Actors create theatre with and for with children in diverse theatrical, educational and therapeutic contexts but little is known about the 'artistry' of their practice. This paper analyses a theatrical encounter between a child and an actor and identifies four key qualities of 'pedagogically tactful' (van Manen 2016) actor practice: listening,…

The nineteenth-century scientism of Stanislavsky has produced actors who are mechanical and unspontaneous. An alternative to this traditional approach is based on the application of new psychological insights to the production of drama. This approach not only allows the actors to explore their "being," but also allows the audience to feel a…

A study defined and measured empathy in relationship to sympathy, aesthetic distance, imagination, dramatic predispositions, and identification with characters in theater for young audiences. Subjects, 88 children in grades 1, 3, and 5, were interviewed individually after viewing "Crying to Laugh," a presentational play about the healthy…