Children's Theater Is Made For Children

“There is more than one way to tell a story.”

Ursula LeGuin

Our most precious stories are the ones we heard as children. They are not easily forgotten. Then we grow. We think that we have forgotten the fairy tales, that they have no value anymore. However, perhaps our only purpose in life has been to live a fairy tale. So which tale? That's what our childhood decides.

Stories have a power and a large memory. The human brain comprehends the information that has been constructed or made sense in a fiction much faster. We, especially as educators, know this very well. The judgment 'don't drink cold water when sweaty' can be forgotten as quickly as it is said. However, everything changes if you tell a story about a hero being sick because of this very reason and all the things that happened to him. This thought no longer belongs to you, but to the children who listen to the story. Cause and effect relationship has been established, internalized and accepted. Stories do not dictate thoughts, they mediate and develop understanding, not judgment. Thus, not drinking water while sweating has become a natural fact, not a ban. It is neither forgotten nor questioned anymore.

Theater is one of the most effective ways to tell a story. The theater audience has the opportunity to enter the story from the moment they set foot in the hall. He breathes the same air with the story heroes, shares his feelings and becomes a part of the events told. Theater is a social art that allows us to look at our lives from different perspectives, questions and shapes our thoughts through our emotions.

Children, on the other hand, are the audience group most affected by the theater. They are much more naive than us adults. They are easily trustworthy, impressionable, and quick to judge. Stories are their habitat. Their perceptions are very clear and they can decipher the details that we are not aware of, the mistakes that we do not care about and apply them to their lives. Adults can stay out of a bad play they watch and at most choose not to go to that theater play again. The child, on the other hand, has the potential to internalize a bad play and perhaps to attribute it to all theatrical art. For this reason, Children's Theater requires much more responsibility and care than any other theatrical activity.

Children's Theater is made for children. Therefore, it cannot be taken lightly. It is not simple or easy to see. It cannot be prepared with false images in a random or visual mess. It should not be prepared. Children's Theater is a part of education as well as theater. Practitioner has to use the art of theater, which he has mastered, not according to his own tastes, but by considering the taste, perception and life experience of the child. Therefore, Educational Sciences and Pedagogy should be the main information sources and guides of Children's Theaters.

In the most basic sense, Children's Theater is a social experience where the child is together with his/her peers. It prepares a world for children where they can reach out and touch, get fun, aesthetic pleasure, and experience their feelings together. A well-prepared theater play helps children acquire new behaviors, rules and values; It helps them to develop their ability to evaluate events from multiple perspectives and make decisions. It gives important clues in perceiving his immediate surroundings, the universe and his place in the universe. It gives meaning to its past, guides it to shape today and tomorrow.

As the Blue Balloon Children's Theater, we are evaluating our past in the light of these thoughts as we prepare for a new season. Unfortunately, there is still no developed academic understanding on Children's Theater in Turkey. The experience of 80 years of Children's Theater has left us with a very limited written source, most of which is translation. We cling to the groping truths. We are trying to eliminate mistakes one by one. By taking our educator side forward, we are screwing ourselves up. And we always cling to the same thought; Children's Theater is made for children.