Peoples Republic of South Devon

Where’s your Alibi?

September 14th, 2006

The last children’s theatre I went to was Puss in Boots, featuring the Marquis of Carabras.‘Who knows what a marquis is?’ asked the fella on stage.

‘It’s a big tent!’ shouted one of the audience.

‘No, that’s q-u-e- e. This is q- u- i- s,’ the man on stage told him.

I think the show was for seven year olds.

Thankfully that wasn’t Exeter’s own Theatre Alibi.

The Northcott-based group create shows for adults and children, but it’s the work for children and with schools that has gained them special notoriety, and the next production How to Hug Trees is set to open in Stokehill Junior School, Exeter, on Monday.

The first public performance is in Lyric Hammersmith at the end of the month

‘The shows sell out very quickly,’ said Nikki Sved, artistic director since the mid 90s (pictured). ‘We’ve got a strong reputation with schools and we’re over-subscribed with our school tours.’

And that success leaks through into their public performances, with a 90 per cent bums-on-seats ratio that would have almost all other theatre companies drooling into the footlights. The reason for this is a reputation built primarily on the quality of the writing.

‘It’s important to have that shared experience of adults and children enjoying the work, not just have it as something the adults endure for the sake of the kids,’ said The Sved (my name for her, not yours).

‘It’s creating that mixture of light and profound.

‘And there’s a type of theatricality – there needs to be an element of the impossible in the shows. In this show there’s a forest, fires, a flood and a chair comes to life. And we don’t talk down to the children.

‘There’s a lot of work that has a very narrow view of what will engage children.

‘But we don’t ignore that it’s for children, either.’

There’s also an attention to detail in the shows which usually take six to eight months to put together and have an element of collaboration that is rare in any field.

‘We treat the music like a film score,’ said Nikki, who views this show as a silent movie, with broad brush strokes of character.

How to Hug Trees sees a farmer sell up, embrace the alternative lifestyle of living in the forest, while the pie-eating baddie, well, stuffs himself silly and we wait for his comeuppance. Not the message-down-the-throat theatre that you might have expected.

Alibi have been building on their success since the early 80s and now their touring and reputation have cemented them as a must-see theatre group, that they back up with thorough educational material but mostly accessible theatre.

‘There’s a huge diversity in where we go. For many children a visit from Theatre Alibi to their school, is their first experience of theatre, whether they are in a large school in the city or a tiny village school,’ she said.

‘When a teacher tells us that someone couldn’t sleep the night before because they were so excited about you coming, you can’t help but remember why you’re doing it.’

The show will be touring schools from Monday, September 18, and opens to the public on Saturday, September 30 at the Lyric Studio Hammersmith. It will be performing at the Barn Theatre, Dartington on October 7; The Barbican Theatre Plymouth on Saturday, November 4; Exeter Phoenix Friday and Saturday November 10 and 11; and around Exeter schools in the evening (01392 211080) between November 13 and 24.

Posted by Cptn

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Entry Filed under: Arts