Hyderabad: The World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People is celebrated on March 20 across the world. The main purpose is to attract the attention of a wider public to the art of theatre for children and young people.
The day urges national centers, individual members, companies, arts organisations, academics, teachers, and artists to encourage children to connect with this fabulous art. Early exposure to the arts is critical to plant seeds of curiosity, empathy, creativity, and inspiration, which impact all humans in their future lives.
The Day was first celebrated on March 20, 2001. It is a campaign belonging to The International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People. It is the only association connecting thousands of theatre-makers, artists, educators, and producers dedicated to theatre for children worldwide.
The first plays were performed in the Theatre of Dionysus, built in the shadow of the Acropolis in Athens at the beginning of the fifth century. The first movie theater to be built in India was Chaplin Cinema, also known as Elphinstone Picture Palace. Chaplin Cinema was built in 1907 by Jamshedji Framji Madan.
The Day is an initiative led by the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People with the purpose to communicate and promote the phrase:
ASSITEJ: The International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People was established in Paris in 1965 to forge connections between theatre companies and performing arts professionals involved in theatre for children and young people. Its members include national centers, professional networks, and individuals. The goal is to encourage children to reconnect with live performance, ideas, emotions, and the human-to-human connection. It aims to uphold the rights of children and young people to arts and culture and the freedom of self-expression.
Why Children and young people need theatre?
- It's essential to realise how important theatre is to children's development
- The immersion provided by theatre plays allows children to gain an appreciation for people from all backgrounds and with all points of view. They can step into someone else’s shoes and gain empathy and cultural relativity.
- Taking children to the theatre will help them to engage with something entertaining that doesn’t constantly change.
- Children need imagination to grow, create, think, and play. Theatre is the single most valuable place where kids can explore the endless possibilities of their imaginations and what they can do
- Theatre introduces new vocabulary and communication forms with acting, dance, and music that allows children to communicate in unique ways
- Theatre is a safe way to expose kids to difficult situations and show them firsthand how to handle these situations. plays and musicals illustrate many different lessons
- It's boosts creativity, theatre exposes them to stories that some alive, sparking their own creative thinking
- Early experiences foster a love and appreciation for theatre and the arts in general
- Theatre shows can helps them build their moral. Seeing characters, negative emotions helps them understand and connect with others feelings
- They can learn more about society, culture, environment and interesting facts from theatre
Without theatre, children not only miss out on an amazing artistic experience, but they lose the chance to experience an endless amount of learning opportunities. With exposure that not only raises school performance, but also encourages creativity, culture, communication, patience, morals, and imagination, an afternoon at the theatre is something that cannot be overlooked. Children cannot bring themselves to the theater so to celebrate the day you can take your child or the youth and children in your community who have never experienced theater before to the theater.
The World Theater Day for Children and Young People is a call to acknowledge the dependence of children on the adults around them if they want to be exposed to the arts in general and the live stage in particular. For this reason, we say 'Take a kid to the theater today'.
