YP Three: Three Plays from Young People's Theatre

David E. Kemp is a professor of drama at Queen’s University and the
author of The Pleasures and Treasures of the United Kingdom.

The three plays in this excellent anthology were originally produced at
Toronto’s Young People’s Theatre, whose mandate it is to introduce
cultural diversity to young theatregoers.

The lyrical and poignant Naomi’s Road, which won the Chalmers Award
for Best New Children’s Play in 1992, is based on Joy Kogawa’s
moving novel about the forced relocation of Japanese-Canadians from
coastal British Columbia during World War II. This challenging and
provocative play imparts its message about the destructiveness of war in
a uniquely theatrical way. Pinocchio, adapted with verve and humor from
the Carlo Collodi story, examines just what it is to be human as it
charts the title character’s journey of self-discovery. Finally, John
Lazarus’s adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Nightingale is
a poignant tale of the healing power of friendship. The central
characters in all of these fine plays are powerful young individuals who
refuse to retreat into sentimentality and passivity. Highly recommended.