Something in the Air (2009). Alex Harvey, Tina Koch, Charlotte Mooney in their pods. Arun Ghosh plays clarinet. Photo: Duncan Elliot
Dharma Swing from Something in the Air (2009)
Something in the Air, our co-production with the fabulous aerial company Ockham’s Razor, was a large scale exploration and celebration of the kinaesthetic sense. Having taken audiences into the water and onto trampolines, the only way was up! Sat in specially-made seats hovering above ground, the audience experienced swinging, bouncing and twisting as the performers flew, twirled and sang around them. Here we discovered what we coined “sympathetic movement” where doing a smaller version of what the aerialists were doing heightened your own experience.
Conference of the Birds (2004). Mel McCree, Mark Foster, DJ Hassan, Baz Kasselle, Ruth Calkin summon up the Wind. Gemma Riggs controls the video. Photo: Tim Webb
A Door Was Opened To Them, A Hundred Curtains Were Drawn from Conference of the Birds (2005 version)
The Perfect Present: Big Book (1995). Big Book to prepare very young audience for the show. Written by Tim Webb. Illustrated by Claire de Loon.
Boing! toured specialist schools, and like most of our shows, played largely to audiences labelled as having profound and multiple learning disabilities. One school asked if some Autistic students could use the trampoline equipment during their lunch break, which set the company thinking further about how to make work that was inclusive of neurodivergent young people. The result was Conference of the Birds.
Since 1986 and Up on the Roof, the company have created shows that start before they begin: meaning, resources for audiences accompany each performance, to build anticipation for, and familiarity with, each show, and to extend its legacy afterwards. This started with illustrated booklets for teachers, parents and play workers, containing the show’s narrative and worksheets, and developed into The Big Books – large format books of the story of the show to be read to a whole class.
Over time, the supporting resources sent out included soundtracks, sensory sessions, objects of reference, sample props, timelines, videos, online games and more, all developed in consultation with our advisory teachers and feedback from parents and schools. We tried lots of different formats and new technology as it became available, always trying to keep the resources as interactive and multi-sensory as possible.
When we began making shows for Autistic young people, discussions with specialist school staff introduced us to the concept of Social Stories. The first video and printed Social Story was for Conference of the Birds. These visual guides have become an important part of the accompanying resources we share alongside each show, which continue to evolve and develop.
Baby Tube (2013). George Panda as Tubee-Doo. Photo: Patrick Baldwin
La-La-La-La-Lights from Baby Tube (2013)
Sleepy Song from Jumpin’ Beans (2002)
Starting with Jumpin’ Beans, the company started to use the multi-sensory and close-up techniques they have developed to create theatre for the very youngest audience: babies aged 6 months – 2 years old.
The Bounce (2014). Rachel Bird and Tom Jones on the trampolines. Griff Fender, Tomos Brangwyn and Mark Foster provide the music. Photo: Neal Houghton
Wassala Delta from The Bounce (2014)
Boing! Theme from Boing! (2002)
Many schools do not have hydrotherapy pools, so the Oily Cart team explored how else they could use the kinaesthetic sense to give audiences the same freedom of movement. Boing! was the first of our shows to take place on a trampoline.
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