows: 1. All child theater performances that follow the Brachitic approach aim at mental cleansing. 2. Mental cleansing occurs in child theater performances when the following methods are employed that keep the child mind attentive and critical, including: First / at the level of the text 1. Using the heritage and being inspired by it as a theatrical template for contemporary events through the style of history, and not committing to a Space-time through this history. 2. The necessity of the presence of the narrator who tries to break the hierarchy of events by narrating and commenting on some events, as well as employing songs and music that differ from the general atmosphere of the event. Second / at the level of the show 1. Using the scene through symbolic, not realistic, signs to keep the actor away from any reincarnation that casts its shadow on the audience through theatrical infection. 2. Not to adhere to the timing of lighting. 3. Using shadow imaginations or movies and pictures in conveying the event. 4. Westernization of performance by leaving space between the character and the actor