Susan Elkin says theatre for young audiences isn’t an inferior genre and should be taken seriously.
Why does this industry not take theatre for children and young people seriously? Theatre and live performance is in my view essential – not some kind of expendable add on – to the education and development of children and young people. It also provides hundreds or jobs and masses of invaluable experience for, mostly young, actors.
There is wonderful, challenging innovative work going on at venues such as the Unicorn Theatre which has just won the TMA UK award for the best children’s show for Mr Halgado), Polka, Half Moon, the Egg in Bath, Little Angel Theatre whose Macbeth has left me with such a buzz I can still feel it a fortnight later – and many more.
And what about touring companies such as Oily Cart with its extraordinary (unique?) work for children with disabilities, Catherine Wheels, M6, 20 Stories High, Oddsocks – and dozens of others? Many styles, many approaches and many philosophies, but almost all good work.
And yet, although I see high quality professional work for young audiences all the time, it is unusual to see a mainstream national newspaper critic there. As with children’s books, on the whole, newspapers seem to regard theatre for young audiences as, literally, beneath their notice as if it were an inferior genre.
Why does this industry not take theatre for children and young people seriously? Theatre and live performance is in my view essential – not some kind of expendable add on – to the education and development of children and young people. It also provides hundreds or jobs and masses of invaluable experience for, mostly young, actors.
There is wonderful, challenging innovative work going on at venues such as the Unicorn Theatre which has just won the TMA UK award for the best children’s show for Mr Halgado), Polka, Half Moon, the Egg in Bath, Little Angel Theatre whose Macbeth has left me with such a buzz I can still feel it a fortnight later – and many more.
And what about touring companies such as Oily Cart with its extraordinary (unique?) work for children with disabilities, Catherine Wheels, M6, 20 Stories High, Oddsocks – and dozens of others? Many styles, many approaches and many philosophies, but almost all good work.
And yet, although I see high quality professional work for young audiences all the time, it is unusual to see a mainstream national newspaper critic there. As with children’s books, on the whole, newspapers seem to regard theatre for young audiences as, literally, beneath their notice as if it were an inferior genre.