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We are a group of friends/parents that run a not-for-profit cultural association in Spain.
This is our (bilingual!) blog about our theatre workshops for kids...
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Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta 2009 Donde Viven Los Monstruos. Mostrar todas las entradas

miércoles, 18 de enero de 2012

Starting from Scratch VIII: choosing the music

The stage productions we develop on our workshops centre on music. It provides the dramatic backdrop to the action and helps establish the 'mood' - and indeed to some extent - the message of each scene. So making the right choice of music is a very important (and time consuming!) part of the process when it comes to developing our own material.

Any music we use, needs to:
  • be a suitable length (is it long enough? can I shorten it easily?)
  • have a structure kids will be able to easily recognise (obviously all music has structure, but is it structured in a way kids will be able to follow up on stage?)
  • convey the essence, the mood, the atmosphere... of the scene

To kick off the selection process, I tend to look first at obvious choices like sound tracks to films of a similar theme (in the case of "The Ugle Bug Ball", I might first listen to the sound track to "A Bug's Life or "Bee Movie") or well-known, similarly themed classical music ("The Fight of the Bumblebee" by Rimsky-Korsakov is an obvious choice, for example).
Cover of Bee Movie (Full Screen Edition)


After a bit of googling, I can start to expand the list. For the "Ugly bug ball" I find a surprising number of possible sources of inspiration:
  • 'Insect Symphony' by contemporary Finnish composer Kalevi Aho (this includes pieces for butterflies, dung beetles, grasshoppers, ants and dayflies so would be a good place to start)
  • "The Spider's Feast" by Roussel 
  • Overture to the Wasps by Vaughan Williams
  • Scriabin's Tenth Sonata, also known as the "Insect" sonata due to its trills. 
  • Bartok's "The Night's Music" from his piano suite "Out of Doors" mimics different creatures at night...birds, frogs, insects.....
  • Mussorgsky's "Song of the Flea"
  • Grieg's "Papillon"
  • Schumann’s Les Papillons
  • Schubert’s Der Einsame (The Lonely) about the melancholy of a cricket, sitting on a hearth, mourning the disappearance of the summer
  • "The Ant and the Grasshopper" by Leon Rosselson
  •  Josquin des Prez's "El grillo e buon cantore"  is a musical painting of a grasshopper

A search for more modern themes comes up with a long list of gems  like:
  • Chet Atkins "Centipede Boogie"
  • "Spiders" by System of a Down
  • "Bug Eyes" by Dredg
    Wonderful (Adam Ant album)
    Image via Wikipedia
  • "Butterflies and Hurricanes" by Muse
  • Nina Simone's "Funkier than a Mosquitoes Tweeter"
  • "Insects" by 10 Years
  • "Butterfly Caught2 by Massive Attack
  • "Ant Music" by Adam & the Ants
  • "Hey there little insect!" by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers 
  • "Black Butterfly" by Sounds Of Blackness
Not all these songs will be suitable (and many will not really even be about insects!) but the advantage of throwing the net as wide as possible is you might just find something perfect, something really inspiring. It takes a lot of listening on Youtube and Spotify (and a lot of crossing off the list) before you can really start to narrow it down. but the effort is worth it in the end because of what the right piece of music can bring to your play.





English: James Brown, February 1973, Musikhall...
Image via Wikipedia
I like to also think about juxtaposition when I'm choosing music for a play. I like it to 'sit well' with what comes before and after it and to provide contrast. I also like using vintage (or simply, older!) songs and music, as they can sometimes be used in a way that is witty. A song like Adam Ant's "Ant Music" for example might be a witty choice for a scene about..... well, the ants, precisely because it is such a, well, obvious choice... and because it will make the adults in the audience chuckle. Vintage choices provide great beats and sometimes a more theatrical musical style. Songs that spring to mind that could be used in this way for this play are Chet Atkins "Centipede Boogie", "I Got Ants In My Pants" by James Brown,"La Cucaracha" by Los Lobos or "Mean Old Bedbug Blues" by Bessie Smith. Depending on how the play itself pans itself, on the direction it takes, there is sometimes room for something a little experimental if it might resonate with audience. An example of something that could be used with our theme would be Tom Waits' spoken 'song' "Army Ants". The moment would need to be there but it could work.







lunes, 2 de enero de 2012

Starting from Scratch VII: Exploring Bugs...

In recent weeks, I've been looking at how you might adapt the children's song "The Ugly Bug Ball" into a stage production for kids. This week, I've been thinking about the type of activities that could be used to explore the "bug" theme in a theatre workshop.

So, a few ideas to get started (feel free to chip in with more!):
  • Eric Carle's 'The Hungry Caterpillar'
Base a lesson on the story of The Hungry Caterpillar. When I did this, I cut the fingers off cheap gloves so everyone had a caterpillar to wiggle and handed out food and flashcards to be waved at the right moment. Get kids to do different actions (stand up, sit down, wave one arm etc) when they hear certain words.
As a follow on, get kids to act out a short sketch based on the cycle of life of a butterfly or do this as a puppet show, with quick cutout drawings as puppets or socks and coffee filter butterflies (see below)
  • To make coffee filter butterflies: 
  1. Cut a coffee filter along the 2 sloping edges and open up to make wings
  2. Clip a clothes peg along the centre as a body 
  3. Decorate the wings with felt tip pens
  4. Use a plant spray bottle to spray lightly with water. leave to dry before clipping onto curtains, lamp cables etc.
  • Make an egg box caterpillar by cutting an egg carton in half along the length to leave a string of 3 egg cups still joined together (the caterpillar's body). Decorate and add pipe cleaner antenas.
  •  Make pebble 'bug' pets by painting stones (or combinations of stones) and sticking on googly eyes, pipe cleaner antenas etc
  • Explore Traditional Songs: 
    • There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed A Fly: Get them to act out the song - draw a circle on the floor (or make one out of chairs or rope) as the old woman's stomach and get the kids to squeeze in (and wriggle and jiggle) at the right time
    •  Nobody Likes Me Everybody Hates Me (Going Down The Garden To Eat Worms): have fun with this traditional playground song (could be combined with the Icky Textures activity below!)
    • The Ants Go Marching
  • Play Musical Bug Statues: a twist on the traditional party game - get the kids moving like a spider... an ant... a butterfly.... in time to music. When the music stops, they freeze and you choose a new insect. (This would be good preparation for the "Ugly Bug Ball" as kids could experiment with dancing like a given insect and explore how different ones would move (a worm would wiggle, for example, and a grasshopper might dance a jig?!)
  • Play a variation of Hunt The Thimble with plastic bugs hidden around the room. Kids 'become' any bugs that are found for a couple of minutes and then the hunt resumes. This can be combined with the tradional game "Warmer/Colder" - one student goes out and the rest decide where to hide a particular bug. They "guide" the first student to the hiding place by calling out 'warmer' and 'colder' when they are closer or further away. This works well with foreign language students as you can substitute the name of the particular bug being hidden and shout or whisper to guide the searcher (lots of vocab practice).
  • Play 'Be A Bug': In small groups, get the kids to work together to represent different insects: use their arms and legs to be a centipede, lie head to foot to be a worm, use a bit of imagination (!) to make a grasshopper, a spider, a beetle...
  • Experiment with music: find a selection of different styles of music (some faster, some slower) andplay them one by one to the students. Get them to listen with their eyes closed and then discuss which music might 'fit' which insects. Opinions may vary but the important thing is to get them thinking...
  • Talk about phobias: find out who likes bugs... and who doesn't! Why do insects produce this reaction? Show flashcards of different animals (kittens, horses, lions as well as different insects) and discuss the differing reactions.
  • Take this further by playing a Halloween favourite, "Icky Textures": prepare several tupperwares filled with a variety of textures (spaghetti, grapes, honey, sand paper.....) and cover them with a cloth so the kids don't know what they are. One by one, get kids to put their hands in the different tubs and describe what they feel. As an extension (as a way of exploring the role of our expections when it comes to the things we are afraid of) send some students out of the room while you do the first activity. Then get them in, one by one, and tell them what they are going to feel (eyeballs, slugs, worms etc). Get help from the rest of the students to build the tension! Later discuss the difference in reaction between the two groups of students.
  • Talk about life from an insect's perspective....
  • Go outside and spot bugs, watch ants 'at work', hunt for butterflies, find a spider in a web. This can be extended into a bug treasure hunt by giving the kids a list of bugs they must try and find.


For more ideas, check out:
Bug-related Activities  
Ideas for story books about insects and songs that can be sung to traditional tunes
Great ideas for exploiting the Aesop's fable, 'The Ant and The Grasshopper'

jueves, 29 de diciembre de 2011

Starting from Scratch VI. The Set

For me, when I think about how you would go about creating a stage set for a production of “The Ugly Bug Ball”, the most important factor would have to be the scale. The play is set in the insect world, so we’re obviously looking at roots, foliage, undergrowth, flowers... and we obviously need to go big.

In fact, I think you could have a lot of fun with the stage design. So some ideas:
  •  Painted backdrops (perhaps thin gauze, strung on taut wire, to make it easy to change scenes) showing large roots or foliage. Use colour/different images to reflect the mood of a given scene: brown (sad) roots at the beginning and an explosion of colourful flowers for the ball scene perhaps. Ideas for the kind of mural that could be used:

  •   Use the kids themselves to: 
    • Wear large flowers, garlands of leaves, twigs and branches round their neck
    • Hold up silhouettes of rocks, bushes, branches etc to create instant, temporary atmosphere
    • Wave real branches & foliage

  • Create a sense of perspective by making rocks and bushes to ‘layer’ in front of the backdrop. Make out of card (propped up or held), papier mache (over chicken wire) or polystyrene. Use hinged cut outs at the front of the stage to pull up and down at will like a pop up card:
  • Hang real (or plastic) foliage at the front of the stage to frame the scene and add detail or use throughout
  • Cut out leaf and petal shapes from cheap household sponges and dip into paint to create quick but effective background foliage
  • Alternatively, experiment with projections of foliage and flowers to create a mood instantly

sábado, 17 de diciembre de 2011

Starting from Scratch V. The Costumes: capes and masks

Wenceslas Hollar - A dragonfly, ladybirds, and...Image via Wikipedia
Here are some other ideas for costumes for a stage play about insects (in this case for an adaptation of the children's song "Ugly Bug Ball")... I would suggest basic costumes - leggings and a long-sleeved top in black, brown or green (depending on the bug) - with all creative energy poured into a couple of dramatic, colourful additional elements (like wings, antennas, extra legs or whatever feature is characteristc of any given bug ). These elements could be worn as hats (as discussed in my last post) or as masks, tunics or masks. Old tights can be stuffed and sewn to the back of the basic costume as extra (spider, grasshopper or centipede legs). Use wire to make flamboyant antennas. Use simple bin bag (or cloth) tunics with spots, stripes and patterns glued on. The possibilities are endless!

Some inspiration for moth/butterfly capes (which could be easily adapted to ladybirds, dragonflies, bees and wasps):

This theme is also perfect for masks. And masks are a simple solution:
English: Various Balinese Topeng (dance masks)...Image via Wikipedia
  • for limited budgets, 
  • plays where actors need to double up and make quick costume changes 
  • if you're into minimalism.

miércoles, 14 de diciembre de 2011

Starting from Scratch IV. The Costumes: hats

In recent weeks, I have been looking at the children's song "The Ugly Bug Ball" and showing how it might be turned into a children's play. One thing has become very clear as time has gone on - the variety of characters (bugs of all shapes and sizes) and the glamour of the setting (a ball!) means colour and flamboyance are paramount.  This is going to be particularly pertinent when thinking about the costumes.

When I think about the idea of insect costumes, immediately I think: hats, masks, capes. All three of these elements are relatively simple to make and easy for kids to wear. Let's look at hats first.

In order to come up with ideas, I first find an image of what I want to create. For example, the earthworm:


Then, I scour the internet, magazines, books, photos.... looking for ideas. These are some I came up with when i was thinking about making a worm hat:

The idea can come from anywhere (a straw basket?!) but you start to slowly get an idea. In this case, I'm leaning towards a tall, coiled hat (think Madge Simpson's hair, perhaps?). The black and red of the original photo would make a very striking worm hat or we could use earthy colours and weave in a few reds and greens.

Here are some ideas for hats for other creepy crawlies from the song which I got largely from looking at Ascot hats (what better place to look for flamboyance?). No offense to the original wearers!






Materials for making hats: netting, foam backed material, papier maché, felt, tubing, bubble wrap, bin bags... You don't always need a whole hat. Sometimes a headband will do and you can always think about adding elements to existing woolly, sun or base ball hats.

Some costume-making resources:

http://www.papiermache.co.uk/
http://www.alleycatscratch.com
http://sewing.about.com/od/halloween/a/costumetricks.htm
http://www.parenthacks.com/2006/10/nosew_modular_h.html
http://artswork.asu.edu/arts/students/tb/06_05_costumes.htm
http://blog.jugglingfrogs.com/2007/10/costumes.html










sábado, 10 de diciembre de 2011

Starting from scratch III. From lyrics to plot

A song can be an excellent place to start when you're looking to write a theatre script for kids. Songs that tell stories (eg. ballads, traditional children's songs) are particularly good, as most of the work - at least in terms of the plot - has been done for you (!) and the structure of most songs - separated neatly into verses as they are - lends itself to breaking up the plot into scenes. We're in the process of looking at how we might turn "The Ugly Bug Ball" into a theatre production for kids, and  - using the song to give a rough, overall 'shape' to our script - is precisely what we need to do next.

The first step is to analyse our material, so we get the lyrics and we see what we've got. We need to focus on:
  • its potential for characters (is it suitable for our group?)
  • any clues or ideas we can glean  from the language to help us with mood/atmosphere/dramatisation
  • the bare bones of the narrative (does the song give us the whole plot or is it just a starting point?) 


































So what do the lyrics of "The Ugly Bug Ball" tell us?

Fire antsImage via Wikipedia In terms of characters, it's clear that there's huge scope for any number of creepy crawlies of all shapes and sizes, over and above the named "characters" in the song (caterpillar, beetle, dragon fly, fleas, worms etc). This, for me, is a major point in its favour. The sheer range of characters makes it ideal for larger groups (but flexible for smaller ones) and means character choice can be easily tailored to children's taste (not everyone finds spiders appealing, after all). I love the possibilities for costumes that this gives rise to. It's immediately obvious that there's scope for vibrant, colourful and varied costumes. The sky is really the limit (sign of a good song choice!).


From the lyrics, we also get clues that can help us set the tone of the overall play - providing us with a kind of verbal moodboard, if you like. In this case, we have words like "glorious", "happy", "glad" (so we've already got a great feel-good vibe going). Also, phrases like "crickets clicked their tricky melodies" or "the ants were fancy-dancing with the fleas" can give us useful staging ideas. We might have a trio of crickets with castañetas perhaps? Or is this the perfect opportunity for any budding tap dancers in the group?? We may have the ants and the fleas dance in some kind if unusual way: a jig perhaps? Or a spontaneous street dance (depending on the talents and tastes of our group).


In terms of plot, we certainly get the 'bare bones' of a narrative: a lonely caterpillar gets taken to a ball by his sympathetic friends where he meets the love of his life and lives happily ever after. It would be perfectly possible to develop a script entirely around this narrative, but, in my opinion at least, I think it will make a more interesting play with a bit of tweaking. As such, for me it's a song that falls into the second category - it makes a great starting point for a script but doesn't provide us with an off-the-peg plot. (An example of a song in this category would be "Puff The Magic Dragon" where it is possible to base a scene on every verse and you've got a play).
206/365 Ugly-Bug BallImage by david anderson : da-photography via Flickr
In terms of how we would develop the storyline, off the top of my head, I would say it lends itself to an ugly duckling scenario (especially as caterpillars - as future butterflies - undergo a similar transformation as a baby swan). Perhaps we will have the caterpillar suffer a series of rejections as he tries to befriend various 'glamourous' bugs before getting invited to the ball? Or maybe we can dramatise his loneliness at the beginning in some way. A choreography or scene that shows his lonely lifestyle perhaps? Once we get to part about the ball, our story can slot neatly into the song's narrative (dancing, boy meets girl, happily ever after) but we can draw this out, enjoy the details, as it were: a lively dance scene is surely a must? And we might want some kind of presentation scene (perhaps the insects arriving at the ball?) to showcase all our gorgeous costumes? There is also scope for a feel good finale once we get safely to the happy ending.

There are obviously any number of other ways that the plot of this song could be developed into a storyline for a theatre production - I've just touched on one possibility - but for the time being at least, we know that if we use "The Ugly Bug Ball" as as starting point for a play, we're going to have plenty to get our theatrical teeth into!

miércoles, 7 de diciembre de 2011

Starting from scratch II. Getting into the mood

We're in the process of transforming the song "Ugly Bug Ball" into a children's stage play. Having already decided that the song might indeed be an interesting project for kids and that it has enough dramatic potential to inspire us, it's time to get a real feel for the possibilities it offers. We need to be really sure that this is the right project (as I said before, it's better, in the long run, to take the time to make the right decision, rather than embark on a play that runs out of steam further down the line).So now is the time to start defining the 'feel' of our future play

I do this with moodboards. I scour the internet, magazines, books... for images, colours, details that in some way represent something about the atmosphere that I'd like to achieve as a whole... or that give an idea of the feel of the costumes... or the staging.

In the case of  "The Ugly Bug Ball", I start by collecting all sorts of pictures of bugs in general as a starting point:



I choose the ones that 'talk' to me in some way - in this case, it soon becomes apparent that the vibrancy of the colours is going to be fundamental to my play - and I try to communicate this into a whole collage of other images that also show the same idea:

 
A moodboard is a very effective way to get the creative juices going and at the same time to pin down sensations, feelings and ideas that might otherwise be difficult to put into words. This makes them ideal if you're working in a team as it is a tangible way of communicating less than tangible concepts to other team members. They can also contribute to the process with their sensations and ideas. 
They're also a great way of expressing many concepts at once. My colour moodboard, for example, might represent the palate of colours I'd like to use across the production as a whole (in the set and costumes etc) but at the same time, it also manages to convey a sense of the 'explosion' of colour that I'd like to create and, in turn, communicates a sense of energy, vibrancy and dynamism that I'd like the play as a whole to present. It is starting to become clear that I'd like this play to be a 'carnival' of colours.

To help define the look of the costumes, again I turn first to nature:


And then try to represent the elements that have inspired me in a moodboard. In this case, I'm focusing on textures (silky sheens, fur, velvet) as well as the swirling, almost metallic patterns of petrol or tie dye:



Sites like www.shutterfly.com are a great way to develop mood boards - collect all your inspiring images together and share the link with anyone else you are working with. They can also add their own images, comment on photos, and it gives everyone a common focus.

lunes, 5 de diciembre de 2011

Starting from scratch. Turning a song into a play

All this thinking about inspiration and finding the right idea recently has got me thinking about the "Ugly Bug Ball". The more I think about this song, the more perfect I think it would be as a starting point for a children's play - and I thought I'd use it over the next few weeks to show how I would go about transforming the song into a theatre production.

The first thing we need to do is look hard at (or in our case, listen to) our material to make sure:
  • it inspires us
  • it has enough potential (we need enough 'room to manoeuvre': does it have scope to take themes further? does it have enough theatrical potential?)
  • it has appeal (will the kids enjoy working on the project? will the audience relate to it?)
So, for anyone who needs a refresher, here's the song. Have a listen and see whether it fits the bill for you:



At first glance, as a base for a play, it would seem to have a lot going for it:
  •  the central theme is appealing to kids - all those creepy crawlies! (and there are always the butterflies to satisfy any would-be princesses in the group)
  • there is an underlying theme that can be developed - think an insect world take on the age-old story of the ugly duckling - which should appeal to a wider audience and also gives you something to 'get your teeth into' educationally during the workshop
  • it has loads of dramatic potential - vibrant costumes, dancing (it's a ball after all!)...
So far so good. But it's really important to choose the right idea - you're going to be living and breathing this song for the next goodness knows how long, so it's better to take a bit longer over choosing the central theme - and be 100% certain - than dive straight in and repent at your leisure.

So, just to make absolutely sure this song really does have enough potential, I always spend a few days on google, testing out various ideas and seeing how it stands the test.

The questions: does a play about creepy crawlies have enough dramatic - and visual - potential? Is there enough scope for costumes, for example?

The results:













As soon as I see these images, visions of insect masks, satin capes, bright colours, gigantic, larger-than-life flowers start racing through my mind and I know, deep down, I can do something with this song. First step done and dusted. We're on  our way!

What do you think? Is this song a good choice for a children's play? Does it inspire you?






martes, 29 de noviembre de 2011

Getting Inspired... with photos II. From photos to ideas

To turn an inspiring photo into a staging idea, you need to first pinpoint what it is about the photo that moves you. It might be something as concrete as the subject matter or it might be more subjective. For example, when we were in the process of adapting 'Puff The Magic Dragon', we used photos for physical details like the design of the pirates' swords:
And we also used them to get a feel for the 'atmosphere' of the pirate fight scene. We had no access to special effects (so no atmospheric smoke and mist to be had) and our students wore basic black costumes with just a head scarf and an eye patch (instead of full blown costumes like the ones shown), but photos helped ground us in the ideas we wanted to communicate, the key ideas in the scene.
In the case of the pirate scene in Puff, the key idea was to convey a sense of the energy and aggression behind a clash between pirates. The choreography needed to be fierce and dynamic, so we focused more on choreographing a fight than coming up with a dance.


To show you what I mean, I've taken three photos I find inspiring and I'll show you how I might go about developing them into staging ideas. The plays we produce tend to be very representational. We use no fixed scenery and very little in the way of costumes. The children either add or take off elements as the scene dictates (like the pirate swords and head scarves) and a sense of the physical setting of a particular scene will be created in a few minutes by children holding up or moving different elements. I've chosen the following photos because I find them dramatically suggestive in some way or another and when I look at them, ideas pop into my head. Not for any other reason.

This one, suggests height, expanse, emptiness, cold, loneliness but also breathtaking beauty. So I would try to root any staging ideas in these key concepts. Although it physically shows a sky-and-mountain scene, I might use it to inspire me for a different type of setting entirely. A stormy sea, perhaps, or the Arctic. It also suggests smoke to me. 


Materials that spring to mind immediately are chiffon or lining material in whites, silver and lighter shades of greys. White bin bags unrolled in long sheets or cut and gathered into giant, swirling pom poms. Painter's plastic unfolded and used, parachute-style, to create billows of smoke or cloud or waves. Swirls of white or silver netting attached to headbands to create an undulating effect as the children move. Here is how we portrayed a storm at sea in Puff:



 This photo depicts a late evening at the beach but for me, the colours are suggestive of autumn and there is an unsettling ominousness in the gathering clouds in the background that would lend itself to a storm scene of some kind. In terms of staging, with the right kind of music, I can see children wearing beige tunics ('organics' bin bags even?) wafting strips of material or plastic in browns, reds and ochres; older (taller) children advancing ominously with cardboard storm clouds held up high in a layered effect. I can also imagine using this photo for a scene involving fire or a rushing river, even perhaps a volcano.  



I love the colours in this photo. It reminds me of technicolor films from the 50s and the diffuse light gives it a dreamlike quality. I can imagine using this photo as inspiration for some kind of fantasy scene, a land made of candy perhaps (licorice trees and candyfloss blossom perhaps?) or as the backdrop to a fairy tale. For me this photo is more about mood (dreamlike, fantasy), than a specific location, like this 'technicolor' scene from Puff, where the dragon and the boy 'fall in love'.




These three photos are featured in:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/04/28/really-stunning-pictures-and-photos/

lunes, 28 de noviembre de 2011

La obra....el qué y el como


El otro día alguien me preguntó de donde sacamos las ideas para las obras que hacemos. Me parecía muy buena pregunta, sobre todo porque estamos ahora mismo buscando ideas como locos - y sin mucho éxito - para nuestra siguiente obra. Da igual las vueltas que damos al tema y las veces que 'llueven' ideas, estamos todavía con la página en blanco. Así que a mi también me gustaría saber ¿de donde salen las ideas?!

Lo único que sé es como nos han llegado en el pasado. Y la verdad es que suelen venir de la nada, y de sopetón, un día. Cuando vamos a empezar a escribir un nuevo guión, me suelo empapar de fotos, cuentos, poemas, canciones... durante varias semanas... sin saber realmente que es lo que busco. Y luego, el día menos esperado veré un cuento en la biblioteca ("Dónde Viven Los Monstruos") o oiré la estrofa de una canción ("El Dragón Mágico") y ¡alá! tenemos idea por fin.

Dinosaur Exhibition BeijingImage by IvanWalsh.com via Flickr
Lo que se busca realmente es un tema central chulo - y universal (me refiero a que no sea solo para niños) - que viene "empaquetado" de una manera que llama la atención de los niños. En "Donde Viven Los Monstruos" teníamos... claro... monstruos. Y en "El Dragón", piratas, tormentas y el mismísimo dragón. Para "La Escalofriante Maldición" decidimos empezar desde cero pero no tardamos en pensar en el tema 'fantasmal'. A los niños les encantan los fantasmas, los esqueletos y demás y como tema, da bastantes posibilidades para la comedia.

A later print of a 15th century joustImage via Wikipedia
Otros temas que me parecen llamativos para niños y que se prestan al teatro son:
  • la jungla (animales salvajes, exploradores, las tribus, posibilidad de 'mensaje' educativo sobre recursos naturales etc.)
  • el fondo del mar (tiburones, ballenas, peces etc. muy visual y colorido)
  • los volcanes
  • los dinosaurios
  • los superheroes
  • los caballeros
  • las brujas y magos
  • la prehistoria/el futuro
  • un sin fin de 'lugares imaginarios' (estilo: la isla de los sueños, de los caramelos, de las nubes, de los gigantes, de las mentiras etc.)

Steve's Bommie- Yellow TailsImage by icelight via Flickr
¿Se te ocurre una buena idea? ¡Añádelo abajo!... Yo voy a empaparme de fotos de........ dinosaurios..... a ver si me llega la inspiración!
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