1950년대 아동희곡에서 가장 두드러진 주제 의식은 나태에 대한 훈계와 근면주의다. 해당 작품들중 <산속의 동무들>은 나태가 사악한 자본가에게 종속되어노동력을 착취당하고 노예 신세가 될 수 있다는 자본주의 체제를 간접적으로 비판하고 있다. ‘관념 우화극’ <열두 달의 집>은 ‘묵은해(年)’, ‘새해’, ‘1월’ㆍ‘2월’ 등을의인화하여 시간과 시간 규율의 중요성을 강조하고, 아이러니하게도 아동에게 죄의식을 불러일으킨다.
나태와 근면주의에 이어 많이 다뤄지고 있는 주제는 경쟁과 협력의 관계다. 북한은 전후의 폐허를 빨리 복구하고 재건하기 위해 운동을 벌이면서 ‘경쟁’ 개념을이용한다. 해당 작품들 중 집단의 경쟁을 다룬 <우리는 소년 단원>, <나란이 선해바라기>는 개인의 도덕성과 집단의 윤리, 집단들 간의 화합과 협력 문제를 안고 있는데, 목표 달성을 위해 부당한 수단과 방법을 저지르는 아동의 잘못을 비판하면서 경쟁과 협력의 조화로운 관계를 제시한다.
<토끼>, <온실>, <잃어진 선반기>는 아동이 자신의 책임을 다하지 못하여 집단 또는 전체에 끼치는 피해와 고통을 다루는데, 장난과 놀이를 즐기거나 개인의 감정을 앞세우는 개인주의가 비판당하거나, 아동의 노동이 개인 차원을 넘어국가 차원에서 중요한 집단 노동임을 강조하기도 한다.
북한 아동 교육의 측면에서 남한 비판과 북한 찬양은 동전의 양면인데, 전래하는 <수궁가> 계열의 서사가 변형된 동물우화극 <토끼이야기>는 ‘금강산’과 ‘남해바다’라는 구체적인 지명으로 말미암아 각각 북한과 남한을 선악의 이분법으로대비시키고 있다. <경남이의 죽음>은 주인공 소년 경남과 그의 가족이 겪는 시련을 통해 고통 받는 남한 민중의 시련과 갈등을 다루며, 남한 체제와 친미 사대주의를 신랄하게 비판하고 있다.
<영웅 아저씨 맞이하는 날>, <산신령>은 6.25전쟁에 참여한 인민군을 영웅으로 형상화한다. <털모자>는 일본 헌병에 쫓기는 소년 을설이 김일성을 만나러장도를 떠난다는 드라마로서 김일성을 일제강점기 일본 제국주의에 대항하는 항일빨치산의 영웅으로 우상화한다.
One of the most remarkable thematic consciousness in Children Plays of North Korea in 1950s is diligence and admonition of indolence. There are Friends in the Mountain and Friends in the Forest in ‘animal fable drama’, The Chairman of Section in a Class which dramatize the life of a school class, Twelve Months’ House and Children who Greet the New Year in ‘concept fable drama’. Among them, Friends in the Mountain alludes that indolence can make children slaves who are dominated and exploited by capitalists, and criticizes capitalism society indirectly. In Twelve Months’ House, the old year, January, February, and so on all are personified, and emphasized the importance of time itself and rules of time. So ironically this play’s world brings children under control more than liberate them from reality, makes them feel sense of guilt by forcing ‘rules’ continuously.
Next to diligence and admonition of indolence, the relationship between competition and cooperation is so important in Children Plays of North Korea in 1950s. North Korea launched ‘Cheolima’ movement and used this concept ‘competition’ in order to restore ruins after Korean War. So did schools for children.
Birds into Green Island and Birdnest deal with competition between individuals. We Boy Scouts and Sunflowers Standing Abreast deal with competition between groups. The latter includes individual’s morality, group’s ethics, and harmony and cooperation between groups. By the way, it admonishes children’s bad deed which commit a crime to achieve their goal, and suggests the harmony and cooperation between two groups.
Rabbits, A Greenhouse, and A Lost Lathe deal with the problems about individual and group, or individual and the whole. And in those plays some children neglect their responsibility, and then give bad influence on group or the whole. Individual acts such as plays and games children enjoy are criticized by other friends, teacher or father. Children’s labour is beyond individual dimension, emphasized that it is very important, collective labour compare to so called ‘1211 highland battle’.
On the level of North Korean Children education, criticism of South Korea and praise of North Korea is the two sides of the same coin. Rabbits’ story is transformed as an narrative of Soogoongga type, that is, the old story that come down from long time ago in Korea. Though the work is an animal fable drama, ‘Geumgang Mountain’ and ‘South Sea (in Korea)’ written specifically as stages means North Korea and South Korea respectively. This play symbolizes North Korea as a good world that the good but weak animals live in peacefully and cooperate each other, on the contrary, South Korea as a worse world that a corrupt and putrid ruling class dominate. Death of Gyungnam is a realism play that a poor Gyungnam’s family undergoes an ordeal of being oppressed by an policeman and an U.S. officer. It is microcosm of South Korea’s poor people. Above all, this work distort South Korea’s society and criticize South Korea’s corruption, the societal crisis of South Korea, proAmerican policies and toadyism.
A Day Greeting an HeroUncle and A Mountain God describe the North Korean People’s Army as hero. But heroism is not a theme of these works. An Woolen Hat is only a play of Kim Ilseong’s idolization in Children Plays of North Korea in 1950s. This idolize that Kim Ilseong is a hero of antiJapan partisans that struggle against Japanese Army in Japanese colonial era.