George's Marvellous Medicine & Chocolate Cake - Scrumptious Easter Theatre for Kids

We are really lucky in South West London to have two theatres that are fantastic for children. The family programming at The Rose in Kingston is of a really high quality, and this Easter we also went on our first visit to the Polka in Wimbledon - a theatre dedicated exclusively to children between 0 and 14 complete with café and play areas.

On Good Friday we joined a packed audience at the Rose to see George's Marvellous Medicine. It was rather the local event - lots of people from the area have mentioned that they have been and loved it. I think this is fabulous - theatres should be at the heart of community, part of the warp and weft of our family routines. The offer at the Rose is so fantastic it never fails to deliver - this time we took one of Culturebaby's friends - its a great idea for a slightly different playdate.

The girls are really getting into Roald Dahl. We have a great set of audiobooks that we listen to on long journeys and as a real surprise this year Culturebaby passed over any opportunity to wear a ball gown or a tutu and went to World Book Day at school as Matilda, clutching a basketful of books. They hadn't yet read George's Marvellous Medicine, so this interactive, fun and musical production was a great introduction to this Dahl classic.

George is on half term and can't wait to crack open his latest novel, but unexpectedly (and equally unwelcomely) his grumpy Grandma announces her imminent arrival to stay... indefinitely. Wielding a buzzer and using it regularly, his Grandmother proves both mean and demanding. George resolves to cure her mood with a fantastical medicine of his own invention. I was reminded on watching quite how deathly this medicine really would have been (and the cast took great pains to reiterate 'don't try this at home') but somehow George's marvellous medicine proves far from toxic - instead on ingestion it causes spectacular growth...

What we loved about this colourful and high energy production (with a Grandma who really did steal the show) was the extent to which a delighted audience were involved. In a test of observation, we had to help George create his medicine and then piece back together the initial concoction when more was required. The young audience did rather well...

 CHANDNI MISTRY INTERVIEW – GEORGE‘S MARVELLOUS MEDICINE

Chandni Mistry, who plays the role of the Chicken, talks about the production.

“I’m so excited to be part of this show! Our production of George’s Marvellous Medicine shows how imagination is the most amazing thing, not just for kids but for adults too. All George wants to do over his school holiday is read a book but the adults keep getting in the way. To get around that, he finds the most ridiculously inventive ways to have fun again. 

“When I first got the part I really didn’t know what to expect. Obviously I play a giant Chicken but exactly how we’d make that happen on stage was a mystery to me. Our Director, Julia Thomas, has a brilliant eye for creativity and invention that keeps everything a surprise and a little unexpected. I’m certainly not your typical Chicken!   

“One thing I’ve got to say about this show is how amazing the cast and creative team are. Everyone is giving their all behind the scenes and up on stage, I think that really shows too –you can’t get up in front of audiences as a Chicken or a grumpy Joan Collins-esque Grandma and be even a little bit shy. It’s all or nothing!  

“This is a kids’ show but it really is fun for the entire family. Julia Thomas and our Designer Morgan Large have packed the production full of references to modern life that keep it current and fun for all ages. Tasha Taylor-Johnson, our Composer, has also infused the show with this incredibly funky, hip hop soundtrack that you can’t help but want to move to. It’s a brilliant vibe. 

“We do have a strong ‘don’t try this at home’ message in the show but we’re also really inspiring creativity and entrepreneurship in our audiences. A lot of our props are made from recycled objects and we actually spent hours when rehearsals first began just letting our imaginations run wild and making the props that you see on stage, from pigs to milkshake machines. It was great for us to get in that creative zone and the things we made from the most random objects absolutely work in George’s world. 

“This is the first time I’ve ever performed in an adaptation of one of Roald Dahl’s stories but I’ve always loved him as a writer. I remember reading his stories when I was younger and finding them so funny, there’s a lot of nostalgia for me in this production. That’s the great things about Dahl – kids are still reading his stories and are coming to the theatre with their parents who also read the books when they were children. They have this universal appeal that brings everyone together which is fantastic to make come to life on stage."

“I think my favourite thing about this production (and there are lots to choose from!) is the reaction we get from audiences each performance. Hearing the crowd laugh and enjoy the show is just the best feeling you can have.”

George's Marvellous Medicine is touring and is currently in Liverpool.

We were also very pleasantly surprised by our first trip to the Polka to see Michael Rosen's Chocolate Cake. We love his writing but this piece was a first for us. It's wonderful to go to the theatre to celebrate already loved books or productions, but it is also a joy to experience new ones, to go not knowing what to expect, and to come away the richer. Chocolate Cake is a musical play based on a poem by Michael Rosen (now a book) and in the production we meet a young Michael, his older brother and his mother. Michael looks up to his older brother who he perceives to be much cooler, funnier, and cleverer than him - but he doesn't see his own strengths. Michael's favourite treat is chocolate cake. He dreams about it, creates stories about it, and looks forward with impatience to the next opportunity to eat some - his brother's birthday. The evening before the party an enormous cake created by his mother is stored safely in the kitchen, ready and waiting. The anticipation proves just too much for Michael. He wakes in the night and creeps downstairs...

There are some wonderful touches in the show. It is very human - messages of handling temptation, forgiveness, patience and family love and the music was excellent. Mark Houston who plays Michael has a really great voice and his '50s style song 'I'm Sorry' was a real highlight. Although we never know whether the story is true, we realise that Michael is in fact a young Rosen. His mother talks about his creative imagination and that his poem about a bear hunt was mentioned by the teacher as the best in class. We are left wondering whether he too had a brother that he felt in awe of. We all really enjoyed the production.

Set designer Verity Quinn talks in the programme about her inspiration for the design of Chocolate Cake. "I wanted to create a design which felt a bit like a living pop-up book of Michael's mind, using geometric shapes and bold colours which could pop out and fold away to celebrate the creativity and imagination of Michael's life., I was especially inspired by the abstract colour block paintings of Piet Mondrian, by Pop artists Claus Oldenburg, Patrick Caulfield and Roy Lichtenstein and by Russian interior designer Daria Zinovatnaya... I love the freedom there is at Polka to create unusual worlds that are full of possibilities. It's a really unusual space to design for which challenges me to be inventive and there's a fantastic production team here who bring the designs to life with skill and ingenuity."

Why not try some Mondrian-inspired follow on art activities on our blog here.

You kind find out more about the excellent programming at the Rose theatre here, and the Polka here. The Rose has recently announced its 2018 Christmas show, a festive new version with original music of the Brothers’ Grimm classic Hansel & Gretel written by Ciaran McConville, who returns to the theatre following last year’s successful adaptation of Alice in Winterland (see our review here). Rosie Jones will direct a cast of local young actors from Rose Youth Theatre led by a team of professional actors. The production opens on Fri 14 Dec, with previews from Thu 6 Dec, and runs until Sun 6 Jan 2019.

Chocolate Cake is touring to a range of locations around the country.

Disclaimer: We received tickets to the performances in exchange for an honest review. All views as always are our own. Photographs courtesy of the Polka and Rose theatres.

Mini Mondrian

I was disappointed that we didn't make it up to Liverpool to see the Tate's Mondrian exhibition this summer, but my friend and I decided nevertheless that Piet Mondrian's art was a great subject to explore with our little ones with its bold primary colours, clear form and ease of emulation. We all spent a happy couple of hours after school last week playing with coloured insulation tape, duplo and play doh.

We began by reading the (extremely clever) story book for children Coppernickel Goes Mondrian by Wouter Van Reek. Inevitably with such distinguished little productions, the story works on a number of levels. Mr Quickstep (who is Mondrian) sets out to look for the future. He and his little pooch Quickstep run into Coppernickel and his dog Tungsten who are berry picking. Coppernickel declares that if they wait long enough the future will arrive anyway, but Mr Quickstep remains unsatisfied; he craves the new and sets off. For days Mr Coppernickel cannot shake from his mind Mr Quickstep's quest, and eventually he and Tungsten set out in pursuit of the future too. The further they go, the stranger their surroundings become. They see they are accompanied by many others heading in the same direction. They pass handcarts and bicycles and reach an underground train which takes them to a busy, primary coloured city. Following a couple of mishaps involving a missing Tungsten, they eventually arrive at Mr Quickstep's studio (decked out in art reminiscent of their new world) where the artist exclaims that he feels he is on the edge of a completely new future. Coppernickel begins to experiment with coloured tape he finds lying around, and whilst the dogs discover new swinging sounds on the record player Mr Quickstep, inspired, has his Eureka moment; he has found his new style.

For the younger children, inevitably the book serves as a stunningly illustrated tale about a character who sets off on a journey for something new, leaves the country and reaches a crowded city - temporarily losing his dog along the way - and gaining a joyful new life. For older children (for whom this book is really designed) there is of course so much more going on. The seven year old was very taken with the fact that, although these characters were searching for their future, this was now indeed our past. He followed the clever change in style as Quickstep moved from country to city, from past to progress and from Mondrian's earlier work (which we showed alongside the story) to his later more abstract and simple forms. He was fascinated with the artist's choice of palette (no green) and how the brilliant illustrations were each so reminiscent of certain of Mondrian's styles or works. All, however, became excited as they clocked that as Quickstep and Coppernickel began to experiment with coloured tape, we too would shortly be doing the same...

 Whilst the children, armed with coloured tape and pens, worked on their own versions of Broadway Boogie-Woogie and some of Mondrian's other late works, we listened to the sounds of Satie and Milhaud, (composers Mondrian knew and was inspired by in Paris) and a selection of jazz and Boogie Woogie.

When Jazz was introduced to Paris in the 1920s Mondrian fell in love with the swinging rhythms of the new sound. He thought dances such as the Charleston and Foxtrot represented a newer and freer future. He wanted to do with colour what jazz was doing with sound. Instead of copying reality, he tried to capture the inner truth of images and used solid blocks of primary colours and lines to express concepts of movement and change.

Then in the 1930's, fleeing from Hitler, Mondrian found himself in New York. He loved the city, its architecture, vibrant atmosphere, and dance halls. He was inspired by the new music he heard - The Boogie Woogie - and he developed and changed his style further. He began to create his compositions with tape and loved the method so much that he included this material in some of his finished works.

Creating their own tape art certainly proved enjoyable but a little challenging for Culturebaby, who still needs help with cutting but inevitably wants to work independently. Nevertheless, both she and her 4 year old friend clearly understood the concept and process and, with help, produced some recognisable versions. The seven year absolutely old loved this activity and created more complex and accurate pieces. We then introduced the children to a few other Mondrian-inspired materials. We had researched and discovered a number of simple and brilliant ideas out there in the blogosphere.

We printed off a selection of Mama Miss' Duplo Printable Cards and provided a basket of duplo blocks for exploration:

 

We also made a set of Coloured Lolly Sticks, inspired by this post by LalyMom so that the children could create their own version of Broadway Boogie Woogie (see original piece here):

Finally, we provided homemade coloured playdoh in each of red, blue and yellow.

As with all the most successful childhood art appreciation projects, the younger children then took these three materials and used them to create their own unplanned sculptures that were clearly inspired by the architecture of the city illustrated in their story. They used a combination of playdoh, duplo blocks and the lolly sticks to produce some inventive (and beautiful) little works of art of their own. They were really proud of these, concentrated for ages on their construction, and (always a sign of success) Culturebaby requested and played with these materials for the following few days over and over again.

 

Even 10 month old Culturetot had fun - trying to eat the playdoh, handling duplo and posting the Mondrian lollysticks into a homemade posting box. This was such a simple project to prepare, and worked for a full range of ages. One for any rainy day.

Disclaimer: On request, Enchanted Lion Books, through their UK distributor The Perseus Books Group UK, kindly provided a copy of Coppernickel Goes Mondrian for review purposes. As noted above, where ideas have been gathered from other blogs, these have been linked to the appropriate source, with many thanks.