What was most surprising was to attend a seminar on the value of theatre for young people and to find that none of the value measurements included the aesthetic value. This is ASSITEJ's 'Building Collective Resilience' strand of work, a part of which aims to bring together published academic papers as well as evaluation reports (so called 'grey papers' written by practitioners and theatre companies but not peer reviewed) to build a bank of evidence for the value of theatre for young people. Evidence needs to include an element of self-reporting by children. Whilst it is not surprising that this includes aggregating evidence in terms of sectors such as education, health and social, what is surprising is that there is no acknowledgement of the aesthetic value.
Whilst this is notoriously hard to measure, there has been the important findings from the New Victory 2021
and there are approaches that were discussed at Assitej Capetown 2017 (see below)
Are we measuring what matters? Or is it even possible to measure? Probably not, art is inherently subjective so it is not possible to find a metric to measure definitively. And in live theatre different performances will vary with different audiences. To paraphrase Francois Matarasso, we do not look to find if the show is excellent in some abstract sense but if it is excellent on this night, with this audience, in this place. And everyone will have their opinion, judgment and discernment. For Mr. Hisashi Shimoyama, from the Rica Rica Festival in Japan, a good piece of theatre for young people was one that encouraged children to continue to live. How do we measure this? Are their eyes engaged in the action? Is there a collective gasp at a reveal in the plot? Are they laughing at moments you expect, or at other moments? Are they talking about the show afterwards?
Mary Rose Lloyd from the New Victory Theatre suggested a definitive system of measurement is elusive as a Unicorn.
However, it is useful to have some questions and statements to prompt those conversations, whether with peers, with children and young people, teachers or other stakeholders. So for the record, here are the ways, as discussed at Assitej2017.
The Danish Seven
1. Artistic objectives
Does the company have a genuine commitment to its work?
Why this production? Why are they making theatre at all?
Is it evident that this particular company see the need of playing this particular play in this particular way at this particular time?
2. The Text (Alternatively in the case of productions with little or no text:the dramatic development)
Is there a dramaturgical development?
3. The Solutions to the staging
Meaning all the decisions taken in relation to the text eg. Design, music, direction.
What is the impression as a whole?
4. The Actor’s work
The characters – are they credible? Do they develop? Are they multi-faceted?
What is the interplay with the spectators?
5. Relations to the audience
Are the children (in the audience) taken seriously?
Does the production captivate its audience?
Is it clear that this particular company is concerned about addressing this particular audience on this special day?
Are they prepared to respond to the audience?
6. Relations between the intentions and the abilities of the company
Do the ambitions match the skills of the company?
7. Ethics
The ultimate and overall idea of the production.
What is the encounter?
Arts Council England Seven (for children and young people – all arts)
1. Striving for excellence and innovation
2. Being authentic
3. Being exciting, inspiring and engaging
4. Ensuring a positive and inclusive experience
5. Actively involving children and young people
6. Enabling personal progression
7. Developing belonging and ownership
The Australian Five (all arts)
1. Captivating
2. Emotional resonance
3. Intellectual stimulation
4. Aesthetic enrichment
5. Social bridging and bonding
The Arts Council England Nine (all arts)
Statements from which artists can invite audiences to tell them what they value about the work. Each statement is scored on a simple metric scale.
1. Concept: it was an interesting idea
2. Presentation: it was well produced and presented
3. Distinctiveness: it was different from things I’ve experienced before
4. Challenge: it was thought-provoking
5. Captivation: it was absorbing and held my attention
6. Enthusiasm: I would come to something like this again
7. Local impact: it is important that it's happening here
8. Relevance: it has something to say about the world in which we live
9. Rigour: it was well thought through and put together
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