October is a busy month for children's arts festivals. But there's a lot of work in keeping kids – and their parents – entertained, writes JANE COYLE
TIME WAS WHEN children were taken to the theatre just once a year for a festive treat, an occasion for best clothes and party frocks, a vital element in the traditional gift-wrapped package of Santa and panto.
But times have changed. Pantomime is still there in all its gaudy glory, but these days children do not go to the theatre simply to eat sweets and have a good shout. They are there to be stimulated and challenged, to be treated as intelligent, sophisticated audiences, deserving of excellent standards of work in whose development they themselves can play an instrumental role.
No less than three children’s arts festivals are taking place during the coming month, together with Gathering 2010, a three-day showcase and conference in Belfast.
Lali Morris, programme director of the 14th Baboró International Arts Festival for Children, which begins in Galway on Monday, believes one of the sternest challenges of putting together a children’s festival is to keep in mind that it is a platform for work that is diverse, challenging, beautiful, extraordinary, exquisite or great fun.
This year Baboró is hosting the biggest programme in its long, illustrious history, welcoming artists from Scotland, Germany, Spain, Canada, Italy and France, together with a particularly strong Irish contingent. “At the core of the programming is that the work must be of a high standard in its presentation, the art form and its delivery,” says Morris. “The message that I would like to think our festival gives is that children and families deserve to have some of the best in theatre, music and dance presented to them here in Ireland.
“Over the years I’ve found that parents are usually surprised that they enjoy the performance as much as they do. Taking a child to an arts event, sitting with them and sharing a laugh or observing what is interesting to the child are precious moments. These are what I like to call memory builders. It’s part of the bonding process.”
The 48th Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen's (from Friday until October 30th) is this year emphasising families and children. It has invited Belfast-based Cahoots NI to organise its own mini festival of largely home-grown work, whose centrepiece will be the world premiere of Leon and the Place Between, an adaptation of Angela McAllister's book, illustrated by Grahame Baker-Smith.
For the festival’s director, Graeme Farrow, himself the father of three young boys, the bottom line for the inclusion of locally produced work is ambition and exclusivity, no less important when programming for young audiences. “I look for ambitious work, created with the festival specifically in mind, particularly work which couldn’t be presented on another platform in Northern Ireland,” he says. “Working with Cahoots and Belfast City Council in transforming the Botanic Gardens into an enchanted kingdom fitted the bill perfectly. It also enabled the company to present a world premiere in a circus tent. “That’s the philosophy, and if the ambitious work I’m after includes work children can enjoy, so much the better. This is how we create new audiences. This will be my middle son’s first time at the theatre. It’s great to give a first experience that’s an alternative to panto. Our children deserve to be entertained by work as rich and diverse as we adults enjoy.”
The trio of October festivals is completed by Flip Flop Children's Theatre Festival (October 17th to 23rd) at the Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire and the Mill Theatre in Dundrum. It will present a wide range of performances, from free street theatre to what Martin Murphy, director of the Pavilion, describes as the Riverdanceof recent children's theatre, Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia's version of Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which has been seen by more than a million people around the world.
But Murphy warns that, although children’s festivals are full of fun and optimism, they do not come cheap and their futures are by no means assured.
“It’s difficult for people not involved in making children’s theatre to understand that the good stuff costs money,” he says. “Generally it makes less [at the box office] because ticket prices are lower, so it needs support even more. It’s a worrying time for the arts, because you feel that, with all the anger and hurt around the place, policies are more likely driven by slogans than subtleties.
“The biggest challenge is providing a variety of experiences that are unique and at the same time will connect with a significant proportion of children of a given age, each of whom is in their own way unique. I think most festival programmers would be a bit uncomfortable if there wasn’t at least one show where you end up saying, well, we thought we’d try something different.”
Many of these themes and aspirations will be raised through the panel discussions, public performances and practical workshop on the programme of Gathering 2010. This annual event is being held in the North for the first time, and, also for the first time, companies from Ireland north and south will be taking part. They include Replay, Tinderbox, Sticky Fingers, Cahoots NI, Young at Art, Moonfish, Monkeyshine and Branar. There will also be a keynote address by the award-winning writer Charles Way, best known for his plays for young people.
“Our priority is to share work and ideas and look at the best ways of pooling our resources,” says Ali FitzGibbon on behalf of TYA NI. She is director of Young at Art, organisers of the annual Belfast Children’s Festival, which next year shifts from May to March.
“Last year’s festival was our biggest yet, with 27,000 children and adults attending and over 250 artists involved.”
Meanwhile, Martin Murphy of Flip Flop sums up what, from his perspective, is the best thing about this time of year. “October is a great time for children’s shows in Ireland, and we try to offer something for every age group. In the other arts, and at other times, we are finding there’s less good stuff available, generally because of the recession. But not children’s shows in October. We’re lucky.”
Festival time: What's on this month
Baboró International Children's Arts FestivalFrom October 11th to 17th. baboro.ie.
Cahoots Mini-Festat Belfast Festival at Queen's. From Thursday until October 24th. belfastfestival.com.
Flip Flop Children's Theatre FestivalOctober 17th to 23rd. paviliontheatre.ie.
Gathering 2010October 21st to 23rd. Public performance details at gathering.ie.