Where Is the Line Between Entertaining and Educating Children?

Elaheh Rezaei, juror of the children's section at the first Tehran National Monologue Festival, stresses the need to consider the characteristics of child and teen audiences. She believes that alongside teaching children and fostering their interest in theater, opportunities should be created for them to take part in producing theatrical works. She also sees children's wider access to information today as an effective factor in raising their awareness and self-confidence.

Emphasizing the importance of education in children's theater, Elaha Rezaei called for more attention to children's abilities

Elaha Rezaei, the judge of the children's section of the first Tehran National Monologue Festival, emphasizing the need to pay attention to the characteristics of the children and teenagers, believes that in addition to educating and strengthening children's interest in theater, they should also be provided with the opportunity to participate in the production of theatrical works. He also considers the wider access of children today to information as an effective factor in increasing their awareness and self-confidence.

According to Ambassador Arjan Elaha Rezaei, the judge of the children's section of the first Tehran National Monologue Festival, spoke with Ambassador Arjan about the difference between today's children's audience and past generations, the capacity of monologues to discover and nurture theatrical talents, the way to recognize children's real talent and the need for them to be more active in the theater production process.

today's child; An audience with wider access to information

In response to the question of what is the difference between today's children and the audience of past generations and what requirements does this difference create for children's theater, Rezaei said: "The more information there is around us, the more open people's minds are, and when this information can be accessed faster, the learning will increase." A child and teenager who is more informed can gain more self-confidence by being interested in theater and presenting it.

monologue; An opportunity to show different talents

This judge of the children's section of the first Tehran National Monologue Festival explained about the capacity of a solo performance to attract children and teenagers and whether this format needs more dramatic elements: "Of course, people have different interests because of their different personalities. "Certainly, for some children, educational conditions should be created to strengthen their interest, but there are certainly others who are interested in this style to show their talent."

In response to a question about the boundary between entertainment and education in the monologue of children and teenagers and whether these two goals should be pursued simultaneously, Rezaei said: "Except for children and teenagers who are interested, in my opinion, education should happen first and then attention should be paid to the issue of entertainment."

How to recognize the real talent of children?

He went on to say about one of the goals of the festival, which is to identify new talents, and how to differentiate between a child's real talent and a performance that is merely preserved or guided by parents and teachers: "Usually children and teenagers show this in their words and behavior, and you can also find out about this issue from the records of artistic works they have done or not done before."

the child; The theater audience or the narrator of the play?

"I think it depends on the age," said the old performer about whether children should be just the audience of the theater or they can also be the producers and narrators of a play. "The closer our child is to the teenage age, he can be the narrator of a play, but the younger he is, naturally, the effect of the theater can be greater."

Referring to the role of the festival in creating opportunities for those who are interested, Rezaei added: "Naturally, the festival can come to the conclusion that we will create the necessary platform for those who are interested in this festival that it wants to be held."

The need to use more of children's own capacity

In response to the question of what children's theater has lost compared to the past and what capacity it needs to revive, Rezaei said, referring to his experience: "I was not directly involved in children's theater, but I think that children's participation in theater performances has been less used in recent years." It means that maybe a theater was built for children, but the children's capacity was perhaps less used."

Monologue in the age of social networks

In the end, he said about the possibility of bringing the form and duration of the monologue closer to children's taste in the era of the spread of social networks and short content, without reducing it to a purely virtual content: "Maybe this is not possible easily; It's a little hard and a little time-consuming, but definitely, like many other things, proper training and timing can make it possible."

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