Theatrical competence, communication and ‘Cargo’ among young audiences: how do they figure it out?

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the findings of aesthetic qualitative research conducted in Israel for the purpose of increasing the understanding of the reception process among kindergarten children (aged 5–6). The paper focuses on the link between Theatrical Communication, personal ‘Cargo’ young audiences ‘carry’ upon attending a theatrical event and Theatrical Competence. We argue that the encounter between theatrical cargo and theatrical communication form the theatrical competence of the audience at this young age.

KEYWORDS:

• Reception
• theatrical communication
• young audience
• meaning making

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 All kindergartens chosen were part of the Israeli educational system. The participants came from similar socio-economic background, for there was no intention in this research to focus on or compare diverse socio-economic or ethnic groups.

2 Nonsense in Rhymes (in free translation).

3 Smadar Mor.

4 The initial intention was to separately analyse verbal phrases children used while drawings. however, as Johnny Saldaña, in his book about qualitative research points out, ‘If preplanned methods are not working, you change them to secure the data you need’ (Saldaña 2011). Eventually, after realising separation made no significance, all verbal phrases were combined.

5 https://atlasti.com/.

6 All children’s quotes were freely translated to English by the authors.

7 We are using the term ‘as if’ in the children’s quotes and not the verb ‘pretend’ since it represents a more accurate literal translation from Hebrew.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Israel Science Foundation: [grant number 487/20].

Notes on contributors

Smadar Mor

Smadar Mor (PhD), is a lecturer in the Kibbutzim College of Education and a lecturer and pedagogical coordinator in the School of Education, Tel Aviv University. Smadar’s research focuses on reception of theatre performances, theatre communication and theatrical competence among kindergarten children and young audiences (TYA).

Naphtaly Shem-Tov

Naphtaly Shem-Tov is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Literature, Language, and the Arts at the Open University of Israel. He published in several journals, including TDR, TRI, CTR, NTQ and RiDE. His books are Acco Festival: Between Celebration and Confrontation (2016) and Improvisational Teaching (in Hebrew) (2015).