In this commentary, summarized from a recent interview, the author shares insights and memories from a career devoted to drama and performance studies. He enthusiastically recounts events, initiatives, and collaborations that have helped sustain his lifelong passion for performance.

Argues that the leading professional children's theaters should commit themselves to a group of proven professional playwrights as the surest way to nurture the feasibility and aesthetic sensibility of children's theater. (SR)

Presents an interview with children's playwright Aurand Harris, who shares thoughts about his work, advises playwrights, and offers a cautionary note on the future of children's theater. (SR)

For over ten years, London's National Theatre, under the banner of "Connections", has been commissioning ten professional playwrights per year, each to write a play for young people. The plays are workshopped and performed by secondary schools, colleges and youth theatres across the United Kingdom and Ireland, and are presented in a…

Reports on the first Young Playwrights Festival presented by the Dramatists Guild and the Circle Repertory Company. The seven plays--directed, acted, and staged by professionals--were written by young people between the ages of 8 and 18 and were selected for production from more than 700 submissions. (PD)

Explores the distance all dramatists travel to one extent or another and in their own ways to arrive at a play for children--the questions asked, the ideas sparked, the progression followed. (SR)

Explores philosophies and practices of playwriting for young people, focusing on contemporary U.S. plays and projects that are aimed at improving the quality of theater for young audiences. Describes the New Generation Play Project. (PRA)

Uses a dialogue between two aspects of the same person (playwright/director) to answer the question posed in the title. States that initial productions of a new play are important for rewriting and reshaping the material and that performance confirms what is healthy and alive about the play. Concludes that the time for enjoying the performance…

Responds to Catherine Dezseran's call for children's plays with "serious" subject matter, approves of her ideas, and suggests that more pointed criticism of the contemporary plays she mentions would be helpful to writers of children's plays. (JC)

In a nation of over 200 million people, only two or three dozen make a good living writing plays. Of 16 playwrights interviewed for this article, only four have been making their living writing for three years or more. Presents insights and reflections. (PD)

Analyzes the issue of censorship in relation to how it has influenced anti-apartheid South African playwright/director Mbongeni Ngema's theatrical style and the evolution of his style from the socio-political context in which he works. Illuminates the playwright's strategies for overcoming censorship. Discusses his most well-known work,…

Discusses the potential technology has for playwrights today, especially "technology as special effects" and "technology as subject matter." Finds it curious that very little science fantasy has found its way into the theater, and even less science fiction. Advocates exploring the world of technology through theater. (PA)

Describes how the Honolulu Theatre for Youth and Very Special Arts Hawaii developed the annual THEATREFEST, a successful program celebrating the work of young playwrights and performers. Discusses how the project came about and how it is yearly put together. (SR)

Ponders what students might learn from a course in playwriting: the ability to think in vivid instances and moments; the habit of close observation of the details of human behavior; the ability to think through and see through cliches; making hard choices; sympathy; dreaming within limits; and concision. (SR)

Reproduces a conversation among playwrights, directors, and dramaturges participating in the Bonderman/IUPUI (Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis) experience. Features their answers to six questions regarding new play development, its focus, and influence on the world of theater for young audiences. (PA)