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BGSU_Dissertations_0029_Radliff.pdf (14.03 MB)

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A Study of the Techniques of Adapting Children's Literature to the Stage

Radliff, Suzanne P.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1554464085294822

Abstract Details

1969, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, Theatre.
Current theorists on children's theatre lament the lack of literary merit in plays written for children. This study was a critical investigation of techniques which playwrights are using in plays for children. Since a majority of children's plays are adaptations of children's literature., this study focused on techniques of adaptation in plays for children. The scripts chosen for investigation were based upon one of three literary sources: seven were based on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass; six were based on the folk tale of Hansel and Gretel; and seven were based on Mark Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawy-er. The scripts were first compared with the original source in the areas of plot structure, characterization, dialogue, and special effects to discover what modifications playwrights made to place the narrative source on stage before a child audience. Second, each script was analyzed for its dramatic structure to determine how well the playwrights integrated those modifications into the structure of the dramatic work. Each of the twenty scripts in this study displayed major weaknesses in dramatic structure. The most common fault was that the dramatic action was interrupted by devices meant to entertain children, such as games, songs, dances, scenes of suspense, jokes, and rhymes. A second fault was that words, characters, and actions from the original source were included with little dramatic justifi-cation. In most cases, the dramatic works lacked coherence. Through a critical investigation of twenty adapta-tions for children, this study gained concrete evidence to support the generally accepted statement that plays for children's theatre lack literary merit. The investigation was made to point out specific erro-rs which are being made consistently in adaptations for children so that those errors may be corrected and the result may be better dra-matic literature for children.
Lois Cheney (Advisor)
Theater

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Radliff, S. P. (1969). A Study of the Techniques of Adapting Children's Literature to the Stage [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1554464085294822

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Radliff, Suzanne. A Study of the Techniques of Adapting Children's Literature to the Stage. 1969. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1554464085294822.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Radliff, Suzanne. "A Study of the Techniques of Adapting Children's Literature to the Stage." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 1969. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1554464085294822

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1554464085294822
541
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