An Introduction to American TYA

Theatre for Young Audiences

Definition of TYA as a Play Canon

Theatre for Young Audiences is a wide umbrella. It covers: Plays that are performed for youth 0-18 or family audiences by actors of any age Plays that are performed/ written/ devised by youth 0-18 Professional Regional Theatres and Touring Productions School Productions/ Education

Plays can include anything from A fairy tale for young children To an adaptation of a popular book To a teen piece about identity or abuse

Any theme you can find in a play, you can find in a TYA play.

Definition of TYA as a Play Canon

Things to think about: Writing with an authentic voice for young people Using young people as protagonists Diverse Representation Censorship from parents & teachers Tendency towards Adaptations Fostering New Works

Definition of TYA as a Play Canon

A Brief History- Fairy Tales

Late 19th century theatre goers would attend adaptations of British pantomimes.

Pantomimes varied in form and content but most presented traditional Fairy Tale characters and stories.

Pantomimes contained a great deal of spectacle, with productions such as Cinderella, Aladdin, and Little Red Riding Hood.

1915- Frances H. Burnett's Little Lord Fauntleroy was the first professional play designed for children in the U.S.

The Junior League

The Junior League was a women’s organization that began to use drama as social work with children during the Progressive Movement (1890-1920).

Used drama to teach children and as a means of instilling "universal values”. Set up a national Play Bureau to hire theatre trained staff to improve quality of work,

organized conferences and resources, and established a play library. By 1940 JL presented 1,679 children's theatre performances to over 600,000 young

people. Many of today’s professional TYA Theatres began as part of the Junior League. Most significant playwright: Charlotte Chorpenning Still doing traditional stories: Rumplestiltskin (1944) and The Emperor's New Clothes

The Junior League

The 1960s brought a desire to create original plays with more complicated plots, a higher level of sophistication, and more serious subject matter.

Protagonists were now well-rounded, young characters rather than stock or fairy tale characters.

The emphasis became the authentic voice of young people rather than morality.

Pushing the Envelope Over the Years

Pushing the Envelope Over the Years

Characters dealing with real problems: The Ice Wolf by Joanna H. Kraus, 1963- an allegory about prejudice and revenge with a teen

protagonist Step on a Crack by Suzan Zeder, 1976- first to deal with divorce onstage in a TYA play The Arkansaw Bear by Aurand Harris, 1980- death of a grandparent The Yellow Boat by David Saar, 1993- AIDS and the death of a child protagonist

Social Change: Teen Issue Plays

TYA Playwrights have been pushing the envelope even further to tackle taboo topics and engage teen audiences in dialogue.

The Wrestling Season by Laurie Brooks, 2000- sexual identity and relationship abuse, includes an audience forum after the play to unpack the issues

The Secret Life of Girls and EAT (It’s Not About Food) by Linda Daugherty, 2007 & 2008 (respectively)

A behind the scenes video about performing in The Wrestling Season

Teaching with Diversity

As TYA continues to push for more authenticity in its young characters, playwrights strive to represent a larger diversity onstage in order to reflect the diversity in our audiences.

Diversity can be found represented through race, gender, ability, or sexual orientation. Some examples include:

Jose Cruz Gonzalez- multi-cultural representation throughout his body of work Joanna Kraus- ability in Christabel and the Amazing Pedal Power Challenge Laurie Brooks- gender, sexual orientation in The Wrestling Season Suzan Zeder- deaf community in Mother Hicks trilogy

Adaptation: The Tyranny of the Title

Many TYA playwrights still do a bulk of their work as adaptations of popular books or movies.

A similar trend can be seen in Broadway musicals (The Wedding Singer, The Little Mermaid, and even Ragtime are all adaptations)

Adaptations are often commissioned by a theatre company and tend to sell lots of tickets because of the familiarity of the title.

Some current examples of TYA adaptations include: Junie B. Jones, Llama Llama, Elf, Jackie and Me, and James and the Giant Peach

Fostering New Works

Festivals like International Performing Arts for Youth & New Visions/New Voices (The Kennedy Center) encourage TYA playwrights to continue making original work.

Orphie and the Book of Heroes, which premiered at The REP last year, came from New Visions/New Voices

Professional TYA Theatres like Childsplay (AZ) also continue to encourage playwrights by commissioning new works and holding annual competitions.