Traditionally, what is seen as
entertainment cannot be educative and education cannot possibly be fun,
however ‘entertainment does not necessarily imply a light-weight
relationship between content and audience, or actor and audience’
(Jackson, 1999:61). The Theatre-in-Education (T.I.E) movement was
created to look ‘for new audiences and new ways to speak to those
audiences’ (Jackson, 1999:1). Performances sought to educate young
audiences, while still providing entertainment.
"Theatre-in-Education" enables audiences to engage with the themes and
issues surrounding a given performance with practical discussions and
activities. ‘The TIE ‘programme’, as the word suggests, will usually
involve a fully conceived programme of work with the theatrical event as
the central stimulus for a deeper and richer learning process than the
‘one-off’ play’ (Jackson, 1999:5). These productions are normally
accompanied with a workshop or discussion session that occurs before and
after the performance. This offers the means for students to negotiate
and scrutinise their own understanding of the views and issues expressed
within the contexts of the production. Characters offer vicarious
reinforcement to the audience allowing them to be ‘observing the
consequences of others’ (McInerney & McInerney, 2002: 143).
"Children’s Theatre" is traditionally regarded ‘as plays designed for
younger audiences’ (Wright, 2003, 137). It is important to note that it
can also be referring to the construction of such a production utilising
the knowledge, skills and ideas of young children. In creating a
meaningful children’s theatre production, the construction and
employment of relevant characters is perhaps the most vital element in
the creation of a relevant script. Most significant, and perhaps
obviously, is that each character must have a reason for being within
the context of the script. Besides the inclusion of key figures such as
the protagonist (hero) and the antagonist (villain), there must also be
characters that either assist or hinder the development of a
protagonist’s goal. 'In the course of their adventures the heroes of
allegory discover which ideals are worth pursuing and what things are
obstacles to that pursuit.' (Clifford, 1974:11).
