Reviews the 1988 Vancouver Children's Festival. Explores some of the educational implications of this event. (MM)

Asserts that there is a need for more empirical research in the area of theatre for young audiences. Discusses myths about empirical research. (MS)

States that although many theater producers assume that child audiences empathize and identify with stage heroes during performances, some do not believe children can or should verbalize their private empathetic experiences. Presents results from a study of grade school children that challenges theoretical assumptions about emotional learning…

Studies perceptions of and responses to a production of Barry Kornhauser's play "This Is Not a Pipe Dream" from second, fourth, and sixth graders and adults. Finds that production styles need to be more explicit and organically tied to actions so that metaphoric themes become more recognizably visible and audible to young untrained…

Synthesizes teachers' evaluations of university productions of theater for children from 1977 to 1995 by analyzing emergent themes and common factors among teachers' perceptions across play content. Compares teachers' interpretations of their students' experiences with children's responses to selected plays to help explain similar and discrepant…

Describes how a "virtual reality" production by the University of Kansas Theatre for Young People provided the opportunity to garner the perceptions and responses of child audiences as a descriptive study. Discusses students' perceptions of results. Provides little evidence of a "videocy" dimension of perceived reality, for it…

Describes 45 third graders'"dramatic literacy" and the modal sources for inferences. Finds that (1) the more children used visual cues, the more they used verbal and psychological cues; and (2) inferences about the play's theme were related to aural recall of thematic dialogue and what children reported learning from the play. (SR)

Responds to an article in the same issue of this journal which examines factors influencing longevity in the career of a particular high school theatre arts teacher. Notes responses of some jurors regarding methodological concerns and theoretical grounding, but appreciates the writer's personal affinity with her subject and welcomes the…