Noel Lothian Hall, Botanic Gardens. 23 Nov 2019
‘It takes a village to raise a child’, and this village, amongst the old halls of the ever beautiful Botanic Gardens, gives children an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to that village.
The children (and their carers) are welcomed to the community in the food gardens by Marina Barbaro and her theatre family, and asked to choose the role they will take on the village via pocket sized, colourful river stones. Each stone bears the title of a village duty – power worker, food server, postie.
Then it’s back to the village (Lothian Hall) where the villagers set about building, decorating, and naming their family huts. The postman delivers, the food gatherers bring home a delicious variety of fresh fruits, served to the families by the food servers.
Each child has an active role in the village, and the community is brought together for drinking, eating and, most important of all, ensuring that the ‘heart’ of the village is kept beating.
The show is ingeniously put together, allowing the children to take charge while being gently led; surely more than one parent was trying to figure out how to get them to perform like this at home!
The village huts surrounded the communal area, and while the volume was a little loud at times, the overall light and sound ambience had the children happily settled, even during the thunder and lightning!
Trying to teach an understanding of independence, leadership and community living is no mean feat, but in this community interactive theatre production, Marina and family pull it off; through community feasts, communal games and wild thunderstorms, the village sticks together.
Supported by a City of Adelaide Arts and Cultural Grant, this was a free event that hopefully will be reprised.
And the children’s opinion? For them, the best part was having full responsibility for creating their own living space: they want to go again!
Arna Eyers-White
Age Guide: 5 to 12 years
When: 23 and 24 Nov
Where: Noel Lothian Hall
Bookings: Closed
