Walk the Fence. Co-created and directed by Felicity Bott (Buzz Dance Theatre, Perth) and Kate Shearer (Jigsaw Theatre Company, Canberra). Composer, Melanie Robinson. Installation and costumes, Kaoru Alfonso. Lighting, Alex Sciberras. Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre, June 3-13, 10am and 12.30pm. Bookings: Canberra Ticketing 6275 2700 or www.canberratheatrecentre.com.au
In the foyer, Walk the Fence begins as the children receive tickets which tell them the number of the house they will visit in Rachel's street. Theatre staff check with the teachers and parents to keep friendship groups together. The Year 1 and 2 children I observed were excited, with anticipation building, ready to be part of the show.
Keira Mason-Hill presented Rachel, whose parents have separated, as a very angry child, unable to do her schoolwork properly, especially because her mother is about to move. "This is my street," says Rachel. "I don't want to go." Her fear of the unknown is represented in a common children's game of never touching the ground. Somehow, though, she must become grounded in reality, to learn to accept the change in her life without losing her sense of self worth. Mason-Hill is a modern dance artist as well as actor who creates Rachel's feelings wonderfully in exquisite lightness of movement. This is an education in theatre of the best kind for the young children who responded with no hesitation to the subtle moods as well as the plot.
This involves Chris Palframan, an actor and gymnast, playing a tall Pole on sprung stilts; a letterbox in which Rachel finds Mr Troublesome, the school principal to whom her mother writes about her; Maggie, a magpie who swoops all over the stage on roller skates; and finally Brick, the wall who teaches Rachel to work through her emotions with "breathe 1, breathe 2, breathe 3, (to slow down and lower her anger), shake yourself, run about and dance, then use your words to tell your feelings." Finally remember "I am the boss of my feelings". This becomes an audience participation game, and the lesson is learnt.
It worked well with the 6 year-old boys sitting with me in house number 1A, who also wanted to know how Palframan learned to walk, run and jump on sprung stilts. I asked, did you feel sorry for Rachel, or happy? Happy in the end, they said, revealing to me that they understood her feelings. In the modern world, helping young children to develop their emotional intelligence is crucial for the well-being of our community, and Walk the Fence is designed to fit directly into the school curriculum in the Key Learning Areas of The Arts and Health, and particularly the Essential Learning Areas 4 (to act with integrity and regard for others) and 14 (to manage self and relationships).
It was humbling to hear from Kate Shearer after the show, however, that Jigsaw receives funding from ArtsACT and the Australia Council – enough to pay for artistic direction and administration – but that the longstanding commitment of funding from the ACT Department of Education, in Jigsaw's contract since the 1970s, is no longer provided. This leaves Jigsaw struggling to mount the very shows that our children desperately need. I can only hope departmental officers realise how they are making the Jigsaw Theatre Company walk even more on tiptoes on the fence than Rachel, and see their way to reinstate funding. The quality, artistically and educationally, of Walk the Fence justifies my feeling sorry now, but I would like to be happy in the end.
©Frank McKone, Canberra
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