Last month we supported Peter from Universal Hall to attend the Imaginate Festival in Edinburgh through Go See. Although one of our more established promoters, Peter was keen to expand his knowledge of children’s theatre shows that are currently available to tour.
Delegate Events
Imaginate, held in Edinburgh, is one of the most successful festivals for performing arts for children and young people in the UK, and attracts 120 delegates from all across the globe who attend performances as well as a number of delegate events. One of the delegate events that Peter attended was on Performing Arts in Schools and had a Swedish, Scottish and Danish presenter.
“In Denmark there is a schools organisation called Kulturcrew, where the children programme, host, introduce and review all the school performing arts from visiting companies. They gain ownership of the events, communication skills, technical and marketing skills. Thom Dibdin, the Scottish presenter, has created a website alledinburghtheatre.com where children review theatre shows they have seen. A simple but brilliant concept.” Peter, Universal Hall
Show Reviews
“Bounce is performed inside a bouncy castle. Brilliant idea! The audience get to come in and bounce around before sitting around the edge and waiting for the show to start. If only it had worked…. ” Read the rest of Peter’s review of Bounce here.
Waves / Alice Mary Cooper
“I thoroughly enjoyed the show which was well told and performed. I was convinced the story was true.” Read more from Peter.
The Lost Things / Tortoise in a Nutshell & Oliver Emanuel
“This is a show ready for touring to rural venues and from the write up I thought it would be a show I would love to have. First of all you are led into a dark tent and then the tent is ceremonially zipped shut – Forgot about a toilet break half way through. The puppeteers are dressed like the puppets and the whole environment is imaginatively designed and used. Ladders come up out of the stage to create a set and strange flying vehicles move the puppets around. The dialogue comes from the soundtrack. Tortoise in a Nutshell describe themselves as a company who “collectively devise productions often with a focus on non verbal communication”. The theme of the show is being Lost – the characters are lost and they encounter Amelia Earhert, the Titanic and other lost things. These are all well designed and made but I wanted more of a story but perhaps that is just my adult mind. The children appeared engaged and were delighted meeting and exploring the set and puppets after the show.” Read more from Peter.
Shows that Peter did not see but heard good things about were:
Mouth Open, Story Jump Out / Polar Bear
Hup / RSNO & Starcatchers
“This is touring to the Aros Centre in Portree in June and is a performance for 0-24 months babies and carers. Can I borrow a baby please?!” Peter
Read more reviews of Imaginate shows here.
Top Tip
“Imaginate restructured their theatre ticketing system for delegates this year so if you want to book delegate tickets you must book them the minute they go online as they sell very quickly.” Peter
To find out what current Go See opportunities there are, visit our News page and if you would like more information, please get in touch.