Too Many Elephants in This House - Review

By Dominique Broomfield, blogger, http://www.babiesandtoddlers.com

I still feel a sense of wonder and excitement when I walk into any theatre. The dark, the quiet, the anticipation, the atmosphere, I don’t think that changes from child to adult.

I would have liked to have stepped into my little boys mind today when he experience the theatre for the first time. Queuing up with the preschool and kindergarten kids at the NIDA theatre for a production of Too Many Elephants in This House, I could visably see him change. He is normally a busy two year old constantly on the move but he was quiet, thoughtful, even patient as he lined up. I could almost see the intrigue working in his brain. What is this place? What is going to happen?

We took our seats and he lost his sense of wonder and contemplation a bit and slipped back into two year old mode when he found that the seats flipped up and down. But he sat for almost the entire 55 minute performance – only about 5-10 minutes to the end did he get up and start skulking around the empty seats.

The play is an adaptation of the book by Ursula Dubosarsky and illustrated by Andrew Joyner. It says suitable from 2+ but is really aimed at kids Years K – 6. Specifically designed to engage young people with humour and mystery, this is the first time the book has come alive on stage.

The story is about a 7 year old boy named Eric who’s collection of beloved elephants is getting on his mums nerves because they take up a lot of space. There are just too many elephants – in the living room, in the kitchen, in the bathroom, even in his bedroom! She proclaims he has to make it an elephant free house. So the journey of self discovery and magic begins as Eric learns to combat his fear of the dark; find his sense of belonging and comes up with a clever solution to a very BIG problem…

I expect the theme of the play encouraging creative problem solving is a bit lost on the today’s audience but I imagine the one o’clock showing has some older children. The The children today are happy just watching and giggling. There are lots of opportunities to make preschool and kindergarten children laugh: oversized elephant “listening ears”, mum tripping over the vacuum cleaner which has been dressed as a elephant and an elephant hiding in a fridge brings about a pantomimesque “he’s behing you” chorus from the giggling crowd of youngsters!

The sets are simple but effective helping to playfully explore the concepts of size, space and perspective. The lighting works to capture that sense of theatre without it being too dark and the costumes of grey overalls and woolly jumpers as trunks and stick on ears make some great playschool elephants.

The actors, graduates of NIDA are a bit am-dram for my liking but putting myself in the mind of a child, they do a good job with a heckling audience. The character of Eric and the large elephant are particularly engaging and have a good dynamic, playing for giggles. The actors and Kellie Mackereth who adapted the book for the stage stay on for a brief Q and A which is a delight to listen too. The kids ask a range of cute questions, all answered well and with good humour.

I don’t know the book but by pure coincidence when I picked up my four year old from preschool they had read it that day as it’s recently honoured by the Children’s Book Council of Australia in the Early Childhood category.

I think it’s a shame it’s only on for a short period of time. So, if you read this and get a chance to go before Saturday, it’s a nice way to spend an hour in the luxury of a theatre while your kids are engaged and giggling.

Further information

Based on the book by Ursula Dubosarsky and illustrated by Andrew Joyner
Published by Penguin Books
Presented by the National Institute of Dramatic Art
Adapted for the stage by Kellie Mackereth
http://www.nida.edu.au

GLEN STREET THEATRE PARTNERS WITH NIDA TO CELEBRATE DIVERSITY IN WARRINGAH

Glen Street Theatre has announced an exciting opportunity for young people to share their voice and celebrate cultural diversity in association with the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).

Voices of Warringah is an innovative theatre project nurturing the experiences and sharing the stories of young people from Warringah. Led by theatre director and NIDA Lecturer in Acting Kristine Landon-Smith and renowned composer and writer Felix Cross, the project will fuse verbatim stories, scenes and characters devised by young people and inspired by real life events and experiences.

Glen Street Theatre and NIDA are looking for enthusiastic and reliable Year 7–9 students who are interested in drama to create this unique performance. The project will be devised from their stories and experiences and will use each and every language and cultural heritage from the performing ensemble.

Students are encouraged to audition through fun workshops, which will be held on Saturday 3 May and Saturday 10 May. The workshops will include theatre games, improvisations and story telling techniques.

Twenty students will then be selected to commit to creating this exciting work together over a period of six months. Rehearsals will take place every second Saturday afternoon from May to October and the devised performance will be presented at Glen Street Theatre on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October.

Storylines

The opening night of the StoryLines Festival was abuzz with an energy, a certain excitement as we walked through the glass doors of NIDA, Kensington. The StoryLines Festival is a landmark cultural event of theatre, art, dance and music; a forum showcasing the stories of Sydney’s Malaysian, Islamic, Indigenous and African Refugee communities. With the bAKEHOUSE Theatre Company in association with NIDA Parade Theatres & Tamarama Rock Surfers, the night began with an upbeat and thrilling performance from Sibo Bangoura on drums. Joshua from EmilyMax silenced the audience on Chinese Zither, creating a sombre and reflective mood leading gently onto special guest, Chris Edwards-Haines, a member of the Kinchela Boys Home and Stolen Generation. His contribution of an acknowledgement of country and self-written songs on acoustic guitar touched every member of the audience deep inside, he whispered to their hearts. Following this introspective performance, Anthony Treacy entertained by spicing up the traditional art of playing the Didgeridoo by adding a light, contemporary spin as he became the segue to ‘The Saints’ contemporary dance team of entertaining hip-hop, pop-n-lock.

The exhibition itself begins with a very personal and moving display of art works from the stolen generation and refugees from detention centres, created as part of a process of rehabilitation. While many of these pieces are for sale, the very individual touch of each work seems delicate and fragile. Each story, no matter how treacherous or troublesome, is under the scrutiny and examination from strangers and yet, they move you to your core. As you process through the exhibition into the Playhouse theatre, you walk in, peer through the darkness and observe the setting for the first play performed- A Land Beyond The River. This is a surprising and very thought provoking reinvention of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Indeed, this play is quite simple and yet effective, as the talented actors strive entertain and all the while pushing a very clear and sombre message- a social commentary of 1960’s segregation in a contemporary application. This play is easily accessible and yet borderline personal. Through lighting and use of staging and props, this play is both a mental and visual spectacular. Junction follows as the second play for the night and in quite a pleasant surprise, this two-man performance is both moving and thrilling. While both plays are presented consecutively, they address very different themes with their plot content in stark contrast. Junction manages to use minimal props, high-beam lighting and two powerful actors to create an intricate space of dilemma and tension, with only your imagination as the woven thread to hold it together. Don’t’ miss this festival from July 31st until Augst the 4th.

Reviewed by Regina Su

Men Without Shadows by Jean Paul-Sartre

For those of you who know Jean Paul-Sartre's work you might already be thinking that this will be a dark performance, possibly not very easy to follow and possibly a little dull. WRONG! Ok, it is dark literally...
The scene is France July, 1944, in an attic of an abandoned school are six young resistance fighters waiting for their ordered execution. A floor below, their three executioners face imminent death for the approaching Allied forces.  Granted it is not the most cheery of situations but the way the characters unfold and the feelings they go through has you on the edge of your seat. The Attic scenes are barely lit which adds to the atmostphere and contrasts well with the downstairs scenes. As a production it is very well put together with a simple but effective set and creative lighting. The music too added an eerie touch.
All the actors brought realism to their character and the right amount of tension. The only times I felt they were a little uneasy were the torture scenes but perhaps they were concerned that somebody might really get hurt! For me Tami stood out, maybe because she was the only female in the play but her performance particularly near the end when she had resigned herself to death was captivating.
For such a young cast, most fresh out of NIDA it really was a great accolade to NIDA and themselves. I am sure most will continue to have a very successful acting careers.

Men Without Shadows is playing at the Parade Theatre until 12 March