"Political Plays for Children" - screamingly funny!

They're from Berlin's Grips Theatre (early 1970s) and were translated
by Jack Zipes.

http://www.telospress.com/main/index...roducts_id=148
(cover and table of contents)

(Just so you know, the plays are political only in the sense that they
talk about kids' right to be kids - nothing heavy-duty most of the
time.)

http://web.grinnell.edu/sandb/archiv...article01.html
(description of "Mugnog," - easily the funniest and least
controversial - which was performed in recent years at colleges in
Iowa and Wisconsin. Songs include "Why Are Grownups Scared of Other
Grownups?")

"Bizzy, Dizzy, Daffy & Arthur" is about four kids who have no
playground available to them and whose neighbors yell at them for
making the slightest noise (from what I understand, it's no accident
that this play was written in Germany, what with kinderfeindlichkeit
and all) so they break into an abandoned building to play and get
arrested by a pair of cops, Knick and Knock. Chaos ensues at the
police station. What's interesting (SPOILER) is that as an adult
reader, you might assume that the cops are playing "good cop / bad
cop" at one point, but it turns out that the good cop really is just
that! Songs include "Order Makes Up Half Your Life" - sung by the
cops.

"Man oh Man" is about how sexism and the lack of respect and
cooperation within the family can deprive the family of union power
against manipulative landlords and bullying bosses and how that can be
overcome. Well-written (if dated), but one scene of angry spousal
dialogue might be too much for young kids to watch on stage. Songs
include "Stand Up, Fight For Your Rights."

http://www.loganberrybooks.com/solved-g.html
(scroll down to GRIPS and find a list of other plays available in
English - though possibly out of print)

http://www.grips-theater.de/
(in German)

Bits and pieces from the Web:

"Call it Barney meets NYPD Blue: Children's programming with upbeat
songs and gritty reality is the trademark of Berlin's renowned Grips
Theatre. Atlanta's 7 Stages brought the Grips sensibility of producing
plays which address children's concerns--rather than the concerns
adults have about children--to the U.S. with its recent production of
the Grips-developed play Max and Milli by Volker Ludwig.

"In the world premiere of this new American version, translated by
Kati Koerner and. directed by Grips leading actor Thomas Ahrens, 7
Stages continues an exchange between the two theatres....."

http://www.childrenstheatre.org/releases/2003_0505.html

International Bridges
"International Bridges is a new program that grew from the success of
CTC's Neighborhood Bridges program. During the past six years, CTC
teaching artists have been working in Minneapolis inner city schools
two hours a week for the entire school year. The teaching artists use
storytelling and creative drama to develop children's critical
literacy. The program teaches young people how to think for
themselves, and to express and articulate how they see and imagine
themselves in the world. Over 1000 students have been involved in
Neighborhood Bridges. This remarkable program was created by Dr. Jack
Zipes.

"Dr. Zipes has more than 20 years of experience working with children,
educators, schools, actors and storytellers in using storytelling
techniques to enhance core curriculum. He is an internationally
recognized translator of folktales and fairytales. He is a champion of
fairytales and children's literature and has written numerous books on
those topics. Dr. Zipes is a professor and the Chair of the Department
of German, Scandinavian and Dutch at the University of Minnesota."


Lenona.