AS part of an intended move away from subscription season to a membership-based model, Canberra Theatre Centre has dispensed with its annual sit-down season launch in favour of staggered announcements.
First cab off the rank is a line-up of shows for audiences of the future – children.
Newish head of programming Dan Clarke says his program seeks to astonish the young with gravity-defying circus acts, puppetry, spectacle and music.
“Air Play”, coming in late February with sibling circus performers Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone and kinetic sculptor Daniel Wurtzel, will feature umbrellas flying high, fabrics soaring over the audience, balloons swallowing people and snow filling the stage – and a bit of comedy. Billed as an “adventure through a surreal land of air” for ages 5-105, the show focuses on real people doing real things.
“The fabrics become our aerialists, helium balloons become juggling props, and the powerful fans gracefully defeat the same gravity circus performers work so hard to overcome,” the two performers say.
The first week of March sees the one-man “micro-epic” puppet show take the stage in “The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer”, for ages 10+. Created by Tim Watts, the solo show employs a blend of puppetry, live and recorded to tell a story about love, loss and heroism in a post-eco apocalyptic world.
“The scientists have tried everything… A last-ditch effort to save the human race requires journeying down through the mysterious depths of the deep blue sea to find a new place for us to live,” Watts says of a journey he hopes will be “emotional, uplifting, touching and funny”.
The week following “Alvin Sputnik”, the same company brings “New Owner”, a new show involving puppetry, aimed at ages 7+. Kids will love the fact that it’s told through a dog’s eyes, as Bart, a boisterous puppy in the animal shelter, is chosen by Mabel, a lonely widow, and a friendship ensues.
Circus returns in early April as “360 Allstars” take the stage in a show for ages 7+. An urban circus drawn from street culture, it’s performed by artists and athletes to a live soundtrack of hits and is backed with spectacular video projections.
Alison Lester’s famous picture book, “Are We There Yet?”, comes to life in late July with a play of the same name for ages 3-10. As in the book, 8-year-old Grace and her family head off on a hilarious expedition across the country, visiting landmarks along the way, such as the Great Australian Bight, Uluru, Surfers Paradise and, of course, the Sydney Opera House. The show is full of songs, laughs and quokkas.
Talking of quokkas, the week after that will be the musical extravaganza “Hiccup!” suitable for ages 4-8, in which a camper, a quokka and an emu with very strange eating habits awake to discover that a koala has come down with a stubborn case of the hiccups. They must work together to find a cure before the sun comes up to stop the hiccups.
When you’re on a good thing, stick to it, so audiences are bound to welcome back Monkey Baa Theatre Company as it reprises the hit production “Possum Magic” to celebrate its 40th birthday in mid-September.
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