CHILD PERFORMERS

During the heyday of the touring stock company, when whole families traveled and performed together, children grew up filling out crowd scenes. At mid-century there was a fad for putting talented children into adult roles and presenting them as novelties; the little Bateman sisters as Richard III and Richmond best exemplify the practice. On the modernist stage, however, it was more usual to put child performers into plays with strong roles for children like Little Eva inUncle Tom's Cabinand the title character inLittle Lord Fauntleroy. Plays written for children were part of the American theatre from its beginnings, andWorldWar I children's theatre* emerged as a potent subgenre.

See alsoGerry Society; Juvenile; Eddinger, Wallace; Ellis, Edith; Ellsler, Effie; Gish, Dorothy; Gish, Lillian; Gleason, James; Keane, Doris.