The review panel was staged on Wednesday, May 12 in a book review pavilion called 'Pavilion of Appointment' in the 23^rd edition of Tehran International Book Fair.

 

The panel was joined by two distinguished critics and theater researchers, Shirin Bozorgmehr and Manuchehr Akbarlu, and the author, Davud Kiyaniyan, himself.

 

The author opened the forum by giving a short introduction about the book, a collection of articles. He admitted since the articles were authored in extend of several years from 1987 to 2002 the collection suffers a poor internal coherence, so that sometimes repetitions have taken place.

 

He said however that he the book discusses shortfalls in children's theater in Iran and suggests solutions to fix them. Kiyaniyan noted that following the release, several initiatives took place to promote children's theater, including establishment of Children and Youngsters Theater Association and publication of a special periodical on children's theater by Center for Intellectual Promotion of Children and Youngsters.

 

He also spoke of several school and university modules on children's theaters to be introduced before year-end.

 

Next Bozorgmehr took the discussion and called the book as a first ever comprehensive work on children's theater in Iran, adding that the book presents forty years of study and hands-on experience by the author in the field of children and youngsters' theater.

 

"Minimum subjectivity has befallen the book so that every line of the text is underpinned by a practical background and a theoretically sound basis. It is a synopsis of latest international theories and experiences in the field," the critic praised.

 

She said the author has conducted a fine study of shortfalls in children's theater in Iran and turned the spotlight on existing problems, including poor status of children's theater festivals and shabby handling of the arts by relevant authorities or bodies in charge.

 

The book discusses significance of theater in nurturing the mind of children and youngsters and grooming them for living in society, the critic said. In Bozorgmehr's view, the book is a performance as it has a plain language and at the same the content is aligned with modern theories and findings of sociologists, psychologists and experts in educational sciences.

 

The critic spoke of the work as a reference for history of children's theater in Iran and notably the effective role of Center for Intellectual Promotion of Children and Youngsters in developing and promoting the arts.

 

The book also features discussions about history of play writing for children, different categories and styles, content quality and related do's and don'ts, as well as handling of relationship between playwright, director, trainer and debut artists in a dialectical writing style.

 

Next, Akbarlu, the other panelist took the review discussion and briefed the audience on various chapters of the book.

 

In the first chapter, according to him, the author gives a background of children's theater in Iran as well as what might have been to blame for a shabby development in the field including in state planning or festivals.

 

The next chapter, Akbarlu said, discusses significance of theater for children and youngsters in schools and under heading "why to perform," it discusses effective methods of performance to a minor audience which the author argues is endowed with Godly given mental characteristics.

 

The chapter also studies advantages and disadvantages of theatrical devices for children's theater, including makeup, decoration, costume and music.

 

Titled "children and youngsters' dramatic literature," the third chapter delves into problems related to dramatic literature including shortage of plays as well as role of psychology in dramatic texts related to children and youngsters, according to Akbarlu.