If the play’s the thing, get them watching early. Samantha Laurie on some new initiatives in early years theatre
Fairytales Gone Bad at Woking, Merstham and Redhill Libraries
Unless you live close to the wonderful Polka Theatre in Wimbledon, you’d be forgiven for thinking that children’s theatre starts and finishes at Christmas. For most families, live performance is too expensive (£18 a ticket for Peppa Pig!), too far away, too long or just too tricky even to contemplate with wriggly toddlers for anything more than a once a year treat.
So it’s a big welcome to MoonBrella, an immersive theatre show for under 5s that is bringing low-cost theatre to more accessible venues around Surrey, with leisure centres and children’s centres to the fore. The tale of an umbrella whisked away to the moon, it’s a fantastically fun and noisy affair full of songs and silliness – and funding from Arts Partnership Surrey means that prices are no more than £6 for an adult and child.
The show is the work of Surrey mums Katy Potter and Becci Kenning – who were finding it hard to unearth easy-to-access theatre close to home in Oxted, in the far east of the county – and produced by Theatre Exchange (theatreexchange.co.uk), which specializes in developing quality creative experiences for rural and semi-rural communities (including last summer’s well-received Our June’s Wedding) and interactive performances in schools.
“This is the first time we’ve aimed at such a young audience and there’s clearly an appetite – our pilot shows last year sold out,” says Katy, Director of Theatre Exchange. “We want to get away from the mindset of ‘It’s only for kids, it’ll do.’ Modern, relevant theatre is so important for kick-starting creativity and imagination.”
To The Moon at Camberley Theatre
She’s not alone in thinking so. This month sees the first performances in the Hopper programme, a pioneering 20-month pilot project funded by the Arts Council of England, The Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Arts Partnership Surrey to encourage theatre companies to create more work for very little ones, particularly in less advantaged communities. Six companies will stage short, relaxed performances in everyday settings such as libraries and nurseries. Many are free or very low cost, with Woking, Redhill and Merstham libraries among the venues (see artspartnershipsurrey.org.uk/projects/hopper for full listings).
“There’s so much research now to show that exposure to theatre in the early years can develop confidence, social skills and language, as well as simply being just good fun,” says Surrey project co-ordinator Sue Barnard.
Keen supporters include Camberley Theatre, which is hosting some of the shows, beginning with an outdoor circus in June.
“Younger years theatre is so sophisticated now,” says venue and operations manager, Andy Edmeads. “I’ve watched a couple of the trials and it’s amazing to see two-year-olds so engaged. Inspire a love of theatre early on and there’s a chance they’ll have it for life. It’s in all our interests to keep that going.”
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