Wheee! 2011
Lakeside's International Children's Theatre and Dance Festival has become a key event in the regional arts calendar looked forward to by children, their families, artists and promoters. It has built upon the huge groundswell of interest which Lakeside's year-round provision has developed through the regular Sunday Best live theatre programme which now performs to some 11,000 people annually. Since our first International Festival in 2005, over 35,000 children and families have enjoyed performances by top companies from Spain, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Québec and from across the UK.
Wheee! 2011 was Lakeside's seventh International Children's Theatre and Dance Festival which treated children and their families to theatre performances and outdoor activities over a period of nearly two weeks! As in previous years 2011 included many performances by International Companies, such as Nats Nus Dansa from Spain, Gruppe 38 and Teater Refleksion, both from Denmark.
In addition to afternoon, early evening and weekend performances, families enjoyed a weekend of free activities and performances in the beautiful surroundings of Highfields Park during our Family Weekend in the Park. Activities included Dave Fearless - International Stuntman, Trapeze workshops by Notts Circus, a Lakeside debut of a French company Dans La Poche and the return of Nottingham-based Architects of Air's Luminarium: Levity III, plus much much more!
FESTIVAL PERFORMANCES 2011
Architects of Air's amazing LUMINARIUM: LEVITY III
Nottingham-based, internationally renowned, Architects of Air are an eagerly anticipated and essential element of Lakeside’s children’s festival. In 2011 we were delighted to introduce the company’s stunning installations to the Nottingham European Arts and Theatre Festival audiences too. To this end, we added two evening sessions for adults in response to requests from our regular audiences - which went down a treat.
Designer Alan Parkinson creates truly wonderful labyrinthine structures in which visitors are encouraged to wander, relax, meditate and wonder. Discover tunnels and pods, central pillars and domed meeting points, and be immersed in sheer colour and light. Enter and be amazed!
“An awesome walk-through inflatable sculpture full of colour and light.”Sunday Mail, Brisbane June 2010
VISIT THEIR WEBSITE
FROM HERE … TO THERE
BY TELL TALE HEARTS
CREATED IN COLLABORATION WITH THE LAWRENCE BATLEY THEATRE, HUDDERSFIELD
Once there were two children. One just loved to build things Up… Up… Up… The other loved to knock things down Bang! Clang!
From Here to There is all about bridges that get built and knocked down, climbed over and crawled under. There are magic bridges, bridges that tell stories of hungry trolls and greedy goats, and bridges where people meet and make friends!
"Truly inspiring shows for children that involve the audience in a uniquely thrilling way."
Ian McMillan
MAPS
BY NATS NUS DANSA (SPAIN)
Four timeless characters, loaded with cases, make a stop in their journey to share experiences, sensations, glances, sounds and dances, gathered over their travels around the world. The audience experienced comedy, some slapstick, and terrific dancing from this fabulously inventive Catalonian company which made their first visit to Lakeside.
AND THEN THERE WERE TWO...
BY TURNED ON ITS HEAD
Once upon a time...there were two....and they found something quite extraordinary. It stretches, it’s shiny, it
slides, it pings and it… shall we find out what it can do? Big bodies and little bodies discover, share, show and play in this interactive dance performance for children under 4 and their families/carers.
ONE LITTLE WORD
BY M6 THEATRE COMPANY
The critically acclaimed and much loved One Little Word returns by popular demand. In this beautiful and gentle story of friendship, power struggles and creative play we meet two characters at play. Together they explore a new space, new objects, dressing up and taking turns - but struggles arise when one of them wants to be the only captain of the ship! This sensitive production is directed by Andy Manley, performed by two actors and underscored with a captivating, original soundtrack by Tayo Akinbode which contains only ONE spoken word.
HANS CHRISTIAN, YOU MUST BE AN ANGEL
BY GRUPPE 38 (DENMARK)
A long table is set for a birthday party and 2 waiters are on the job of their life: to wait on a table of fantastic personalities. Each with his own peculiar whims and needs, created by Andersen himself. This is one of the most inventive performances you’ll see on the international circuit - part art installation - and a large part performance! If you know Hans Christian Andersen’s stories, you’ll love working out which reference relates to which story.
The Ugly Duckling
BY TEATER REFLEKSION (DENMARK)
There it is. The egg! Everyone is on tenterhooks because in a moment the duckling will come out of its egg, and the performance can begin. Watch the duckling dance through life in a chicken coop where different is wrong, and where each step is all about following the others. And that’s not at all easy when you are a clumsy little dumpling. But a wondrous transformation awaits!
The Ugly Duckling is a delightful puppet performance without words, inspired by dance, and accompanied by new interpretations of classical music. A yarn spun from Hans Christian Andersen’s much loved fairy tale.
“Delightful ducks and meddlesome hens translate Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale into animation theatre with minute, precise physical gestures and imaginative twisting of classic musical compositions.” Børneteateravisen
FAMILY WEEKEND IN THE PARK
Our festival weekend is hugely popular with families and children of all ages and this year we smashed our visitor figures by welcoming over 4000 people into Highfields Park. The weeekend includes a wide range of outdoor activities to try as well as some impromptu performances in the park - the majority of which are entirely free of charge! These are just some of the performances that took place over the weekend this year...
THE HAIRY CHAIRS
BY CREATURE ENCOUNTER
Two giant walking armchairs complete with big slippers carried their young charges - Freya aged ten, and her adopted younger brother the philosophical monster Gumf - around Lakeside’s parklands, stopping to chat to passers by, and tell wondrous stories of friendship and adventure. A fusion of slap-stick comedy and clever animatronics puppetry.
DAVE FEARLESS INTERNATIONAL STUNT MAN
Is it a bird, is it a plane… no it’s Dave Fearless - International Stuntman. Heroic, fearless and brave beyond belief, audiences gasped in awe as they witnessed Dave’s world famous stunts including the inflatable space hopper of dooooooooooooom!
SEASIDE SHANNANIGANS
BY MAISON FOO
Maison Foo brought bathing bedlam to the festival with their uniquely portable seaside. Visitors could relax and join the holiday spirit in true Maison Foo style as their very special beach traveled across Lakeside.
THE MOBILE LIBRARY(ANS)
BY MAISON FOO
Two intriguing and rather nosy librarians were on a mission to stamp, file and collect you and your stories as they ventured through the park posing as a rather curious-looking mobile library! So we hid those overdue books, got our library cards at the ready and prepared to be thoroughly investigated. P.S. Shhhhhhhhhhh!
AHOY!
BY THE GRAMOPHONES
All aboard the Little Duck for a journey that isn’t quite shipshape. Audiences followed our intrepid and slightly inept adventurers as they embarked upon a voyage into the unexpected. Straying into unchartered waters, they found strange and fantastic things began to happen, leaving them bursting with questions... like... Does a canal boat go backwards as well as forwards? Where did I put my hamster? And just who is that hiding in the laundry basket?
NOTTS CIRCUS
Using all sorts of clever circus skills involving ropes and high wire, Notts Circus revealed a playful, humorous tale about a mischievous cat and her owner.
DANS LA POCHE
In a Lakeside debut for this exciting French company, travelling haberdasher Gracie Spoon arrived amongst us with a tray full of buttons, tricks and tales, weaving together a patchwork wonderland of magic and stories to delight and amaze everyone....
VISIT THEIR WEBSITE
OUR DAY OUT!
BY LAKESIDE'S YOUTH THEATRE
Lakeside 11-14 Youth Theatre premiered their newest piece of clown-like theatre. This new walkabout show explored some playful aspects of day trips where queuing, grumbling, and getting lost is all part of the big picture adventure.
THE LOST CUCKOO
INTERACTIVE COMMUNITY SCULPTURE
Many visitors to the children’s festival in 2009 will remember Marcus Rowlands’ Heron Island: a vast flock of pyramidshaped charcoal drawings that stretched out across Highfields Park. We are delighted that Marcus joined us again this year with creative collaborators, the Nottingham-based architects, 2hd. Heron Island was a great success largely because of you, the public, and this year you were able to shine once more as more than 900 of you constructed a sculptures on a grand scale. Families from Bilborough had been driving the research and design stage of this exciting project as the interlocking modular forms have evolved. One such family is pictured below.
Click here to read about the 2010 Children's Festival
Click here to read about the 2009 Children's Festival
Click here to read about the 2008 Children's Festival