For the second year in a row, Werklund Centre and the University of Calgary’s School of Creative and Performing Arts joined forces to create an interactive show for youth six and younger called Little Wonders.
More than 20 students from the University's course on theatre for young audiences devised the piece. It was staged in May as part of the Centre’s Arts ReimaginED Festival.
Kat LeBlanc was among those students. Upon graduation, LeBlanc hopes to create a youth-focused theatre company. LeBlanc says creating a show for young audiences is different than for adults because the attention span involved is considerably briefer.
They note audience participation is particularly important in shows for children. “We wanted to inspire wonder and awe without trying to ‘educate’ them,” LeBlanc explains of Little Wonders.
LeBlanc says the underlying theme of Little Wonders was “to celebrate each other’s differences.”
“We tried to communicate without the use of the English language. We tried to focus on other senses like using touch and listening,” adds LeBlanc.
The resulting production featured a combination of interactive and sensory experiences woven together into a storyline involving an intergalactic council meeting of aliens from several planets. However, the faction from the planet Fishopolis was missing. As such, audience members – guided by members of the cast – were tasked to find out what was afoot.
LeBlanc taught the kids various swim strokes so they could “swim” to Fishopolis and meet the Fish Queen. Along the way, the children encountered a kiddie pool filled with plastic sea creatures and participated in such child-friendly fare as bubble art (where one ‘paints’ using food colouring and dish soap), a slow-motion race against a seahorse and a jousting match with pool noodles.
Neda Imamverdi also worked on the show. While she initially registered for the University of Calgary course because of its interdisciplinary nature –– encompassing aspects of dance, drama and music –– she found the process of creating a show for young audiences “freeing.”
“It was very different from anything else I’ve ever done,” she says. “We had to explore our own childish imaginations…Within my four-year degree, I have never once explored my own inner child as part of the creative process,” says Imamverdi, who studies electronic sound design via the School of Creative and Performing Arts.
Within Little Wonders, she brought her music and sound expertise to the forefront by playing the piano and engaging in call-and-response games with the audience.
“What I learned from the process itself is that we never run out of creativity…We have to always find a new way to explore our creativity and our own imaginations,” says Imamverdi.
Both Imamverdi and LeBlanc highlight the collaborative nature of the show as particularly rewarding.
“The collaborative creation process was the thing that made this show flourish,” says LeBlanc.
“It’s such a nice feeling when ideas don’t come from one person but from everyone,” Imamverdi concurs.
The show had a waitlist this year, due to its popularity last season. “We hope kids got to explore something without limitation, and that it was inspiration for their own artistic expression,” Imamverdi concludes.
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