At the Redwood Theatre, 1300 Gerrard St. E.
Created by Michelle Silagy and Lynda Hill
Direction and dramaturgy by Lynda Hill
Choreography by Michelle Silagy
Original music by Cathy Nosaty
Set by Jung Hye Kim
Costumes by Jennifer Dallas
Lighting Design by Jennifer Lennon
Cast: Allison Basha
Lucas Penner
Jake Ramos
Jessica Runge
The wonderful Wee Festival has opened for another run. Dates: May 11-20, 2019 at various locations. The Wee Festival offers plays, concerts, events and other activities for children 0 to 6 years old over 10 days.
The Wee Festival was created in 2014 by Lynda Hill under the auspices of Theatre Direct for which she was the Artistic Director for 18 years. She has been a tireless champion of bringing the arts to children.
The Wee Festival opened with Flying Hearts, a meditation on air, light, earth and water.
Children and their parents are invited to touch everything on the ‘sensory table’, which is full of odd feeling water, a bottle with feathers in it, strange feeling sand, things that make noise and music, things that tickle and all things that delight.
When it was time to go into the theatre the young audience was invited to sit on the ‘grass,’ really a lush green carpet. There were white structures that looked like sails. In the middle of the room was a round white piece of gossamer like material.
At the back of the room were a keyboard and a table with glasses of various shapes and sizes. They are used as instruments that make sound during the show. One can hear the sounds of birds singing and water babbling along a stream of sorts.
The cast of four: Allison Basha, Lucas Penner, Jessica Runge and Jake Ramos enter the space singing a song of welcome. Allison Bascha greets the children and their parents with a smile and joy. Lucas Penner plays the guitar, the keyboard, the glasses and anything else that can produce a sound or music. Jessica Runge and Jake Ramos are dancers and create the sense of air, light, earth and water in dance.
Bringing out a child’s sense of wonder is uppermost when Lynda Hill creates or collaborates on a show. So there are bubbles blown over their heads that they can reach up and touch; the children are asked if they would like to feel a mist on their skin. If they say yes, then a squirt bottle with the most delicate of mists is spritzed above their heads to float down on their skin. Respect and involving art are offered to every child in Flying Hearts.
It’s a show that engages even the youngest audiences and older audiences too. The public performances played over two days over last weekend. The school performances will conclude May 15.
The Wee Festival is one of my favourite festivals. Check out the schedule of events at www.weefestival.ca and take your kids.