Charlotte's Web. Company Skylark: adapted by Gilly Farrelly from the original story by E.B.White. Directed by Christine Anketell. At the Canberra Theatre until August 3, 1996. Professional.
"They're not making it dark!" The 5 year old waited impatiently for the great moment in theatre when the houselights dim, while I watched excited little heads bobbing up like bubbles above a pool packed with schools of tropical reef fishes - a green school, a red school, blue with green stripes, green with yellow stripes, royal blue, pink with yellow flashes, iridescent orange and lots of multicoloured tiny ones.
"If you had been born small, would you have killed me?" asked Fern of her Farmer Father - the debate about life and death was on for young and old. Skylark's production is magical theatre but never sentimental even when Charlotte dies after saving Wilbur the Pig's bacon twice over. Peter Wilson, Artistic Director, explained to me that after experiencing theatre in pre-school (like the wonderful Salty Seagull Takes Off which I reviewed in May), it is important for early primary school children to go to the theatre to take part in our society's culture.
I feel he's right, so I worried about three things. The Canberra Theatre is far too big for 700 little audience people: roll on the new Playhouse. The amplified sound disembodied the actors and puppet characters: real live voices are what distinguishes theatre from video and audio media, because performers and audience interact as equal human beings. Again, the new Playhouse, please. So these things can be fixed.
But I also thought the ending was flat. More awe for the birth (resurrection, reincarnation) of Charlotte's babies is required. Take more time. Fill the stage with silvery spiders: they are too cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd in the framework of the farm shed. Dim the other characters almost out. In unison with the characters, let the children say "Ooh!" and "Aah!" as they did when the houselights first went down. Then the production will be perfect.
©Frank McKone, Canberra
Wednesday, 31 July 1996
Tuesday, 16 July 1996
1996: Two versions of At the Foot of the Storyteller's Chair by Bronwyn Vaughan
Version 1 of this review was more than 370 words in length, so only Version 2 was published by the Canberra Times
Version 1
At the Foot of the Storyteller's Chair. Bronwyn Vaughan, directed by Brian Joyce. Jigsaw Theatre Company at Karrabar Pre-School, Tuesday July 16. Professional. Touring Canberra and region, pre-school to Year 2. Bookings 247 2133.
The little blind girl was so excited by Bronwyn Vaughan's hour long presentation of The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle), The Tiger Skin Rug (Gerald Rose), The Paper Crane (Molly Bang) and The Story of Marni, The Girl Who Couldn't Stop Shouting (by Aboriginal artist and writer Sally Morgan) that nothing could stop her asking out loud "What's she doing now?" as each newly accented voice and every wonderful sound emanated from this experienced theatre-in-education actor. The caterpillar crunched through food, good and bad, spitting out the pips. The tiger kept very quiet, but didn't he roar at the robbers! The paper crane danced to the flute as the children clapped. And Marni's granny's spell finally reduced her shouting to just a little bit of the Old Crow's harsh caw and the Old Croc's thrashing about, so people could finally stand living with her in the family.
This is another winner from the highly professional Jigsaw Company. Vaughan comes to us via effervescent training with Oliver Fiala (when children's drama was new at NSW Uni) and many years with the acclaimed Pipi Storm TIE team. Joined here by Brian Joyce (of Freewheels TIE, Newcastle), it is wonderful to see the children learning through such creative theatre. Here is entertainment which reflects on real life through beautifully written stories, fascinating mime and dance, sets and costumes designed in styles and colours which sensitively re-create the cultures from which the stories come. And, it must be said, Sally Morgan's ribald humour was a hit with the children and their parents: truly Australian!
So have you met a caterpillar, or met a tiger, or met a morphosis? Phosis is Life, and life is always changing. "Could I metamorphosise me?" sang the Storyteller to her animated Chair. Too hard for pre-schoolers? Not on your life. You should have seen the little blind girl after the show, after all the questions had been asked and answered, after all the others had gone out to play: exploring how the Chair talks, how the Mexican Rainstick makes its eerie sound, how the paper crane flies, how the fur bristles on the tiger rug, or whether the Indian tea was real.
Want to meet a top-notch theatre educator? Bronwyn will conduct workshops on August 7 and November 6 for the ACT Drama Association. If you're a teacher of young children, don't let Bronwyn Vaughan pass you or your class by. Call Greg Lissaman or Clay Thistleton at Jigsaw.
©Frank McKone, Canberra
Version 2
At the Foot of the Storyteller's Chair. Bronwyn Vaughan, directed by Brian Joyce. Jigsaw Theatre at Karrabar Pre-School, July 16. Professional. Touring Pre-school to Year 2. Bookings 247 2133.
The little blind girl was excited by Bronwyn Vaughan's hour long presentation of The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle), The Tiger Skin Rug (Gerald Rose), The Paper Crane (Molly Bang) and The Story of Marni, The Girl Who Couldn't Stop Shouting (by Aboriginal artist and writer Sally Morgan). Nothing could stop her asking out loud "What's she doing now?" as each new accent and wonderful sounds emanated from this experienced theatre-in-education actor. The caterpillar crunched through food, good and bad, spitting out pips. The tiger kept very quiet, but didn't he roar at the robbers! The paper crane danced to the flute as the children clapped. And Marni's granny's spell finally reduced her shouting to just a bit of Old Crow's harsh caw and Old Croc's thrashing about, so people could finally stand living with her in the family.
Another winner from the highly professional Jigsaw Company, here is entertainment which reflects real life through beautifully written stories, fascinating mime and dance, sets and costumes designed in styles and colours which sensitively re-create the cultures from which the stories come. And Sally Morgan's ribald humour was a hit with the children and their parents: truly Australian!
So have you met a caterpillar, or met a tiger, or met a morphosis? Phosis is Life, and life is always changing. "Could I metamorphosise me?" sang the Storyteller to her animated Chair. Too hard for pre-schoolers? Not on your life. You should have seen the little blind girl after the show, after all the questions had been asked and answered, after all the others had gone out to play: exploring how the Chair talks, how the Mexican Rainstick makes its eerie sound, how the paper crane flies, how the fur bristles on the tiger rug, or whether the Indian tea was real.
Want to meet a top-notch theatre educator? Bronwyn will conduct workshops on August 7 and November 6 for the ACT Drama Association. If you're a teacher of young children, don't let Bronwyn Vaughan pass you or your class by. Call Jigsaw today.
©Frank McKone, Canberra
Version 1
At the Foot of the Storyteller's Chair. Bronwyn Vaughan, directed by Brian Joyce. Jigsaw Theatre Company at Karrabar Pre-School, Tuesday July 16. Professional. Touring Canberra and region, pre-school to Year 2. Bookings 247 2133.
The little blind girl was so excited by Bronwyn Vaughan's hour long presentation of The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle), The Tiger Skin Rug (Gerald Rose), The Paper Crane (Molly Bang) and The Story of Marni, The Girl Who Couldn't Stop Shouting (by Aboriginal artist and writer Sally Morgan) that nothing could stop her asking out loud "What's she doing now?" as each newly accented voice and every wonderful sound emanated from this experienced theatre-in-education actor. The caterpillar crunched through food, good and bad, spitting out the pips. The tiger kept very quiet, but didn't he roar at the robbers! The paper crane danced to the flute as the children clapped. And Marni's granny's spell finally reduced her shouting to just a little bit of the Old Crow's harsh caw and the Old Croc's thrashing about, so people could finally stand living with her in the family.
This is another winner from the highly professional Jigsaw Company. Vaughan comes to us via effervescent training with Oliver Fiala (when children's drama was new at NSW Uni) and many years with the acclaimed Pipi Storm TIE team. Joined here by Brian Joyce (of Freewheels TIE, Newcastle), it is wonderful to see the children learning through such creative theatre. Here is entertainment which reflects on real life through beautifully written stories, fascinating mime and dance, sets and costumes designed in styles and colours which sensitively re-create the cultures from which the stories come. And, it must be said, Sally Morgan's ribald humour was a hit with the children and their parents: truly Australian!
So have you met a caterpillar, or met a tiger, or met a morphosis? Phosis is Life, and life is always changing. "Could I metamorphosise me?" sang the Storyteller to her animated Chair. Too hard for pre-schoolers? Not on your life. You should have seen the little blind girl after the show, after all the questions had been asked and answered, after all the others had gone out to play: exploring how the Chair talks, how the Mexican Rainstick makes its eerie sound, how the paper crane flies, how the fur bristles on the tiger rug, or whether the Indian tea was real.
Want to meet a top-notch theatre educator? Bronwyn will conduct workshops on August 7 and November 6 for the ACT Drama Association. If you're a teacher of young children, don't let Bronwyn Vaughan pass you or your class by. Call Greg Lissaman or Clay Thistleton at Jigsaw.
©Frank McKone, Canberra
Version 2
At the Foot of the Storyteller's Chair. Bronwyn Vaughan, directed by Brian Joyce. Jigsaw Theatre at Karrabar Pre-School, July 16. Professional. Touring Pre-school to Year 2. Bookings 247 2133.
The little blind girl was excited by Bronwyn Vaughan's hour long presentation of The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle), The Tiger Skin Rug (Gerald Rose), The Paper Crane (Molly Bang) and The Story of Marni, The Girl Who Couldn't Stop Shouting (by Aboriginal artist and writer Sally Morgan). Nothing could stop her asking out loud "What's she doing now?" as each new accent and wonderful sounds emanated from this experienced theatre-in-education actor. The caterpillar crunched through food, good and bad, spitting out pips. The tiger kept very quiet, but didn't he roar at the robbers! The paper crane danced to the flute as the children clapped. And Marni's granny's spell finally reduced her shouting to just a bit of Old Crow's harsh caw and Old Croc's thrashing about, so people could finally stand living with her in the family.
Another winner from the highly professional Jigsaw Company, here is entertainment which reflects real life through beautifully written stories, fascinating mime and dance, sets and costumes designed in styles and colours which sensitively re-create the cultures from which the stories come. And Sally Morgan's ribald humour was a hit with the children and their parents: truly Australian!
So have you met a caterpillar, or met a tiger, or met a morphosis? Phosis is Life, and life is always changing. "Could I metamorphosise me?" sang the Storyteller to her animated Chair. Too hard for pre-schoolers? Not on your life. You should have seen the little blind girl after the show, after all the questions had been asked and answered, after all the others had gone out to play: exploring how the Chair talks, how the Mexican Rainstick makes its eerie sound, how the paper crane flies, how the fur bristles on the tiger rug, or whether the Indian tea was real.
Want to meet a top-notch theatre educator? Bronwyn will conduct workshops on August 7 and November 6 for the ACT Drama Association. If you're a teacher of young children, don't let Bronwyn Vaughan pass you or your class by. Call Jigsaw today.
©Frank McKone, Canberra
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