Children, theatre and the web

Children’s theatre is a reality in the lives of many drama professionals, but far more nebulous as a concept. The familiar goals of artistic merit and entertainment value are accompanied – some would say countered – by the need to be educational. It is not enough for children to simply see something, they must also learn something. For companies, this need becomes both a fiscal and a moral imperative; the morals of parents and teachers translating into revenue.

This shady, multifarious consideration of what is ‘appropriate’ shapes children’s theatre through content, budget, venue and public funding. The Arts Council of England’s 2003 publication, outlining outcomes from the Birmingham seminar on the state of children’s theatre, calls for ‘more investment’ and ‘more risk’ in the industry. But, subject to so many different criteria, it is hard to gauge how well children’s theatre is doing in real terms. The seminar implied not very well.

Interestingly, many of the papers published – though making valid and intelligent points – illustrate one of the fundamental problems with children’s theatre. Lynn Gardner picks this up, and in her paper says:

‘I would like…to suggest that the problem lies not just with children’s theatre itself… but in our attitude towards children themselves and the concept and construct of childhood. How is it possible to produce a theatre for children that is valued when children themselves are so undervalued in our society?’

So much of our deliberation about what children want, need and deserve – and the creative output shaped by that – is linked inextricably to adulthood. We are the ones asking and answering the questions, writing the plays, picking venues and performing them. Until recently, children’s theatre has still very much meant theatre for children, rather than by them.

However, this is starting to change. The internet, cheap, fast – a great educative tool – is being used to forge new links between children and their theatre. Suddenly, kids are writing plays, and professionals are performing them. Creativity from the child is gaining legitimacy, and with it popularity. Can kids learn something valuable, and be entertained, by themselves? If the success of Webplay is anything to go by, the answer is a resounding yes, and could provide the industry with a much-called-for rejuvenation.

Webplay was launched in the year 2000 with the goal of getting primary school children to create, produce and perform dramatic works whilst collaborating with professional theatre companies and other children from around the world. Using bright, clean design, multimedia and above all open communication channels, the project was a huge success, linking more than 4000 children in a hundred schools from Birmingham to the Bronx.

Now, thanks to an £200 000 award from the National Endowment for Science and The Arts (NESTA), Webplay is making their technology and method available to theatre companies across the UK.

What does the Page to Stage Platform mean for children’s theatre in Britain? Above all, the answer is communication. The program will make the kind of collaboration that Webplay enjoys available to companies both small and large across the country.

‘It’s a bridge to connect theatre companies with each other and with pupils,’ says Webplay founder, Sydney Thornbury.

‘Smaller theatres almost certainly couldn’t do it by themselves.’

What this means is that theatre companies will have direct access to their core audience. Indeed, Page to Stage will muddy the very definition of audience, giving kids access to the emancipatory facet of art – a facet we have hitherto been content with injecting into children’s texts, rather than using as a tool for creation.

‘Most theatre companies have been slow to take up technology because of a lack of staffing and financial resources, a lack of technical knowledge and a lack of good examples of how it could benefit their work,’ says Thornbury.

‘Meanwhile, primary schools are keen to develop creativity, integrate technology and reach out to partners who can offer real-world learning. The innovation with Page to Stage is that small children’s theatre companies will have access to an established platform.’

Page to Stage itself is but one part of a larger movement using technology to bring the arts into schools. Groups like Creative Partnerships, (funded by the Arts Council) and the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People have been making in-roads to classrooms for a few years now, and using technology to do it. The strength, and the difference of Page to Stage is the neutrality that it offers. Any company, for any show could use this software, interacting with any class for any reason. It also allows companies to contact and collaborate with each other – not in itself so unique, but the ease of access certainly is.

Perhaps all our lamentations about the state of children’s theatre are focused too strongly on the second part of the equation. Analysing so much of the theatre (or lack of it) makes us forget that it is children who are hoping to enjoy and learn from our performances. By allowing kids to shape our work, we are taking a huge risk – it’s scary surrendering creativity into the hands of children; or rather, surrendering a creativity that we have previously tried to ensconce in an adult dialectic. Something we are prepared to put on the stage, rather than the fridge. In this context, they are all enfants terribles. But, if we want to engage with kids, not just in the classroom, or on the stage, but in their lives, it’s necessary.

Page to Stage is an important step in the right direction. This is not to say grandiose productions from the likes of Unicorn Theatre are unwelcome, or unnecessary; they form a valuable part of the artistic landscape for both children and adults. However, we don’t want to live in a world where we train our kids to be audience members, do we? From a community cultural development perspective, Page to Stage is important for kids, and also important for us. After all, why should the education stop in the classroom?

For more information about Webplay, visit their web site www.webplay.org

To read the Arts Council’s publication, ‘The Quality of Children’s Theatre: After the Birmingham Seminar’, CLICK HERE.