Examines three contemporary plays for young audiences that feature adolescent female protagonists to examine the treatment of adolescent girls'"coming of age" issues regarding sexuality, body, and identity. Finds that all three protagonists grapple with self-consciousness and cultural norms regarding beauty and explore their struggles…

Examines the invisible incorporation of constructions from the Victorian and Progressive eras regarding children, women, and theatre art, into the field of child drama. Discusses child drama as a moral calling; women and the gendered status of child drama; child drama as an amateur field; child drama as education in democracy; and the construction…

Applies feminist dramatic criticism to the texts of 18 plays produced in the 1994-1995 season by three preeminent Theatre for Young Audiences companies. Finds a high proportion of characters who do not display typical gender-role stereotyping, but finds that most female characters are objects of adult exchange who rarely have power. Discusses four…

Argues that the physical and emotional experience of performing on stage is an opportunity for young female performers to gain knowledge about their gender identities. Maintains that physical learning of gendered "acts" may be part of the crisis many young women encounter in adolescence and that such "acts" can take place on…

Examines C. Chorpenning's 1940 children's play and compares it with S. Zeder's 1983 children's play. Reveals how the plays are deeply embedded in dominant cultural attitudes of their time and in historically situated models of female adolescence and yet are resistant to these same narratives. Discusses how they have contributed, positively and…

Examines five versions of the Cinderella story. Argues that children's fairy tale drama presents female beauty as a moral absolute, not merely as a physical characteristic. Cites feminist theories of the female body to demonstrate ways in which fairy tale drama establishes female beauty as an unchanging, "universal" concept. Considers…

Summarizes the author's doctoral dissertation research--a longitudinal, multi-case study of drama practices at the tenth-grade level in a Catholic secondary school for girls. Examines the ways drama education engages girls' experiences and personal/cultural knowledge and expands the perspectives and discourses available to them. Offers strong…