This book explores applied theatre practice for children in environments of illness and cure and how it can powerfully normalise children's hospitalisation experience. It is an essential tool for making meaning of children's illness, putting it into a fictional context and developing better control of their clinical experiences. It can be central to raising the standards of care and quality of life during illness. Taken from the author's research and participatory bedside theatre practice in hospitals before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, this book demonstrates new learning about aesthetics, ethics, emotions, stories, puppetry, digital arts and research methodologies about children's health and wellbeing. It provides a selection of ten unique stories told by children inspired by applied theatre practice in paediatrics, cardiac, oncology, neurosurgery, burns units and complex and intensive care wards. Stories aid in understanding the language of children's pain for a better assessment and management of pain by healthcare professionals through the arts. It analyses synergistic theatre performance in 'stitched lands' between challenging realities and safe fictionalities. This book enables artists to develop new ways of thinking and contributes to further improvements in the provision of education and reflective learning in the field. It also addresses the emotional labour of the artist in healthcare and makes recommendations for balanced training to prevent emotional exhaustion. Designed for artists, healthcare professionals, therapists, play specialists and teachers who work with children in healthcare, this text aims to help many people find creative ways of making a positive difference in sick children's lives. It is a book for those who love and care for children.

This book explores applied theatre practice for children in environments of illness and cure and how it can powerfully normalise children's hospitalisation experience. It is an essential tool for making meaning of children's illness, putting it into a fictional context and developing better control of their clinical experiences. It can be central to raising the standards of care and quality of life during illness. Taken from the author's research and participatory bedside theatre practice in hospitals before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, this book demonstrates new learning about aesthetics, ethics, emotions, stories, puppetry, digital arts and research methodologies about children's health and wellbeing. It provides a selection of ten unique stories told by children inspired by applied theatre practice in paediatrics, cardiac, oncology, neurosurgery, burns units and complex and intensive care wards. Stories aid in understanding the language of children's pain for a better assessment and management of pain by healthcare professionals through the arts. It analyses synergistic theatre performance in 'stitched lands' between challenging realities and safe fictionalities. This book enables artists to develop new ways of thinking and contributes to further improvements in the provision of education and reflective learning in the field. It also addresses the emotional labour of the artist in healthcare and makes recommendations for balanced training to prevent emotional exhaustion. Designed for artists, healthcare professionals, therapists, play specialists and teachers who work with children in healthcare, this text aims to help many people find creative ways of making a positive difference in sick children's lives. It is a book for those who love and care for children.

Recent decades have seen a new appreciation develop for applied theatre and the role of arts-based activities in health care. This book looks specifically at the place of theatre for children who are hospitalized, showing how powerfully it can enhance their social and mental well-being. Child-led performances, for example, can be used as a technique to distract young patients from hospitalization, prepare them for painful procedures, and teach them calming techniques to control their own pre- or post-operative stress. Persephone Sextou details the key theoretical contexts and practical features of theatre for children, in the process offering motivation, guidance and inspiration for practitioners who want to incorporate performance into their treatment regimen.