On 9th October 2019, I had the honour of performing at the Red Line Book Festival this year in The Civic Theatre, Tallaght.
Over the years, I’ve performed in many different venues...schools, libraries, offices, banks, hotels, restaurants, pubs, back gardens, outside supermarkets, inside supermarkets, shopping centres, festivals in fields, often dragging my stuff with me to the locations whilst wearing heels, wings and a gown. So, you can imagine my excitement to be finally taking my storytelling performance on stage to an actual theatre!
Over the years, I’ve performed in many different venues...schools, libraries, offices, banks, hotels, restaurants, pubs, back gardens, outside supermarkets, inside supermarkets, shopping centres, festivals in fields, often dragging my stuff with me to the locations whilst wearing heels, wings and a gown. So, you can imagine my excitement to be finally taking my storytelling performance on stage to an actual theatre!
Also for the first time ever, I had my own proper dressing room to get changed in. Usually my "dressing rooms" consist of a bathroom or even my car!
The story of my show was that all of the colours had disappeared from my magical kingdom and the audience had to help me make them reappear.
So I set my stage up, went through a few quick sound and light tests, and was ready to go:
So I set my stage up, went through a few quick sound and light tests, and was ready to go:
I was to do 2 shows with a 20 minute break between. My audiences would be made up of kids from junior and senior infants (4-6 years old).
For most of them, if not all, this would’ve been their first time to set foot inside a theatre, so the excitement was palpable. Something brand new for them to experience.
This was a bilingual show, where the children hear the songs in Irish and English and they’re encouraged to join in, exercising their creativity and imaginations.
We met, An Síog Gorm (the blue fairy), An Dragún Buí (yellow dragon), Wally an Éan Ildaiteach (Wally the multi-coloured bird) and Pirate Pete, who all gave us clues to create the magic. The more magic we performed, the more colours were brought back to the books and the Magical Book Kingdom!
For most of them, if not all, this would’ve been their first time to set foot inside a theatre, so the excitement was palpable. Something brand new for them to experience.
This was a bilingual show, where the children hear the songs in Irish and English and they’re encouraged to join in, exercising their creativity and imaginations.
We met, An Síog Gorm (the blue fairy), An Dragún Buí (yellow dragon), Wally an Éan Ildaiteach (Wally the multi-coloured bird) and Pirate Pete, who all gave us clues to create the magic. The more magic we performed, the more colours were brought back to the books and the Magical Book Kingdom!
Because mine is a very interactive show, I usually ask the children questions, encouraging them to join in and help me tell the story. What I didn’t expect was that the stage lights would be so bright that I wouldn’t be able to see my audience! So, luckily, the lighting guy brought up the house lights a bit for me during the second show so that I could see them properly!
At the very end, I invited the kids onto the stage to dance with me. I remember as a child being at a show in the Tivoli Theatre, where they invited us onto the stage with the cast members to check out the set and it was really the most exciting experience that I never forgot.
I hope that these little kids will always remember their first time to visit the theatre where they danced on stage, whilst a woman in a green dress played the guitar!
And I also hope that the next time those children visit the library or the theatre, they will associate it as being as magical when they brought the colours back into the pictures in the books!
And I also hope that the next time those children visit the library or the theatre, they will associate it as being as magical when they brought the colours back into the pictures in the books!
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