By Niclas Malmcrona
WINDHOEK
ITYARN, the International Theatre for Young Audiences Research Network, is calling for proposals for the Inaugural International Theatre for Young Audiences Research Forum at the 16th ASSITEJ World Congress in Adelaide, Australia on May 9-18 2008.
As an affiliate to Assitej-International, Namibia will also be represented at the congress.
This network aims to advance critical inquiry in the field of Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) through the exchange and discussion of papers from scholars in and outside the field of TYA.
The idea is to bridge the gap between theatre for young people and theatre for adults by discussing the field of TYA from historiographical and theoretical perspectives that have not been applied to the field before, offering multiple, intersecting narratives on the slippery relationship between theatre, young people, and the shifting material circumstances (social, cultural, economic, ideological and political) under which this theatre is generated and perceived.
The forum will take place over the course of one day, and consist of a plenary session and 2-4 working groups.
Topics of the working groups will include but are not limited to 1. Aesthetics of contemporary theatre in the field of TYA 2. Theories and histories of TYA 3. Reception processes in TYA 4. Child culture and cultural environment of TYA .
Researchers who want to participate in a Working Group should submit a 750 word proposal and sample bibliography by email in Word or RTF.
Proposals should include name, affiliation, and email address in the upper left corner.
Proposals will be peer reviewed by the ITYARN founding board in October 2007. Notifications will go out early November 2007. Final papers may be submitted to the 2009 issue of Youth Theatre Journal, edited by Manon van de Water.