Breaking Through
Drama Strategies for 10's to 15's

by Barbara Goodwillie

Handbook, 52 pp, paperbound. $ 7.95

Have you noticed how the very children who, at 5 or 8 or so, were spontaneous and articulate and imaginative suddenly become, on the threshold of adolescence, sullen or silent, bored or supercilious? No group is so hard to reach. Yet at no time are youngsters more in need of what drama has to offer. How can you break through the emotional armor, overcome the put-down syndrome, and help these vulnerable youngsters take the risks that drama involves? People who work with 10's to 15's need all the help they can get.

Breaking Through is the handbook to give you just that help. It provides theatre games well suited to channel the energies and capture the imagination of 10's to 15's. It sets up structures for satisfying dramatic exploration. Many are open-ended, with enough alternatives to help leaders deal with almost any turn this group's capricious fancy may take. They are illustrated with real life examples taken from the author's 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade classes.