Although ‘exciting’ is, in my view, a much overused and abused word in this industry, I really was quite excited by the production-in-preparation I saw at the weekend.
Two narrators prowl the mysteriously dark stage at the New Diorama, their faces lit by torches. Their delivery crisp and impeccable, the vocabulary they use is imaginative and designed to extend the creative and linguistic horizons of 7-11 year olds. This show uses physical theatre, light, micro projection and parasols for an original take on an age-old story about a parent plotting to kill a child of whom she is jealous. I loved the way Snow White, the third actor, is part of her parasol, from shadow puppetry behind it to its representing her breathing when she’s meant to be dead but isn’t.
Filskit Theatre Company was founded by three Rose Bruford graduates, Katy Costigan, Victoria Dyson and Sarah Gee. They’ve been working together since 2008 when they left college, where they still often go to rehearse.
Snow White - devised and written entirely by the three-person cast - has been developing for some time. They had a week’s placement to work on it at Unicorn Theatre earlier in the year, for example. “When we started we had an adult audience in mind, but it has now turned into a children’s piece,” Victoria Dyson told me after the run through.
To get Snow White on stage, Filskit has teamed up with Quirkas Productions which produces mainly new-ish companies generating work for young audiences. The idea in this case is to bring in primary school audiences in the autumn. Marilyn Jakes, an experienced drama teacher, is creating preparatory and follow-up resource materials for use by teachers and the cast will offer workshops to schools. “Because the show is pretty original in its use of light and projection we want to show teachers how they can exploit the links with ICT too,” said Jakes.
There are two performances (2.00pm and 4.00pm) of Snow White at the New Diorama on Sunday, June 19. Teachers — Quirkas is targeting mostly primaries in North London boroughs — are warmly encouraged to attend for preview to see whether they think this show would be suitable for their schools.
It will also run from 20-26 August at Shaw Theatre as part of the Camden Fringe 2011. Having launched the show, Filskit and Quirkas are then hoping to run it again in the autumn so that schools can attend.
Well, I see a lot of outstanding children’s theatre. Why was I so excited by this? Two main reasons apart from the quality of the acting, which is high. First, it’s very encouraging to see young actors founding their own company and creating some truly original, fine quality work. This is so much more enterprising and creative than the usual rueful grumbles about lack of auditions and opportunities en route to the job in the call centre. Second, once a teacher always a teacher. I was very taken with the total lack of dumbing down in this show while - a very tricky balance - also ensuring that it’s accessible to young audiences.
Snow White deserves to succeed and I wish it well.
