AustLit

'This article responds to the recent and rapid rise in the practice, within contemporary theatre-making, of creating new performance work for adult audiences featuring children as performers and collaborators. Within this work there is a tension between the desire for a representation of the authentic voice and lived experience of the child performer and the poetic function of the performance. This question of the place of authenticity in work dogs much performance work created by professional artists with children for adult audiences and can shape the way artists approach the rehearsal process with child performers. I examine the creative and aesthetic strategies of creating work with child performers, and consider the pedagogical frames of actor practice that underpin this process, asking what an ethical dramaturgy for contemporary performance with children for adult audiences might look like.'  (Publication abstract)

'During her seventeen years as Artistic Director and CEO of Polyglot Theatre, Sue Giles has led significant shifts in Polyglot’s creative practice. As Vice-President of ASSITEJ, she has been a remarkable advocate for young audiences. Giles’ Platform Paper A Review of Young People and the Arts: An Agenda for Change clearly articulates recent developments in theatre-making by and for young people and children. Her survey encompasses the broad range of practices within this field, including youth arts, theatre for young audiences, and work made by professional contemporary artists with children and young people for adult audiences.'  (Introduction)