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PLAYING WITH PERFORMANCE: HOW THEATRE BRINGS CREATIVITY, COMMUNICATION, AND EMPOWERMENT TO CHILDREN FACING HOSPITALIZATION AND LIFE CHANGING DISORDERS Jennifer Ann Faller B.A., College of Notre Dame, Belmont, 2000 THESIS Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in THEATER ARTS at CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO SPRING 2010 PLAYING WITH PERFORMANCE: HOW THEATRE BRINGS CREATIVITY, COMMUNICATION, AND EMPOWERMENT TO CHILDREN FACING HOSPITALIZATION AND LIFE CHANGING DISORDERS A Thesis by Jennifer Ann Faller Approved by: ________________________________, Committee Chair Melinda Wilson, Ph.D. _______________________________, Second Reader Linda Goodrich, Ph.D. ______________________________ Date ii Student: Jennifer Ann Faller I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for the thesis. _____________________________, Graduate Coordinator __________________ Melinda Wilson, Ph.D. Date Department of Theatre and Dance iii Abstract of PLAYING WITH PERFORMANCE: HOW THEATRE BRINGS CREATIVITY, COMMUNICATION, AND EMPOWERMENT TO CHILDREN FACING HOSPITALIZATION AND LIFE CHANGING DISORDERS by Jennifer Ann Faller This thesis traces the presence of theatre’s involvement in the lives of children facing long-term hospitalization as well as children diagnosed with Autism, a neurological disorder affecting socialization skills. Theatre’s involvement begins in the hospital, through the unconscious use of theatrical elements brought to children by child life specialists and continues through the consciously used element of performance by hospital clowns used to empower hospitalized children. Also examined is the play, This is a Test: One Girl’s Fight with Cancer, written by twelve-year-old Shenita Peterson, about her battle with cancer and hospitalization experience. Her play lived a life of multiple performances in the Chicago area including one performed in a teaching hospital for medical students. This case study shows how theatre not only entertains, it is a teaching tool. The final relationship explored is the one between theatre and autistic children. I discovered that theatre has maintained a strong presence in the autistic community through different kinds of therapy used to help teach children with ASD how to communicate and recognize emotion. Like the relationship between theatre and the iv hospital setting, autistic theatre has not always been a conscious one. The final chapter traces the relationship from unconscious to conscious. _________________________________, Committee Chair Melinda Wilson, Ph.D. ________________________________ Date v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this time to thank Shenita Peterson for taking the time to answer all of my questions regarding her play, This is a Test: One Girl’s Fight with Cancer. I would also like to thank Ewing Eugene Baldwin for taking the time to give several insights to Shenita’s experiences through both the hospital and writing process. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements….……………………………………………………………………vi List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………...viii Chapter 1. THE INTRODUCTION OF PLAY AND PERFORMANCE....………………….1 2. BRINGING PLAY INTO THE HOSPITAL: TRACKING THE PRESENCE OF THEATRE IN A CHILD’S HOSPITAL EXPERIENCE .…………...…...………9 3. THEATRE AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL: HOW HUMOR, INTELLECT, AND ONE GIRL’S FIGHT WITH CANCER TAUGHT OTHERS COMPASSION…………………….………………………………...………..…35 4. “AUTISTIC THEATRE”: THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEATRE AND AUTISM…………………..…57 5. CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………………….90 Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………...96 vii LIST OF FIGURES Page 1. Figure 1 Automatic Thinking versus Coping Thoughts...………………………64 viii 1 Chapter 1 THE INTRODUCTION OF PLAY AND PERFORMANCE Creativity, self confidence, and communication are crucial to children‘s growth and development. This thesis examines how theatre helps incorporate these elements into the lives of children facing hospitalization and/or long term disorders, primarily autism. For these children, creativity and self confidence disappear while fear, sadness, and the loss of self-expression replace them. In order to combat these negative effects, children need to have an outlet to release their feelings. Direct and indirect forms of theatre used in various forms of therapy create such an outlet. According to the California Department of Education, participation in performing arts ―employs a form of thinking and a way of knowing based on human judgment, invention, and imagination‖ (California State Board of Education ix). This means that active participation in theatre allows children to learn socialization skills as well as develop deductive reasoning through a creative process. Not only does theatre help with socialization, it helps develop a strong sense of self and confidence that children take with them into adulthood. When children enter the hospital because of illness, or are diagnosed with autism, there is a shift in what becomes important to the adults responsible for them. The adults, including parents, doctors, and therapists, are no longer concerned with the extracurricular of life, but rather, the immediate dangers the diagnosis brings forth. For hospitalized children this means procedures, hospital stays, and recovery; for children diagnosed with autism, simple tasks such as developing normal friendships become 2 serious obstacles.1 As a result, they lose their sense of control because they no longer have a part in decisions made regarding their bodies. This leads to a breakdown of communication between children and adults, as children do not feel comfortable voicing their concerns. This lack of comfort regarding communication leads to a negative self view, resulting in children becoming depressed. The introduction of theatre in this environment allows children to express themselves through play while promoting normal development and rebuilding communication between children and adults. Theatre began as a way to communicate information and has come full circle with regard to its relationship with children. When theatrical performances progressed into a form of entertainment, the goal shifted from being informative to creating an emotional response prompting social change. The role of actors became similar to that of a newscaster, or a liaison between the general community and the opinionated writers. The actor‘s job was to communicate to the audience a specific point of view, be it positive or negative. This history of communication sets up the relationship theatre develops with children. When children become involved in performing, be it directly or indirectly, they become the author, director, and actor sharing their point of view. This allows them to control the information given and the manner in which it is revealed. As theatre started out as a form of communication, by providing information to the public, it continues this role in the lives of hospitalized children and/or children facing long term disorders. It not 1 Autism, once categorized as a psychological disease akin to schizophrenia, is a neurological disorder that affects the way the brain processes information. Autistic children struggle with, among other things, understanding emotions that lead to difficulties developing and maintaining social skills. 3 only becomes a vehicle for communication, it boosts children‘s confidence, and reinstates the normalcy of ―playing.‖ To most children participating in such theatrical forms as role-playing, dress-up, and puppetry ―playing‖ comes naturally, for they are just playing make-believe. To adults watching, this form of play demonstrates children‘s need to experiment with and test out social roles. For this reason, the flexibility of ―play‖ is closely aligned with theatre and redefines itself based on the context of the situation. Throughout this thesis the word ―play‖ is redefined based on the needs of each chapter. Play finds itself closely aligned to theatre based on the innate natures of imagination and pretend, which are used in both natural, imaginative play and theatrical performance. The most basic definition of ―play‖ is ―recreational activity‖ (Merriam- Webster 262). When one thinks of children playing, the image of playgrounds, laughter, toys, and dress-up boxes come to mind. Through these recreational activities, children learn and test out skills such as communication, community roles, and social etiquette while encouraging and promoting their developmental growth and imagination. When children play they act out different people they have seen, heard, or read about as a way to explore personal boundaries and develop their own sense of self. They are also testing their social boundaries and learning how to develop and maintain friendships. Clearly playing involves more than simply participating in a ―recreational activity.‖ In theatre, the term ―play‖ has dual meanings as: 1.) a piece of literature written with the intent of being performed on stage, and 2.) actors bringing forth the written story through the portrayal of different characters. For hospitalized children, imaginative play, or the natural instinct to pretend, becomes a way to express emotions freely as they become lost 4 in the moment and may not realize the amount of information being revealed. For children with autism, the basic idea of imaginative play is a foreign and confusing concept,

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