Children's Express reporters review three of the latest theatrical offerings from the Belfast Festival.
Red
Produced by Catherine Wheels
| I found mime a bit difficult... but I loved the balloon scene, it had such a tranquil air. |
The play was about twin sisters Melanie and Harmony who were on a mission to find life in outer-space. They had been astronauts since they were 12 years old. Because they were on the space ship so long together they started to fight a lot.
One day they found what they thought was a rock and put it in the store. They decided to go to bed because they were so disappointed. The next morning Melanie and Harmony discovered the rock was really an egg and it had hatched during the night. They found a red coloured space dog and made friends with him but also fought over him. The dog did not like this and taught them how to be friends.
On the way back to earth, the twins realized Red wanted to see his family and did not want to leave space. They knew if they let Red go it meant that they would have to continue their mission to find life in space.
Children's Express reporters thought the key message from the play was that your family is the most important thing in the universe and good care should be taken of it.
"I liked the story because I have been in a similar situation with my own sister and sometimes we don't make up for a long time," Daniel, 10 said. Although the recommended audience age for Red was up to eight years old, Daniel said "I would recommend this play to children between the ages of four to 12 years."
Paul Brady, 8 said "I liked the space ship because it looked real and I really liked it when the sisters stopped fighting and became friends again."
"The actress costumes were good because they were like real space out fits," Paul added.
Red, a fluffy, red dog that looked a little like a dachshund was held and operated by an adult. Chloe Colclough, 6 who attended the play said "I like the way the actress moved Red, the space dog because it looked like the he was making the movements all by himself." She also thought "space was a good place for the play to be set because sometimes you really do feel that you are stuck with some-one and you have no where else to go."
The audience laughed and sighed throughout the play. They seemed to really enjoy it. According to Daniel "The Old Museum Arts Centre was just the right size for this play because it was cosy for the audience and close to the stage."
Hopeless Games
Performed by Do/Fabrik, a Russian-German co-production
The production opens with the dancers climbing through coats hanging up on the walls onto the stage. It seemed that they may have been lurking behind the coats all the time and heard the audience coming in. Four male dancers appeared. They flung the coats, hats and suitcases to each other during the first routine. Then a woman entered the scene; as she danced the other figures watched her. She handed one dancer a gun, he tried to shoot himself but it didn't seem to work, he gave it back to her. The gun was passed from dancer to dancer until eventually it went off with an unexpected, loud bang. There was a series of interactions through dance between the characters, sometimes friendly, sometimes flirtatious, sometimes jealous, some fighting even broke out.
A projected image of a train illuminated the back of the stage. Later it was projected towards the audience giving the impression that it was running over the entire theatre. Blue balloons, attached to cardboard cut-outs of little girls were bathed in a blue smoke as lights twinkled through tranquil scene. They let go of the balloons, took off their coats to reveal a white suit underneath and began dancing and chanting. An image of fireworks was projected onto the back of the stage and, all in slow motion, the dancers got up from the floor and begin walking slowly together in a line across the stage into the fireworks. Blackout.
Orlaith Graham Wood, 12 said "Parts of it was good, the bit with the gun seemed a bit pointless, the dance was definitely good. The special effects, particularly the fireworks were good. The train image lasted a bit too long but it was good."
Amy Magowan Greene, 12 "I could understand each scene but I found it difficult to work out the whole story line. The connection between each was a bit confusing."
"I think the Old Museum Arts Centre was maybe a little too small for the production to have its full effect," said Orlaith. "Our first impression was not good, it was filled with a lot of older people (lots of Americans for some reason). On the theatre door it did mention there would be gun shots but not in the brochure, so I think this was not good as some families came with young children," said Orlaith.
"They really did not seem to have not enough space and the production looked cramped. At one point one of the dancers had to pick up a stage lamp he had knocked over," Amy said. "At times you wished that it would hurry up to the next bit," she added.
"I would not recommend this to kids. Middle-aged people interested in culture would like this production, some older teenagers maybe into art and drama might like it but most, probably won't be that interested because they wouldn't understand it unless they had researched it," said Orlaith. "The production was really good, excellent dancing but for my personal taste I would give it six out of ten. If we had known more about the story behind Do-Fabrik and understood more about what was going on then I think we would have enjoyed it more," Orlaith added.
"It was not compelling for me, I found mime a bit difficult and just a little boring but I loved the blue, balloon scene it had such a tranquil air," Amy said.
Water Carriers
Performed by Le Thtre Talipot
The theme of the performance was about water and how people where struggling to cope without it. The four male dancers also played various instruments to emulate the sounds of running water and to stress its importance to existence.
The dancers played many roles and took on different personalities. Water was paramount and they looked every-where for it. "The write up was nothing but true, Water Carriers was a 'frenzy of tight choreography, powerful singing and spellbinding mime,"' said Mairead, 15, "the music, the dance and the mime working together clarified the meaning of the story for the audience."
"I thought the performance was fantastic," said Margaruite, 16 although it was difficult at times to understand. "The musical effects, the instruments, the choral singing used in the performance and the dance carried the audience through the same journey as the dancers," she added. "They made music with their feet and hands as well as musical instruments. At times the story line was difficult to understand but that did not affect the overall beauty of the performance," Michael, 14 said. "Before I saw this production I thought it would have been a bit boring but I was wrong," said Mairead.
"It was a good experience and there were other young people at the performance, I really enjoyed seeing something from a different culture."
"It was a good performance which I would go and see again."
About the teams
Red reviewed by reporters Daniel McCrisken, 10 and Paul Brady, 8.
Hopeless Games reviewed by reporters Amy Magowan-Greene,12 and Orlaith Graham-Wood, 12.
Water Carriers reviewed by editors Mairead Duffy, 15 Margaruite McNeill, 16 and Michael Leathem, 14.
The reviews were published on the Belfast Festival website
