Employing Exoticism in Children's Theater Performances (The Play Jewels of the Seven Princesses as a Model)
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1-12Abstract
Children’s theater plays a vital role in shaping children’s personalities, fostering creativity, and supporting their holistic development, particularly in early childhood. Unlike traditional learning through books, theatrical experiences rely on visual and performative elements that engage children emotionally and intellectually, making them more receptive to educational messages.
The element of the uncanny represents a distinctive aesthetic and conceptual dimension in theatrical performance, transcending conventional structures of character, language, time, and space. It is realized through fantastical characters and symbolic representations that enrich the theatrical experience and facilitate the communication of deeper meanings. This makes it an effective tool in children’s education and cultural formation.
This study investigates the employment of the uncanny in children’s theater performances, focusing on the play The Seven Jewels of the Princess as a case study. The research addresses the following question: How is the element of the uncanny employed in children’s theater performances? The study aims to identify the mechanisms and functions of this element within the theatrical context.
The research is limited to performances presented in 2019 at the College of Fine Arts for Children, University of Mosul. It adopts a descriptive-analytical approach, examining the selected sample through a structured analytical framework.
The study is organized into four chapters: the first outlines the research problem, significance, scope, and key terms; the second presents the theoretical framework, including the concept of the uncanny and its applications in children’s theater; the third explains the research procedures; and the fourth discusses the results, conclusions, and recommendations.
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- (*) Speculative fiction: This is a broad literary genre that speculates about unreal things, such as science fiction and the fantastic. It alters the laws of reality and asks "What if?" The fantastic, a part of it, focuses on feelings of wonder and fear and includes supernatural elements that transcend the limits of logic . Jennifer Guzzetti , *Fantasy*, translated by Abdelfattah Abdullah , (Cairo: Hindawi Foundation for Printing and Publishing, 2025) .
- (**) The Sixth Sense: This is the ability to predict events before they occur, telepathy, mind reading, foresight, and remote sensing. These abilities, possessed by some humans, fall under the field of parapsychology, a branch of the paranormal, which deals with phenomena that defy the laws of nature. See: Ibrahim Jalal Fadloun , The Science of Physiognomy , 1st ed. (Giza: Dar Mashariq, 2011) .
- (***) The Seven Jewels of the Princess play: This play was performed at the Experimental Theater Hall of the College of Fine Arts - University of Mosul, Department of Art Education / for the year 2019.
- (****) Abdul Hamid Khalifa : A Syrian playwright and director, born in 1964, he is considered one of the names that contributed to enriching the theatrical movement, especially in the field of children's theater and educational theater. His artistic experience combined writing and directing, and he has more than 36 artistic works to his credit. He presented theatrical performances with an educational and moral character, relying on imagination and mythological symbols as aesthetic and educational tools.
- (*****) Anwar Mohammed Zaki Younis : A theater actor and director born in Mosul in 1977. He received a diploma from the Mosul Institute of Fine Arts in 1998, a Bachelor's degree in Theater Arts from the University of Mosul in 2002, and a Master's degree in Theater Arts from the University of Basra in 2014. He has made many contributions to children's theater and educational theater, including the play "Let's Play" in 2018 and the play "Qatqout and Farfour and the Arabic Language" in 2019. He has dozens of acting credits, including the play "The Elephant Owns You Time," directed by Zaid Al-Sinjari, and the play "Steal Less, Please," directed by Mohammed Isma Al-Tai
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