Children's theater in Greece had no advocacy for a long time and was neglected. Playwrights believed that children's theater did not challenge their skills, actors felt that it did not engage their ...talents, critics thought that it offered boring or socially naïve entertainment, while the state government was indifferent to its needs. Several Greek playwrights and actors, however, who were influenced by some successful West European explorations into children's theater, contributed to the revitalization of children's theater in Greece. They steered away from naïvete and didacticism and aimed at bridging the world of technology with the world of fantasy. Didacticism did not disappear altogether, but now co-existed with poetry and imagination, stimulating the thought and sensibilities of young audiences. At the same time, children's theater marginalized the presumed seriousness of the adults who escorted the children to the theater.
The exhibition not only concentrated on illustrators' works, but also on the Finnish author nominees for the Hans Christian Andersen award by exhibiting books and photos.
Eliseo Diego (1920-1994), one of Cuba's and Latin America's most celebrated poets and short-story writers, had a lifelong interest in fairy tales— as a reader and, professionally, as a translator and ...the director of the Department of Children's Literature of the National Library of Cuba. His essays on the folktale stress their importance in education, their poetry, and their relation to time. Translations of two of his poems are included. The first, "The Girl in the Forest," retells "Little Red Riding Hood" from the point of view of the wolf. It becomes a story of impossible longing. The second, "Mother Goose," portrays her in a much different manner than we're used to— as an old peasant woman in a dark hovel who has the power to summon for her listeners the moment of creation.
