FESTIVAL KIDS | Previews
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BEDTIME STORIES Cosy hour under the big top for all ages
Walk in, hand over your ticket, take a seat. That’s the usual format at your average Fringe show – but Bedtime Stories is far from average, as audience members will discover. Because the show’s title isn’t a misnomer – London-based
company Upswing really is going to tell you a bedtime story. And for that, you need to be tucked up in bed. ‘The show is really immersive and the audience environment is an important part of it,’ explains Upswing’s artistic director, Vicki Amedume. Which means duvets, pillows and general cosiness.
Mixing circus, theatre, music, dance and projections, Bedtime
Stories explores one family’s struggle to find quality time together. The cosy set-up is a deliberate attempt by Upswing to give the families watching it just that: precious time with one another. ‘The whole experience aims to reconnect children with their often too busy parents,’ says Amedume, ‘and adults with their own childhood.’ As well as garnering a host of good reviews, the show also
scooped Best Family Event in the 2015 Get Creative Family Arts Festival. But what about the families themselves – what has their response been?
‘It’s been brilliant so far,’ says Amedume. ‘We developed the show in stages, presenting the work to families at each stage and asking for feedback. Then we really listened to them to see if we were reaching them in the way we wanted to. ‘We have had lovely, and at times quite emotional, responses everywhere we’ve played, so we think that o ur way of working really helped us create a relevant, exciting and fun experience for all the family.’ (Kelly Apter) ■ Underbelly’s Circus Hub on the Meadows, 0844 545 8252, 6–22 Aug (not 15), 2.30pm, £10.50–£11.50 (£9.50–£10.50). Previews 4 & 5 Aug, £8.50.
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COLOURFUL GAMES Interactive solo show aimed at tots
JELLYFISH Tackling the stigma of depression head on THE RUFF GUIDE TO SHAKESPEARE The life and work of the Bard in one busy hour
Immersive dance and theatre continues to be in vogue – which puts Dansema and its artistic director, Birutė Banevičiūtė, at the vanguard of live performance in her native Lithuania. But when she founded the company in 2007, Dansema was the first in the country to create contemporary dance theatre of any kind for babies and small children. ‘We had strong ballet and folk dance traditions,’ says Banevičiūtė, ‘but there was no contemporary dance for young audiences.’
Featuring a bright circus setting, and aimed at tots
up to age 3, the interactive solo Colourful Games grew out of a strategic creation process. ‘I noticed that very small children don’t know how to use the props we use in the performance – ribbons, hula hoops, balls, clown noses. Instead they explore them – putting them in the mouth, throwing them on the floor or crawling inside. So I decided to explore those things as if I myself didn’t know how to use them culturally.’
‘Everywhere we perform, the kids don’t want to leave the stage space afterwards,’ says Banevičiūtė. Why? ‘Because we understand each other.’ (Donald Hutera) ■ ZOO, 662 6892, 8–20 Aug (not 14), 10.45am, £5. Previews 5 & 6 Aug, £5.
72 THE LIST FESTIVAL 4–11 Aug 2016
A six-foot jellyfish stretches out its tentacles to touch a young boy and his family as it dances and glides around the stage. The puppet turns out to be an unwelcome guest in the home of a children’s book writer and his son. The jellyfish is ‘a metaphor for depression’, explains
Matthew Woodford, founder of Intrepid Ensemble, which has created the show for 7 to 11-year-olds. As the creature invades and alters people’s lives, it is accompanied by other-worldly music written by Scottish composer Finn Anderson. The puppet is controlled by young actors whose
energy on stage is a welcome contrast with the lassitude that frequently goes alongside depression. The message is upbeat, too, despite acknowledging how much damage depression can do. ‘The show is a child’s eye view of the subject that
seeks to tackle the lack of understanding that so often accompanies depression,’ says Woodford. ‘The stigma around mental illness can make it difficult to discuss, understand or accept, even when it’s a close family member suffering from it – but you shouldn’t be afraid of it.’ (Helen Fowler) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 6–29 August (not 15), 11.45am, £7–£9 (£6–£8.50). Previews 3–5 Aug, £6.
The Ruff Guide to Shakespeare promises a spirited romp through Shakespeare’s life and 37 plays, in just 60 minutes. Specially created to mark the 400th anniversary
of his death, this is not a conventional account of the Bard. Shakespeare is played by a woman, actor Eleanor House, a native of Aberdeen. ‘It’s educational and also light-hearted,’ says Euan Shanahan of Take Thou That, the company behind the show. ‘It’s for kids but we don’t dumb it down.’ Aimed at children aged six and upwards, it gives audiences a look at Shakespeare’s life from cradle to grave. It takes in his early days in Stratford-upon- Avon and his time in London at the Globe theatre. All of Shakespeare’s plays are included at least once, along with some of his sonnets and songs, too. In just an hour, the show belts through history plays, tragedies and comedies, and underlying this whirl of activity is a real passion for Shakespeare and a desire to convey that to a new generation.
‘Watching kids light up is fantastic,’ says Shanahan. Sounds like an ideal introduction to the world’s most famous playwright. (Helen Fowler) ■ Assembly George Square Gardens, 623 3030, 6–19 Aug (not 15), 11.10am, £8–£9 (£6–£7). Previews 4 & 5 Aug, £5.