Barnteater som händelse : Barnpublik och vuxenvärldar vid Kulturhuset Stadsteaterns scen i Skärholmen

Sammanfattning: Professional theatre for children is entirely conditioned by adults, though children are its primary audience. Adults at the theatre produce and perform theatre for child audiences, whereas other adults make the arrangements and escort children to the theatre. Thus, a distinctive feature of children’s theatre, in comparison to its adult counterpart, is that child audiences rarely go to the theatre on their own initiatives. All adults might have the child audiences in mind, though often in different ways and with varying expectations, hence manifesting itself in what I have chosen to call the scenario of children’s theatre, inspired by the American performance studies scholar Diana Taylor (2003). The scenario of children’s theatre forms rather predictable patterns of communicating, thinking and meaning-making, by which the adults and the children within the scenario act and orient themselves, although it holds openings for change.The theoretical framework of this dissertation draws on theories from both theatre/performance studies and childhood studies. Based on the concept of children's theater as event, that is, a notion that a theatre performance can extend far beyond the time and space that the theater performance itself constitutes, this doctoral thesis aims to study child audiences’ experiences of going to the theatre related to five productions at the Stockholm House of Culture & City Theatre’s stage in Skärholmen. Furthermore, this thesis examines how generation is constructed within these children’s theatre events, by adults and children both, as well as how the scenario of children’s theatre is repeated and/or changed.The research material was generated in two rounds, in 2011 and 2013, both in an early phase in the history of the Skärholmen stage. The material emanated from the child audiences (ranging from 6 to13 years of age) consists of logbooks, audio recorded group discussions, notes from audience- and performance observations and children’s drawings. Additionally, a written teacher survey was carried out as well as interviews with adults at the theatre and decision makers at municipal offices nearby.This thesis contributes to the field of children's theater research by further placing children's theater in a wider context, as event. Another contribution is the distinguishing of the scenario of children's theater in itself, highlighting its repeated patterns, but also its shifts and nuances. These changes become strains and displacements within the scenario, which this dissertation shows a number of examples of. The material and psychical milieu at the Skärholmen stage seem to contribute with such possibilities for change, as do sometimes the performances themselves. However, many positionings within the scenario is shown to remain as mere repetitions. The child audiences express themselves in broad terms when it comes to their experiences of a theater performances, many times exceeding the theater performance itself. They show awareness of how they are expected to behave according to the scenario of children's theatre, though they sometimes challenge it. Child audiences carry thoughts that they want the theater to confirm and/or challenge. Furthermore, the child audiences want to be treated by the adults on their own terms and in meaningful ways, that is through horizontal relationships that seem to be beneficial to the whole of the children’s theatre event.