The advantage being that we set out with a goal and met it: we focused on “saying yes” (as the title of the workshop promised) along with guiding/coaching and trusting oneself.  These all came up on their own as part of the creative process.

The disadvantage being that we discovered what we forgot to include…the purpose of doing PictureBook Plays.  We were so focused on sharing the practical portions that we neglected the theory.  All it needed was a few sentences and we could have at least covered the basic theory to really drive the importance of process-oriented theatre home.

So, for those of you who have been following this blog, or, better yet, were at our presentation, here’s a late-night primer for you.

Process-Oriented Theatre is an essential art form in the early childhood classroom because:

• Given the chance to make their own choices and decisions about all aspects of a story (character, blocking, words, sounds, physical engagement,props,etc.) children are given power over their own worlds and begin to understand that they also have power over the real world.
• With the self-confidence of empowerment comes the ability to make new and challenging choices in life.
• Students learn to communicate with their peers and teachers as collaborators and creators.
• As an audience member (and scene partner) we develop the ability to generously appreciate the artistry of others.
• Students develop empathy.
• Making sense of a story translates very easily into making sense of the world.
• Children deserve to have their artistic decisions and creations treated with respect as essential works of art.  As children who are respected by others, they grow into people who respect others.

Trust me, this is all written somewhat haphazardly late at night after playing hooky so we could take our very patient three-year old assistant to the white house, monuments and museums.  We’ve said it much better in our book.  But it’s enough, for now, because we share this pedagogy not simply to give you pro-active ways to include theatre in your curriculum but because we believe theatrical opportunities are essential for the development of whole children.

But what I found really interesting was one exec’s decision to bring in new, young writers in order to mentor their writing process: to help them learn to communicate ideas to children without using their war torn lives as the backdrop.  How does one talk about a family member disappearing unexpectedly without bringing in soldiers?  And can you have that family member return when, in real life, they never do?

Kuttab, a big, gentle man whose suit pants are perpetually rumpled, told me he specifically wanted to work with untrained writers like Awadallah. He knew that his head writer, Nada Al-Yassir, who was raised in Canada and has produced some short films, could on her own churn out enough Sesame-appropriate scripts, but he was pursuing a bigger goal. Developing an independent television and film industry, he said, was a crucial step in building a Palestinian state, and he told me he thought that if his writers could learn to write hopeful, engaging stories for kids, it would benefit them as much as the viewers.

In other words, learning to express oneself through symbols, allegories, movement, and interactions which can take on greater/universal meaning for an audience is beneficial not just for the audience, but for the creating artist.  Mr. Kuttab is helping to encourage a new generation of artists who can reach beyond reality and into dreams.  So, when they figure out how to tell the story of a missing family member (who may or may not return) in a way that is removed from reality, they begin to dream of possibility.  And that is how one changes the world.  It is only by reaching beyond the starkness of reality into possibility that hopes and dreams are born and someday become a new reality.

I’m not implying that Sesame Street can solve the political unrest in the world, the millions of murdered children and uprooted families.  Or that Mr. Kuttab’s vision alone will forge for him the stabilized Palestinian state he’s reaching for.  But this article is a nice reminder of how important art can be for the well-being of the world, and how nice it is to see art in action from a major corporation for the benefit of both children and artists.

All that being said, I hope that, eventually, Sesame Street will be able to reinvent their original concept of a combined Palestinian-Israeli Street for the children of that region.  By continuing their work within current cultural boundaries, it gives me hope that someday those mentored writers (and their policy makers) will be willing to reach across the walls, dream a little higher, and try again.