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The Cookie Jar and Other Plays
John Clark DonahueLinda Walsh Jenkins, Editor
University of Minnesota Press, 1975

The Cookie Jar and Other Plays was first published in 1975. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

The scripts of three plays by John Clark Donahue, artistic director of the Children's Theatre Company of the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts, are published in this volume along with background material and illustrations which, together, provide a look behind the scenes at the company, its personnel, methods, and productions. The company, which has achieved notable success, is regarded as a leading exponent of children's theater in this country.

The plays included in this volume are The Cookie Jar, How Could You Tell?,and Old King of Malfi.All by been presented by the Children's Theatre Company.

Linda Walsh Jenkins provides an introduction and commentary on the plays. There are also a profile of John Donahue and material based on interviews with him and with other theater personnel — directors, composers, designers, and others. This and other information, including a sketch of the history and background of the Children's Theatre Company, will be illuminating and helpful to other theater groups and individuals interested in the development of children's theater. There are sixteen pages of photographs, including four pages in color, showing scenes from Children's Theatre Company productions of the plays. Examples from the musical scores composed for the productions are also reproduced.

Under Mr. Donahue's direction the company has evolved an ensemble approach to production, in which script, music, and acting develop simultaneously throughout the rehearsal period. The dominant theme in his work with the company has been an educational one, based on his belief that the theater should be an educational environment which helps young persons to develop their creative abilities.

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front cover of Five Plays from the Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis
Five Plays from the Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis
John Clark Donahue and Linda Walsh Jenkins, Editors
University of Minnesota Press, 1975

Five Plays from the Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis was first published in

1975. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

Among the notable productions of the Children's Theatre Company of the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts, a leading exponent of children's theater in this country, have been plays that are adaptations of classics in children's literature. This volume makes available the scripts of five of these adaptations, along with illuminating information about the productions and the company itself.

The plays include two adaptations by Frederick Gaines, two by Timothy Mason, and one by Richard Shaw. Mr. Gaines's plays are based on Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.One of Mr. Mason's plays, Kidnapped in London, is an adaptation of part of Master Skylark by John Bennett, and the other, Robin Hood: A Story of the Forest, is based on part of the Robin Hood legend. Mr. Shaw's play is an adaptation in Kabuki form of the Grimms' fairy tale Sleeping Beauty.

Linda Walsh Jenkins writes a general introduction and commentary. Background information about each play includes excerpts from discussions among directors, composers, designers, and playwrights about the plays themselves and about various phases of the development of the productions. Highlights of the history of the Children's Theatre Company and of the aims and accomplishments of its director, John Clark Donahue, are given, and these will be of particular interest to anyone in the children's theater field.

The photographic illustrations, which include a number in color, show various aspects of Children's Theatre Company productions. There are also musical examples from the original scores for the plays.

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