The 32nd International Festival of Children's Theatres Subotica

The 16TH RESEARCH FORUM FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH THEATRE ART

On the Topic of: DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO AESTHETICS IN THEATRE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH

Theater - as an act of art - allows for different approaches to an aesthetic experience. The act of aesthetic perception makes it possible to experience non-ordinary stage content. There are many different approaches to theatre aesthetics: from theatrical techniques applicable to different social contexts to construction of a peculiar stage language as an act of a theatrical performance.

The 16thResearch Forum for Children and Youth Theatre Art at the 32nd International Festival of Children's Theatres Subotica offers the possibility to discuss the direction in which various theatrical aesthetics in practice enable further development of theatre for children and youth. Theatre authors create their events in different spaces: on stage, in a box, outdoors, in nature, in a classroom; they employ different elements: scenography, lights, props; they use everyday or unusual speech; in order to create an experience that has a psychological, sociological or a cultural impact. The movement of the participants in a staged event - an actor or a puppet - additionally contributes to different approaches to theatre aesthetics for children and young people.

The discussion on different approaches to the aesthetics of theatre for children and young people offers numerous possible interpretations of the phenomenon and its many forms that evoke an experience in the young and youngest audience. The adults are responsible for this experience. The delicacy of the theatrical act encourages young audiences, as well as researchers, to interpret the phenomenon that grants theatre a special place among arts.

Proposed topics of discussion:
- The relationship between aesthetics and ethics in theatre for children and youth
- The aesthetic experience and theatrical act
- The puppet as a part of theatre aesthetics
- Aesthetics of movement in theatre for children and youth
- Theatre for children/youth and education
- Theatre for children/youth and technology
- Theatre for children/youth and nature
- Theatre for children/youth and the family
- Theatre for children/youth as a social dialogue
- Theatre for children/youth and heritage

At the 16thResearch Forum for Children and Youth Theatre Art in Subotica (held from September 22 to September 25, 2025), researchers of 15 countries will be offered a possibility to diversely approach the subject of aesthetics in theatre for children and youth.

Marijana Prpa Fink, PhD