Theatre for Young Audiences: 20 Great Plays for Children
The library of children's theater is understocked, and this collection partly redresses that situation. These mostly recent short plays are directed at children around ten, the ideal age to build a theater-going habit. The book begins with an interview with Maurice Sendak and includes a play of his, indicating the level of excellence the collection aims for and succeeds in achieving. None of these plays is doctrinaire or didactic, though they are full of wisdom. They engage children's imagination to communicate a sense of worth. There are coming-of-age plays, tolerance plays, and plays about children in society and war, and we are prefaced by useful introductions that will aid adult directors. Some are musicals. The best of them are based on folk tales from American Indian, eastern European, Russian, Japanese, and other traditions. Some are adaptations of children's literature such as Charlotte's Web and The Jungle Books. There is something here to meet every theater need and every child's anticipation. Highly recommended.?Thomas E. Luddy, Salem State Coll., MACopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.