ABSTRACT
Th ere is a key similarity shared between children’s theater practitioners and literacy specialists: an elemental belief in the power of story. Both fi elds acknowledge that humans live inside networks of stories, stories we tell ourselves, stories we tell others, and stories we are told. Stories hold power. Stories help us structure our lives and solve problems; they highlight some virtues over others, suggesting general models for how “the good life is to be conducted” (Fleischacker 1994, pp. 72-73). In the end, these narrative nests provide us with an architecture of how to be human, to practice power, and to develop individuality. Both fi elds also are engaged in exploring the boundaries of story-how stories are created, communicated, understood, decoded, contextualized, or decontextualized-exposing the master narratives hidden deep within them and investigating how stories can contribute to the creation of a more just and equitable society. Th is is a process that that both fi elds label as “literacy” and in particular “critical literacy.” Th ere are key diff erences between the fi elds of children’s theater and literacy education, however, that can illuminate theoretical paradigms, suggesting blind spots within both fi elds as well as directions for future research. In this essay, I explore this divergence with an eye toward presenting key performance concepts that can contribute to the circulation of research and discussion on critical literacy traditions. In particular, I explore the construction of childhood as a performative process coconstructed by both adults and children.
