Discovering a New Audience for Theatre, Vol. I

In June 1965, a group of dedicated professional artists of the theatre met in Paris, France to create the International Association of Theatre for Children and Youth (ASSITEJ). Four days later ASSITEJ was born, and ten years later the organization boasted a total of 28 National Centers in Europe, the mid-East, the Far East, and North and South America. This is their story told meeting by meeting. Leadership in the new organization had come from Great Britain, France, Russia, East Germany, Romania, and the United States. During these ten formative years the world went from an open discovery of new theatrical cultures dedicated to the art of theatre for young people after WWII to a divided membership that found itself lining up politically East to West but still functioning. ASSITEJ currently has over 80 national centers around the world. Its Secretariat is in Sweden, and the members of its current Executive Committee (2005-2008) come from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Great Britain, Israel, Japan, Korea, Rwanda, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, USA, and Zambia. Volume I covers the years from 1964 through 1975. Volume II will cover the years from 1976 to 1990, and Volume III the years from 1991 to 2005. Nat Eek, PhD, is a Regents Professor Emeritus of Drama, and Dean Emeritus of Fine Arts at the University of Oklahoma. He was personally involved in these formative years, as a member of the Executive Committee of ASSITEJ, a Vice-President, and ultimately its President. In 1988 he was named Honorary President of ASSITEJ. He participated in the events that made ASSITEJ a highly regarded international association dedicated to the art of theatre for young people. Ann Shaw, EdD, is a Associate Professor Emerita from Queens College of the City College of New York, a research historian of ASSITEJ, an Honorary Member of ASSITEJ International, an authority in creative dramatics and theatre for the handicapped, a former Vice-President of ASSITEJ and Founding President of ASSITEJ/USA, the USA national center for ASSITEJ. Katherine Krzys is the Curator of the Child Drama Collection and Theatre Specialist for the Arizona State University Libraries, where the archives of ASSITEJ/USA and personal documentation about ASSITEJ are held. Her archival training includes The Modern Archive Institute at the National Archives in Washington, DC.