The radio play "Welcome of the World" was created by the dramatist Bogdan Španjević following the previously developed program elements: the Learning Dispositions mapped by the pedagogue Nevena Mitranić, the collection of interactive stories for children and their caregivers that Bogdan wrote a year before, and the contemporary artistic music by Irena Popović.
The radio play develops the metaphor of a journey as a growing-up process. In the story, searching for the secret of growing-up, the Wind and a child travel the world and visit diverse inspiring places, meet extraordinary characters and enter stimulating situations. During the journey, the little Wind discovers the key qualities that enable a child – also a wind-child – to grow-up. He realises the importance of being curious, courageous, persistent, mindful, creative and open to others. The team comprising the director, actor and sound designer produced the play, composing songs, soundscapes and other acoustic elements of the narration. Directed by Sunčica Milosavljević, the music and soundscapes were composed and performed live by the actor and musician Eldar Zupčević and the sound designer and also a musician Siniša Marčeta.
The radio play is published in the BAZAART's eBook "Welcome of the World" in Serbian language.
Bogdan Španjević, dramatist
Writing a radio play for young audiences
"I wrote the radio play “Welcome of the World” guided by the pedagogical goals in the development of children 3 to 5 years old, namely the development of their learning dispositions: curiosity, courage, persistence, critical thinking, creativity and sensitivity to others.
The pedagogical guidelines mark the field in which the effect of the dramatic text should take place – and that is to stimulate and facilitate the development of learning dispositions in young children. The aim of the play or a script, hence, and the task for me as a writer, was to structure the child’s experience during the performance, leaving space for different interpretations or experiences of each child in the audience.
The play is constructed in such a way that each disposition corresponds to a chapter dedicated to a certain topic. The main character is the little Wind – a wind-child – who, while traveling with a human child through different landscapes and encounters, grows, and furthermore: grows up, by recognising and mastering the above-mentioned abilities and personal qualities.
Traveling with the Wind and listening to its story of growing up, the child is actually watching and participating in a reflection of their own development. But the child is also a character in the play, a companion and an accomplice in the process of growing up. By shifting the narration from the first person (I – the child) to the third person (it – the Wind), the functional (didactic) aspect of the text is relaxed and the child is placed in the position of a witness-in-a-role.
The text is written in verse, as a poem for children, with the meter varying from chapter to chapter. Changing the meter, rhythm, tempo of the narration contributes to the dynamic structure of the text, which triggers different impressions and emotions in a child.
With elements of live performance such as music, acting, movement – this script is meant to produce an experience which doesn’t dominantly induce cognitive effects in the child (nor would such an approach be adequate for young children) but can spark interest and create a memory of a kind, which may prove to be a guiding force in the child’s later development."
