International Guide to Children's Theatre and Educational Theatre

Book excerpt: Swortzell has constructed a seminal reference work that chronicles the history, current state of artistic achievement, and foremost future needs of children's theater in 44 different countries. . . . an excellent first resource for diverse forms of research, and quite accessible to both undergraduate and graduate students. Choice After a visit to the Children's Educational Theatre in New York City, the first American theatre intended specifically for children and adolescents, Mark Twain declared that children's theatre is one of the very, very great inventions of the twentieth century. The Guide is designed as a reference book, surveying theatre for young people in forty-five countries from Australia to Zimbabwe, as well as examining some of the provocative paradoxes, questions, and concerns that plague and inspire children's theatre. Arranged in alphabetical order by country, the Guide documents the history of the children's theatre movement in each country, defines its current state of artistic achievement, and projects its foremost needs for the future. For each chapter, the Guide includes profiles of representative companies. Important productions and influential dramatists, directors, designers, performers, and pedagogues are also mentioned.