Out of the Box Festival will bring big performances to little children
Sorry parents, Brisbane’s upcoming Out of the Box Festival definitely won’t have anything to keep you entertained, but it does look set to wow the kids.
Since its inception in 1992, the children’s festival has provided performances, workshops and, according to festival director Brett Howe, activities in “languages” children understand.
Shots from Air Play, a large-scale circus-style spectacle featured in Brisbane's Out of the Box Festival.
Photo: Supplied.“The language of children is music and movement or dance and imagination, so the festival sits in that space,” he said.
“We talk about cultural plurality...what does our community look like and how do we represent that and how do we help them to reconcile that in their everyday life.”
Mr Howe said the festival helped pave a way for children to engage, learn and be part of a more “sophisticated product”.
“When we started there wasn’t a lot of work for kids at that point, 26 years ago you would get the toothpaste guy running around schools talking about oral hygiene but not much other work dedicated or concentrated or situated just for kids,” he said.
“We have taken a leadership role about placing the child in the middle of the experience, making a child-centred festival not one that markets towards parents, but referencing the child’s experience and context and asking children their opinion and responding that.”
The Arrival, a production recreated with New Zealand’s Red Leap Theatre Company, will feature in the festival.
Photo: Supplied.Productions like The Arrival, a migrant tale set in a fantastical time and place from New Zealand’s Red Leap Theatre Company, are complimented with workshops where children can draw self-portraits while Jarjums Life Museum offers a museum as seen through the eyes of today’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
There will also be giant outdoor dance parties, play spaces and Air Play, a large-scale circus-style spectacle which makes use of Queensland Performing Arts Centre space at South Bank.
“Part of the value of the festival is that there is plenty of work now for kids in this age group but not a lot of concerts where you can put it all together in once space where you can see works of scale,” Mr Howe said.
“The Arrival is 11 people on stage, it is a 40-foot container worth of set, it is a big show and kids don’t often get that experience.
“They can quite often go and see smaller shows that pop in and out, they can see works that might be the Wiggles or Peppa Pig but a show that might actually have a conversation with them about their context and an idea that references them, that is what the festival brings.”
Workshops including Guru Dudu “Silent Disco Walking Tours” will feature in the festival.
Photo: Supplied.For the first time, the festival will offer an all-inclusive day pass.
The five-day festival will run from 26 June to 1 July 2018 (excluding Friday 29 June).
Amy Mitchell-Whittington is a reporter at the Brisbane Times, with a special interest in science and education
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