Is Dress Up Theatre “Real Theatre”? And why we should all celebrate Dramatic Play
Architectural Rendering of Maddy’s Theatre
by Reba Askari, Director of Theatre and Education
Is Dress Up Theatre “Real Theatre”? And why we should all celebrate dramatic play
Does your child like to pretend? Really get lost in a world that exists in their own imagination? There’s dinosaur pets and talking ants, cats that decorate apartments, witches and knights? Any of those things? Somehow they all relate together, or maybe they don’t and that’s where the tension is? And-- just when it starts to make sense, the whole world is dropped and the game is forgotten because someone new entered the room or dinner is ready? Congratulations. You have a child with an active imagination!
Dress Up Theatre under construction for use in the new Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine
At the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, dramatic play is everywhere! It is deeply ingrained in our philosophy and we celebrate dramatic play throughout the building. There’s a Dress Up Theatre in our atrium, right outside “Maddy’s Theatre,” our “real” theatre (and which theatre is the real theatre is at the heart of my writing today). The Dress Up Theatre offers a chance to wear a costume and pretend when one comes in, when one leaves, while family members play on the climber, or while one is waiting to see a play. On the first floor in Our Neighborhood exhibit one can wear a costume and fight a fire, drive an ambulance, or land a plane. On the 3rd floor, amongst the aquatic exhibits one can pretend to camp in the midst of live frogs, frilled sharks and jonah crabs.
Dramatic play helps children process the difference between what is real and what is not real. They decide the story, and they decide the rules. They maintain the boundary between truth and fantasy. When children pretend they activate a whole constellation, including: imagination, language, awareness, concentration, initiative, and capacity towards social interaction. At the Museum & Theatre we are meeting children at all developmental stages and ages extending invitations to practice the critical skill of dramatic play.
Our Dress Up Theatre is positioned immediately outside the theatre in the atrium, inviting the audience to imagine themselves as characters in the story. They can re-enact a narrative they know or just saw, engaging those early building blocks of literacy-- beginning, middle and end. They can role-play the emotional reality of the character as if it’s really happening, change the story to make their own ending, or tell a whole different story entirely. Children have the opportunity to experience live theatre, and then re-enact what they have seen as they step out of the theatre. Dramatic play is not only a sign of a future actor or kid who is “born to be a star”. Dramatic Play is a tool to help children develop crucial emotional regulation skills that make learning and socialization possible.
Children draw from real life experiences and mirror what they see. Through these play experiences, children learn that the imaginary can often seem real, but they hold the control for when the dramatic frame begins or ends and what happens next. The dramatic frame offers a safe place to try out something new, a new behavior or idea. It offers opportunities to experience real feelings in safe and imaginary situations. In their fictional world they can step into the character’s shoes and experience a new point of view.