the very hungry caterpillar
Today my parents and I took The Bun to see his first theatrical production - A Brown Bear, A Moon and A Caterpillar: Treasured Stories by Eric Carle by the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia, Canada. Like many kids his age, The Bun is very familiar with all three stories, particularly Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? which he first encountered as a little baby, but his ultimate favourite is The Very Hungry Caterpillar because he loves the way the caterpillar munches through all the food and then gets a stomachache. Since he enjoys Eric Carle's books so much I thought this production would be a good introduction to children's theatre for him. With all the years I've spent producing, watching, and researching theatre, it would be great if he could cultivate a love for it too.
It's been more than six months since his Phase of Fears, but I remember the time when he cried the house down at the SSO's Babies Proms concert all too clearly. Everything freaked him out then: the sudden dimness upon entering the theatre, the hundreds of strangers sitting together looking at the stage, and most of all, the conductor, a cheerful, booming man. We left after less than five minutes, I think, and I spent twenty minutes in the foyer trying to get him to calm down. Although it didn't seem like it at that time, that cliché rings true: this [phase] shall pass. And it did.
This time round I talked up the show a bunch: leaving the brochure out for him to see, re-reading the stories, talking about how the puppets were going to appear in a theatre and that many children like him would be watching the show together. He was a bit nervous when we entered the theatre because it was quite dim but I told him that the puppets would only appear if the stage was dark enough. Luckily they started more or less on time so he didn't have time to get nervy or fidgety.
Once the show began he settled right in and enjoyed himself thoroughly. The show was lovely - the puppets looked exactly like they do in the books and the music complemented everything nicely. The Bun got quite excited during the Brown Bear story and started shouting out the names of the animals during the show (well, the narrator did ask, 'what do you see?'). It was a good thing the pre-show announcement mentioned that it was okay for kids to join in with the story narration because it was a 'non-shushing' production. I also liked the Q&A session at the end when the puppeteers answered questions from the kids and demonstrated how some of the puppets worked. They also let the kids touch some of the puppets onstage afterwards.
Slightly blurry photos - the caterpillar fan club
The Bun almost didn't want to let the caterpillar puppet leave and kept asking afterwards why we couldn't take it home. Buoyant and happy (and now pretending he is a caterpillar too), he was enthusiastic when I asked him if he wanted to see more shows next time. A good start, I think - and hopefully there will be more to come.
It's been more than six months since his Phase of Fears, but I remember the time when he cried the house down at the SSO's Babies Proms concert all too clearly. Everything freaked him out then: the sudden dimness upon entering the theatre, the hundreds of strangers sitting together looking at the stage, and most of all, the conductor, a cheerful, booming man. We left after less than five minutes, I think, and I spent twenty minutes in the foyer trying to get him to calm down. Although it didn't seem like it at that time, that cliché rings true: this [phase] shall pass. And it did.
This time round I talked up the show a bunch: leaving the brochure out for him to see, re-reading the stories, talking about how the puppets were going to appear in a theatre and that many children like him would be watching the show together. He was a bit nervous when we entered the theatre because it was quite dim but I told him that the puppets would only appear if the stage was dark enough. Luckily they started more or less on time so he didn't have time to get nervy or fidgety.
Once the show began he settled right in and enjoyed himself thoroughly. The show was lovely - the puppets looked exactly like they do in the books and the music complemented everything nicely. The Bun got quite excited during the Brown Bear story and started shouting out the names of the animals during the show (well, the narrator did ask, 'what do you see?'). It was a good thing the pre-show announcement mentioned that it was okay for kids to join in with the story narration because it was a 'non-shushing' production. I also liked the Q&A session at the end when the puppeteers answered questions from the kids and demonstrated how some of the puppets worked. They also let the kids touch some of the puppets onstage afterwards.
Slightly blurry photos - the caterpillar fan club
The Bun almost didn't want to let the caterpillar puppet leave and kept asking afterwards why we couldn't take it home. Buoyant and happy (and now pretending he is a caterpillar too), he was enthusiastic when I asked him if he wanted to see more shows next time. A good start, I think - and hopefully there will be more to come.