ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the project design for the third playmaking project, conducted in 2017-2018, briefly reviewing the parameters of the project and detailing more fully the dynamics of the site and participants. Data collected in the fifth year of EmersonTHEATRE (ET), during the creation and performances of Childhood is Fun, an original production that explored the dichotomies of childhood, are analyzed. Analysis considers several of the same dynamics guiding the analysis of Giants and Wings, including the development of community among the group members, its importance to them and its effect on their performance in ET, the effect of various teaching methods (Culturally Relevant/Responsive Teaching, Constructivist Learning, Multiple Intelligences, and Social-Emotional Learning) on engagement and achievement, the sense of agency participants reported as a result of participating in playmaking and performing their piece, and the radicalization of material dictated by them. This chapter considers the impact of long-term participation in playmaking on seven members of the group who had participated for at least three years. Case studies of these participants focus on the development of attributes fostered through their participation in the playmaking process, including voice, community, academic skills development, understanding of social inequity, and leadership.
