PLAYGROUND THEATRES

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 October 1939, Page 5

PLAYGROUND THEATRES

SUNBEAMS FOR FOOTLIGHTS. Tn several countries o£ Europe and in America playground theatres are figuring impressively in well-planned policies for children’s recreation. A strong supporter of this movement is the America! National Recreation Association. “Sunbeams for footlights, grass for the stage floor, the sky for a canopy, and perhaps the leafy limb of a tree for the proscenium arch —these are nature’s contributions to the theatre of childhood,” writes F. Ellwood Allen in the Association's magazine “Recreation." “It. is in this secret spot, a new world of the playground, that dreams become pulsating realities. To understand children is a prerequisite to understanding the design of the playground theatre. Old formulas must be thrown away and we must become as children if we are to overcome successfully the obstacles that confront the designer.

“In the general classification of outdoor theatres, ranging from the gigantic stadium bowl to the simple naturalistic hillside overlooking a level clearing in a fragrant woods, the playground theatre seems somewhat removed except when introduced as a facility in some of the larger and more extensively developed playfields. The small playground theatre differs fundamentally from other outdoor theatre in its functional use. Here the emphasis is placed upon the participant rather than on the spectator. Plays are produced not so much for the purpose of entertaining an audience, but primarily for the value of creative dramatic expression. In the play-

ground theatre a simple charade pre- < pared on the spur of the moment may J constitute the dramatic high point of the day. “It is obvious that the playground theatre need not. rely on' elaborate settings and-‘properties’ for stage effects, and as its use is confined almost entirely io morning and afternoon hours, there is no problem of artificial lighting, for sunbeams are the footlights. The type of playground theatre depends on a number of factors: size and topography of the play area; extent, size, and arrangement of other facil- j ities; and the need as demonstrated

by ihe enthusiasm and interest of the community. The playground theatre j may be one of three distinct types! which, for want of a better descrip-, rion can be classified as informal, semi- j formal, and formal.”