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Foreword

REATIVE DRAMA, as a language art, has been a part of the elementary school curriculum for a number of years. Community organizations also have long been concerned with offering children rewarding experiences in creative dramatics, and many have pioneered in the establishment of children's theaters. Because of the relatively small percentage of trained personnel in the field, advance has been slow. This bulletin is the result of a joint concern felt by the Office of Education and the Children's Theatre Conference for the apparent lack of easily available material in creative dramatics.

There are two underlying purposes in this publication: first, to offer guidance in the art of creative drama with children; and second, to give some assistance to enterprising organizations that wish to give plays for children. It presents both creative drama and children's theater as an art form and is dedicated to the idea that these forms, when properly implemented in school and community, can bring beauty and richness into the lives of boys and girls. The bulletin does not encompass the therapeutic aspects of creative drama.

Part I is an interpretation of the place of creative dramatics with and for children. Part II describes ways and means of guiding children in creative dramatics, and Part III is devoted entirely to children's theater-how to establish one in a community and provide details pertinent to theater production.

The Office of Education and the Children's Theatre Conference are fortunate to have been able to engage the cooperation of Miss Winifred Ward to write the bulletin. Miss Ward's years of experience in working with children and directing them in plays, together with her own inimitable talents as author, teacher, and lecturer, made her the logical choice to write the manuscript. For 25 years she served as Supervisor of Dramatics in the elementary schools of Evanston, Illinois, and as Director of the Children's Theatre in the same city. The author's knowledge of and enthusiasm for her subjects can be felt throughout the pages of the publication.

In an effort to present her material in accurate form, Miss Ward solicited the help and advice of many leaders in the field of Drama,

Creative Dramatics, and Children's Theatre. Among the many who gave assistance were Eleanor Chase York, of Western Michigan State College; Kenneth L. Graham, of the University of Minnesota; Agnes Haaga and Geraldine Siks, of the University of Washington; Rita Criste, of Northwestern University; and Wilma McNess, of the Keith Country Day School of Rockford (Ill.) College. Clarence T. Simon of Northwestern University offered great help and encourage

ment.

The photographs in the bulletin are from Vern Adix, Ute Theatre for Young People, University of Utah; Gladys Andrews, New York University School of Education; Frances Carey Bowen, Children's Educational Theatre of Maryland; Rita Criste, Children's Theatre of Evanston, Ill.; Agnes Haaga, University of Washington; Ella Heimbrodt, Children's Theatre of Western Springs, Ill.; Catherine Hollingworth, Children's Theatre of Aberdeen, Scotland; George Latshaw, Cleveland, Ohio; Ann Pirtle, Seattle public schools; Geraldine Siks, University of Washington; Grace Stanist reet, Adelphi College, Garden City, N.Y.; Virginia Tanner, Conservatory of Creative Dance, Sal Lake City, Utah; Margaret Woods, Seattle Pacific College, Washington.

J. DAN HULL.

Director, Instruction,
Organization, and
Services Branch.

E. GLENN FEATHERSTON.

Assistant Commissioner,
Division of State and
Local School Systems.

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Introduction

PREMISE OF AMERICAN EDUCATION is to offer

opportunities for every child to reach the utmost of his individual capabilities in cooperation with his peers. Education of this kind was indicated in the theme of the 1960 White House Conference, the purpose of which was "to promote opportunities for children and youth to realize their full potential for a creative life in freedom and dignity."

It is the belief of the majority of those who work with children that in order to help them realize their full potential for a creative life in freedom and dignity, all children should have daily experiences in the arts. Since drama is a fusion of all the arts and deals with the actions and motives of man, it can perhaps be more closely integrated with the child's everyday living than many others. Creative dramatics encourages freedom and dignifies dreams; it helps to cultivate imaginative thinking.

As never before, the United States needs an original approach to the problems confronting her within the community of nations. Drama with and for children compounds the creative dynamics which contribute to the ingenuity characteristic of America.

VII

PART I

An Interpretation

DRAMA COMES IN THE DOOR of the school with every

child.

Almost from the day he is born, the baby begins using drama as his way of learning. His parents are always surprised and amused at the first signs of his intuitive response to drama. Even before he can walk, he shows his enjoyment of make-believe by his delighted participation in the dramatic game of peek-a-boo, with its simulated suspense and relief; his early imitation of the "bow-wow"; his hilarious pretend-riding on a pony as he bounces up and down on daddy's foot to the rhythm of "Ride a Cock Horse."

The amazing amount of knowledge a little child accumulates by his dramatic interpretation of the people around him often goes unobserved. "The child of three, four, or five cannot discover what it feels like to be a mother except by going through the motions of mothering, and the son of a truck driver feels closer to his father by pretending to drive a truck." Those who have studied children know that this is nature's way of helping a child to interpret the world and himself in terms he can understand so that he will be fitted to live in the society in which he finds himself.

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The following incident relates to what happened in a family that heard groans and moans of agonizing pain coming from the back of the house one evening. On rushing out to see what was the matter, they discovered 4-year-old Marjorie slowly and apparently painfully climbing up the back stairs."

"Aunt Jessie goes upstairs just this way," she announced, "and now I know how she feels." Aunt Jessie, it seems, suffered from

Hartley, Ruth E., Frank, Lawrence K., and Goldenson, Robert M. Understanding Children's Play. New York, Columbia University Press, 1952. P. 28. 2 Merrill, John, and Fleming, Martha. Play-Making and Plays. New York, The Macmillan Co., 1950.

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