Reimagining Maria Edgeworth’s The Knapsack (1801) for a Contemporary Young Audience

Abstract

Anglo-Irish author Maria Edgeworth was one of the most prominent writers of adults’ and children’s literature at the turn of the nineteenth century. Having written six plays for children, we may now consider her one of the first Irish Theatre for Young Audience (TYA) playwrights. TYA is a theatrical experience intended specifically for an audience of children. In 1801, Edgeworth wrote The Knapsack, a home theatrical as part of her Moral Tales collection. The play, set in Sweden, deals with a family waiting on news of its loved one’s survival at war, and at times it presents complicated truths about war and social classes. In this chapter, two TYA practitioners consider how this play might be staged in contemporary times. They explore possible performance choices, concerns and challenges that they might negotiate as they ask how this play might speak to a young audience now.