International Journal Of Literature And Languages
161
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VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue05 2025
PAGE NO.
161-164
10.37547/ijll/Volume05Issue05-37
Sources of The Emergence of The First Children's
Theater
Ataniyazova Gulshat Seitniyazovna
An independent researcher (candidate) of the National Pedagogical Institute named after Ajiniyaz Nokis, Uzbekistan
Received:
31 March 2025;
Accepted:
29 April 2025;
Published:
31 May 2025
Abstract:
The main features of the origins of the earliest children's theatre have been scientifically and
theoretically analyzed in the directions of development of children's dramaturgy in Russia, Western Europe,
America, Japan, and other countries.
Keywords:
Theater, drama, Europe, America, fairy tale, legend, Renaissance, category.
Introduction:
The very first children's theatre began
with a home theatre. It was founded in 1779 by Andrey
Timofeevich Bolotov in the Tulsk Governorate of
Bogorodic, and he wrote the dramas "Tears" and
"Unfortunate Orphans" for the first time. After this, I.A.
Krylov wrote the play "Lessons for My Daughters" in
1807. The first children's theatre in Russia was opened
in 1918 by Lunacharsky in the Russian cities of
Leningrad and Moscow. The earliest repertoires in
these theaters began with fairy tale plays. The famous
fairy tales of Andersen and Meterlin, Krylov's fables,
and children's songs with melodies (of Mussorgsky,
Grechanin, and Lyadova) were demonstrated through
pantomime. After that, the theater's repertoire
included "The Nightingale" based on Andersen's work,
"Tom Sawyer" based on M. Twain's work, "Colors"
based on Remizov's work, Chumachenko's "Joseph the
Beautiful," Scrib's "The Bear and the Pasha"[2:11], and
several other performances. By 1935, 87 professional
children's theaters had opened in Russia.
Children's theaters in Western Europe and America not
only emerged under the influence of this initiative but
also adopted Soviet plays for children, many of which
embodied internationalist ideas. For example, one of
the famous plays for the young audience theater, the
play "The Little Negro and the Monkey" by N. Sach and
S. Rozanov, was successfully staged abroad and
contributed to the opening of the first children's
theaters in Prague, Istanbul, and many other cities.
[3:19]. In 1923, director M. Billijanka founded the
"Youth World" theater in Poland. There, they staged
Meterlink's "The Blue Bird" and Tagore's "The Mail."
The Krakow theater's repertoire includes plays such as
Schwarz's
"The
Little
Red
Riding
Hood,"
Shvirshtynskaya's
"The
Queen
of
Porcelain,"
Senkevich's "In the Woods and Deserts," D. Defoe's
"Robinson Crusoe," Collodius's "Pinocchio," and others.
In the 1960s, this theater became known as the "Three
Generations Theatre." In 1935, a children's theatre was
opened in Czechoslovakia, led by M. Melanova, with
the play "The Little Negro and the Monkey" by N. Sach
and V. Rozanov. In 1953, the theater began to be
named after the poet J. Volker, and its director and
chief director was V. Adamek. The theater's repertoire
mainly includes works by Czech and Russian
playwrights, for example, Steglik's "House of
Gingerbread," S. Mikhalkov's "Zaitse-Zaznayka," Y.
Volker's "The Stolen Sun," Sotnik's "One Terrible Day,"
Klitsper's "The Wonderful Hat," and others.
We have studied the origins of children's dramaturgy
based on the earliest folk traditions, examining it from
a scholarly perspective through the lens of world
dramaturgy. Specifically, we have examined its division
into several stages.
Before the advent of modern children's theater in the
USA, there were such forms of folk art as theatrical
staging, puppet shows, and folklore performances,
which often attracted children and were used for
educational purposes. In the early stages, theatrical
performances for children were more of an
entertainment character and often became part of
large cultural events such as fairs and holidays.
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International Journal Of Literature And Languages (ISSN: 2771-2834)
Beginning in the 17th century, various forms of folk
theatrical performances emerged in America, including
traveling theaters, where children sometimes became
spectators. However, in those early years, theatrical
works for children did not yet exist as a separate genre,
and children were viewers of general performances
intended for a wide audience.
Starting from the mid-19th century, more attention
began to be paid to children's theatre in the USA. At this
time, the children's theatre is distinguished from
ordinary performances for adults, and the first wave of
works created specifically for young audiences
emerges.
In the 1840s, the first theater company for staging
children's performances appeared. One such step was
the establishment of the Children's Theater in New
York City. The theatre began to actively utilize
literature, adapting famous works for children's
sensibilities, and in this way, the foundations of
children's theatre were laid, directed towards
educational and upbringing goals.
The first theater in New York was founded in the middle
of the 18th century, around 1750, by the leading actors
Walter Murray and Thomas Keane, in a theater on
Nassau Street in Lower Manhattan, with a resident
theater company for about 280 people. They
performed William Shakespeare's plays and ballad
operas such as "The Beggar's Opera." In 1752, William
Hullum sent a team of twelve actors from Britain with
his brother Lewis to the colony as governors.
They established a theater in Williamsburg, Virginia,
and opened the theater with the plays "The Merchant
of Venice" and "The Anatome." The company relocated
to New York City in 1753, performing ballad-opera and
ballad-farce, such as "Dayman and Fillida."
During the War of Independence, theater activities in
New York City were suspended. However, after the war
ended, the theater was restored in 1798, when a 2,000-
seat park theater was built on Chatham Street in the
area of present-day Park Road. The second largest
theater, the Bavari Theatre, opened in 1826,[2] after
which other theaters began to open.
Starting from the 19th century, a theatrical genre based
on classical works and fairy tales also emerged for
children's audiences. During this period, famous
European and Russian works like "The Nutcracker" or
the Brothers Grimm's fairy tales began to be staged for
children. At the beginning of the 20th century,
children's theater began to take shape in the USA as a
separate and important type of theater. In 1903, one of
the first children's theaters in New York was founded -
"The Children's Theatre of New York." During this
period, the theater industry, oriented towards a family
audience, began to develop, and puppet theater also
began to actively operate.
One of the notable events of this period was the work
of the New York Children's Theatre. Both classical
works and original plays written specifically for children
began to be performed here. In the 1930s, US theaters
began to actively develop children's dramaturgy, and a
new approach to theatrical production for children,
encompassing play, education, and moral education,
took shape.
At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, children's
theatre in the USA developed based on social changes
and the demands of the times. In recent decades,
numerous theaters and programs have emerged that
stage plays involving various ethnic and cultural groups,
including children with disabilities, as well as children
of different nationalities.
The emergence of plays for children in England is linked
to several important stages in the development of
theatrical art and changes in the social and cultural life
of society. Children's plays began to take shape as a
distinct genre in Great Britain in the 18th century.
The first examples of children's theatre in the 17th-18th
centuries were English children's theatre, which had
not yet reached such a level of development. However,
in some cases, adult plays are adapted for children. For
example, in those times, masks that could be used for
children, as well as mythological and historical plays,
were widespread.
With the development of children's literature and
education in the 18th century, plays intended for
children's audiences began to appear. These works
were mainly aimed at encouraging children's time and
giving them advice, and their purpose was to give
advice and upbringing. One of the earliest known
examples is the play "The Story of Tom Thumb" (1744),
written for children.
Theater has always been a part of every culture.
Therefore, it's impossible to predict exactly when the
children's theatre will begin. However, from the
perspective of the written play, Bennett believes that
the children's theatre emerged in Europe at the end of
the 19th century, adopting the form of "Tour
companies staging folk and magical tales" (2005, p. 12),
and that Barry's play "Peter Pen" (1904) was the first to
gain widespread recognition in Great Britain. Another
successful theatre for children is Milne's "Toad Hall
Frog" (1929).
The Polka Theatre, another well-known children's
theatre, began its work in Great Britain in 1967 as a
touring company. However, after the Order was
successfully reviewed by the English Council of Art, the
International Journal Of Literature And Languages
163
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International Journal Of Literature And Languages (ISSN: 2771-2834)
Polka Theatre opened a children's theatre in 1979 in
the permanent theatre space of Wimbledon, using
various forms of art to create new works for children.
The task of the Polka Theater is "to awaken the
imagination of children from all segments of society
and to awaken a sense of discovery... education and
participation are at the heart of the activities of the
Polka Theater, calling children to research and creative
development" (Polka, 2017). In 1994, the Polka Theatre
won the Vivienne Duffild Theatre Award, resulting in
the creation of a program called "Curtain-Up," which
offers free tickets to low-income schools. It is estimated
that more than 90,000 children visit Polka annually to
explore the fun and exciting theater.
The emergence of plays for children in France is linked
to the development of theatrical art and pedagogical
thought. The first plays specifically designed for
children appeared during the Enlightenment period,
when special attention was paid to the upbringing and
education of the younger generation.
The first play written for children is "Le Petit Théâtre de
l'enfance" (The Little Theatre of Childhood), created in
1756 by Jean-Marie Leprens de Beaumont. Leprens de
Beaumont was a renowned writer and educator who
placed great emphasis on educating children through
literature. His/Her plays are dedicated to teaching
children ethics and rules of conduct through theatrical
stages.
Thus, it can be said that the first plays for children
appeared in France in the middle of the 18th century,
and one of the main figures of this process was Joan of
Arc Leprens de Beaumont.
In France, as in other countries, the first forms of
theatrical performances for children appeared in the
context of fairy tales and legends. The most famous
works that could be used for children were theatrical
fairy tales and fables, historical plays. These
performances were usually aimed at an adult audience,
but their plots and elements were also interesting for
children.
Furthermore, in the 17th century, the first revised
versions of famous works for children appeared. Thus,
French writers began to utilize mythological and
literary themes familiar to children through books and
oral narration.
The development of children's theatre and children's
literature in Germany was also linked to the
Enlightenment, where attention to children's
education was of paramount importance. One of the
first famous children's plays in Germany was the
"Kindertheater" (Children's Theatre), created in 1776
by Christian Felix Weisse.
Christian Felix Weise was a German writer, poet, and
educator who was actively engaged in creating works
for children. His poems written for children's theatre
were dedicated to teaching children ethics, kindness,
and rules of conduct through theatrical stages. Weise is
considered one of the founders of children's literature
and theater in Germany.
Thus, the year 1776 is considered a significant period in
the history of children's theatre in Germany, and
Christian Felix Weise is considered one of the first
authors to create songs specifically for children.
If in Italy in the 18th and 19th centuries theater
gradually adapted folk tales and legends for children,
then in the 20th century children's theater became an
independent and important genre. Today, Italian
children's theatre continues to develop, encompassing
diverse themes and not only entertaining children but
also
providing
opportunities
for
a
deeper
understanding of the world around them.
The emergence of plays for children in Greece, as in
other countries, is linked to the development of
theatrical art, pedagogy, and the social concept of
childhood. However, in Greece, with its rich theatrical
tradition, the formation of children's theatre had
unique characteristics related to the development of
ancient theatrical culture, education, and social
systems, as well as the adoption of childhood.
However, in Ancient Greece, there was no theatre
specifically designed for children as a genre. The role of
the theatre in children's upbringing was not direct, but
rather education through participation in mass
performances and religious ceremonies.
In the 19th century, with the growing interest in
developing children's education and upbringing
programs, theaters focused on children's audiences
began to appear in Europe. In Greece, the national
theatrical tradition developed during this period, and
gradually, the importance of creating works for
children began to be recognized.
The establishment of theaters for staging songs for
whole families, including children, is becoming an
important event. Although theaters in Greece in the
19th century were still mainly oriented towards adult
audiences, more and more theatrical productions
began to adapt classical works for children. Songs often
incorporate folklore elements, folk tales, myths, and
legends, making them appealing to young audiences.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the development
of children's theatre began in Greece. Social changes
associated with industrialization and urbanization, as
well as the growing interest in raising children, have led
to the adoption of theatre as an important tool for
International Journal Of Literature And Languages
164
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ijll
International Journal Of Literature And Languages (ISSN: 2771-2834)
educating and nurturing a new generation.
Greek playwrights began to write plays for children,
aimed at both entertainment and the cultivation of
moral values. At this time, performances adapting
traditional Greek myths, folklore, and history for young
audiences emerged.
One of the most popular theaters for children in Greece
is the Children's and Youth Theater in Athens, which
actively staged songs for children's audiences, including
contemporary songs by Greek and foreign authors. The
emergence of plays for children in Japan is linked to the
development of modern theater and education
systems from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Unlike traditional forms of Japanese theatre focused on
older audiences like No, Kabuki, and Bunraku,
children's theatre in Japan began to take shape under
the influence of Western trends in education and art.
One of the first plays for children in Japan is "Pavloniy
Guli" (Japanese: Kyri no Hana), written by Odzaki Koyo
in the 1890s. Odzaki Koyo was a famous Japanese
writer and playwright who made a significant
contribution to the development of modern Japanese
literature and theater. His poems written for children
were aimed at stimulating and, at the same time,
educating young audiences, nurturing them in the spirit
of morality and love for art.
Beginning with the Meiji period (1868-1912), when
Japan began to actively adopt Western models in the
fields of education, art, and culture, theater became
more diverse, and a trend began to create individual
works for children.
During this period, organizations focused on children's
education and upbringing began to take shape, and
theaters began to realize the possibility and necessity
of showcasing special productions for children.
However, until the end of the 19th century, children's
songs were still rare in Japan, and there was no
separate children's theatre. Instead, children gained
the opportunity to see a reflection of folk tales and
legends intended for the general public.
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