Chris Elwell on his love of Theatre for Young Audiences
While only starting with ET mid-May, I still nearly made a silver jubilee of reviews (24) plus a couple of Q & A’s which, as a side thought, I’d urge fellow ETers to think about doing; they are great fun without the pressure of reviewing!
Those who know me know that I only focus on TYA (theatre for young audiences) shows – that is my love and the world I have been inhabiting for many years. I hope that I bring perspectives and informed opinion to the mix as a result. Under the nurturing wing of ET’s Editing Chief Mary Pollard, the small number of us who venture into this world to review, have much to enjoy and be excited about. TYA continues to be a place where there is real innovation, consistently high quality work and challenges and questions the complexities of the world we live in, be that work for babies right through the spectrum to teenagers. Profile is still an issue for TYA, but ET hopefully goes some way to address that: we can hope anyway.
For me, it was a bit of a year of revivals as my highlights. Let’s Build and I Want My Hat Back, both at Polka Theatre, showed how second time round shows shouldn’t be dismissed; like another highlight Chotto Desh (at Sadler’s Wells East), all three offered beautiful design and musicality, matched with fabulous performances that touched and lifted the spirit equally. In June, Home at Grand Junction, was a rare gem that beautifully placed an urban tower block central to a story framed within a place of magical realism – uplifting and poignant. Counting Sheep, a show for babies that stopped of Half Moon Theatre as part of a wider tour, was as the title suggests, a gorgeous woolly adventure.
The year ended with The Three Bears (also at Half Moon). Subversive, playful and heartfelt, this piece had a clear alternative family set up framework and was a real refreshing alternative Christmas offering, and will undoubtedly join the basket of forthcoming revival shows to catch – let’s hope so anyway.
