Given the massive federal funding cuts to the arts in the United States it’s no surprise that many theatres devoted to theatre for young audiences (TYA) are struggling to figure out how best to sustain the important work of helping young audiences make sense of our increasingly complicated world. However, Heather Cox Richardson, American historian and writer of the popular Substack Letters from an American, suggests, paradoxically, that one way forward is to look back.

“More Than Entertainment: Democracy and the Performing Arts…is the heretofore untold story of Junior Programs, Inc. (1936-1943), a trailblazer in making theater for young audiences (TYA). But the book does more than fill a gap in understanding how America created stage work for children. Author Joan Lancourt does more than identify the critical elements that were responsible for the company’s extraordinary seven years of success. She makes a compelling case that many of those same elements can help today’s TYA practitioners address their most urgent challenges.”