Theatre for young performers needs its own genre. Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) has come a long way in the last 20 years with plays that speak to the heart of the world of the young. That genre is still ripe with fairy tales but also safely deals with other parts of a child's awakening into an adult world. The majority of these plays are meant to performed by adult actors for children. There is next to nothing in developing plays for young performers.
Almost every town in America has softball recreation league and a soccer recreation league. The growth in the interest in the World Cup Soccer tournament by Americans is a direct result of the soccer-playing youngsters coming of age and following the sport they grew to love. What if every town had a theatre-recreation group which culminated in a play? Imagine the possibilities.
Taking classes is not "doing." You can explore and learn critical skills but you are not tested. You can practice your pitching but you need to pitch a game to truly learn the intricacies of your sport. Being immersed in a play production utilizes the same team-building skilled touted by all sports. You're all in it together. Whether winning a game or sustaining a performance, you need each other to succeed.
Young audiences love the worlds produced by children's theatres. As engaging as adult actors are, a young audience will empathize and bond immediately to a young performer. It mirrors their life. Plays for young performers are produced and published but there is no place to truly develop them. Theatre for Young Audiences has the Bonderman Competition which is similar to the adult play development of the Eugene O'Neill Competition. Plays for Young Performers has a few competitions: The Jackie White Memorial National Children's Play Writing Contest and the Tada Children's Play Writing Contest to name two. But the plays are expected to be finished products. You will be rewarded with a production but there are no means of taking your play to a higher level. There is no dramaturg. No conference. No professional feedback.
Locally, The Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis combines a mixture of an adult company with youth performers brought in as needed. Indeed they have classes to develop young talent. Steppingstone Theatre in St. Paul and Youth Performance Company in Minneapolis utilize all young performers. Plays are commissioned but there is no process for development.
In the Theatre Communication Group's (TCG) Dramatist Sourcebook, The Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis states as a special interest they seek: "work samples from interested writers with no previous experience writing for children's theatre." Where do the experienced writers for plays for young performers go? While most theatres have an educational component attached to their theatres, the cost of theatre classes is much higher than the cost of joining a recreation sports league.
The cost of not having a theatre recreation league is even higher. As theatre bemoans the lack of seats filled by 20-somethings, there is something that could be done. Engage children in theatre early. Encourage the writing of plays to be performed by young performers. Theatre can be performed outside, in a garage, under the big top, in a cave, on a deserted island, in a library - in short in an empty space that can accommodate a few chairs and tables. If you hang up a cardboard moon, young audiences will believe in that moon.
If you put out a call for young performers, they will come. Ask anyone who has held auditions for Sound of Music or Cheaper by the Dozen. They come in the hundreds. They are an immense population waiting. Waiting to make an entrance. It's time for Theatre for Young Performers (TYP) to get its due. The future of theatre could depend on it.
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