Come and Join the Fun

It is no secret that I am passionate about children's theatre, probably because I have raised a Drama Teacher! I have enjoyed some fabulous performances by young people and seen the effect it has on their confidence and self-esteem. I have also seen some wonderful performances by professional theatre companies who create work of a high standard for young audiences that really captures their imagination.

Today there is an amazing amount of high standard digital entertainment on TV and in films and some very clever interactive and educational games. So do children still need to sit down in a dark space and watch other people tell stories? With the school curriculum being expanded to include more science and technology and squeezed to minimise arts, do children still need to see live shows?

My answer is an emphatic yes. Children bring their imaginations to the theatre and leave understanding that all entertainment comes from the creative impulse of individuals and not from the click of a button.
The critic and novelist Lyn Gardner puts it so much better than I can

"...theatre for children fires the imagination, it gives our children the skills and creativity to face the world, to understand it and perhaps to change it too"

Commenting on the need for more science and technology skills she says

"...while we need people with the skills to build – let's say a bridge – we also need the people capable of imagining that bridge in the first place, or thinking of how we could create a very different kind of bridge. Or perhaps of asking whether we need a bridge at all"

Even the UN has a say. Article 31 of the Rights of the Child states

"That every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.

All this is, as some of you might have realised by now, an advert for the next Cheshire Rural Touring Arts performance on Monday June 27th at the Community Centre ay 4.00pm. Boxy and Sticky has been created by Theatr Iolo, a Cardiff based company founded in 1989 to create and promote high quality children's drama. It is suitable for 2/3 year olds up to age about 5/6. Tickets are £4 for children and £6 for adults and are available from the Post Office, 01829 741962 and from www.ticketsource.co.uk/cheshireruraltouringarts.

The performance lasts for about 45 minutes and is followed by a structured play session. The audience will be encouraged to participate and everyone should be home in time for tea!