The Detrimental Decline of Creative Dramatists at the Elementary Level

Children are inherently creative and imaginative, constantly inventing games, storylines, and exploring. However, in the current climate defined by a rise in technology that may not be conducive to these instinctive attributes, theatre is an incredibly important medium where children are able to further refine these characteristics. Because of this belief that theatre is important for a child’s development, children’s theatre has become an entity in its own right, used to promote creativity in the lives and minds of children. Unfortunately, children’s theatre is something that is not accessible for enough children. In this paper I discuss numerous sources pertaining to theatre at the elementary level, my own experience and research about this topic, and my observations of the Drama Maniacs, a local children’s theatre company. Through the exploration of this accumulated research and observation, I will suggest possibilities for further integration of theatre in schools in order to improve this lack of theatrical education. I argue theatre is important for children due to its numerous benefits, which is why the reach and accessibility of theatre for children should be increased exponentially, especially in children’s education at the elementary level