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THEATRE ARTISTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS
TABOO TOPICS IN CHILDREN’S AND YOUTH THEATRE
Summary
!e aim of this paper is to determine the recent state of Croatian childrenʼs and
youth theatre. !e focus is four-fold: 1) the problematization of taboo topics; 2) the
presence of taboo topics; 3) the degree to which theatre directors are potentially
preventing the representation of such themes; and 4) mechanisms of
(self-)censorship. A list of Croatian children’s and young adult plays for the 2015/16
and 2016/17 seasons was made. !eatre managers and stage directors who produced/
directed childrenʼs and youth plays during these two seasons were invited to
participate in the study. !e concluding part of the paper discusses the context
related to respondentsʼ attitudes, determines who influences the choice of repertoire
for children and young adults and the nature of the influence of school
environments on the repertoire, and discusses who has the power to make choices
regarding repertoire policies in childrenʼs and youth theatres.
Keywords: children, Croatia, taboo, theatre, young adults