Emergence of an Anti-Theatre for the Youth in the United States: The Case of Punch and Judy by Aurand Harris

Authors : Anne CİRELLA-URRUTİA

Pages : 3-11

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Publication Date : 2001-04-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The British pantomime, the Punch and Judy puppet show, and the farce are three major dramatic genres that have been discarded by serious adult playwrights to become children`s artistic forms in the late nineteenth century. Ironically, these devalued theatrical genres became the very basis for the emergence of an experimental movement in American children`s, a movement that peaked in 1970s. A true avant-garde spirit in children`s theatre thus bloomed in the United States with children`s playwrights who developed new styles drawn from commedia dell`arte techniques, absurdist dialogue and grotesque farce.
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