Greenwich Children’s Theatre Festival programme announced

With Easter falling early this year, there are only a few weeks to go until the Greenwich Children’s Theatre Festival kicks off – with the biggest programme since before the pandemic.

The festival starts on Good Friday with FacePlant Theatre’s acclaimed staging of Arthur McBain’s internationally best-selling book children’s book, In The Dead Of The Night. With thrilling suspense, a healthy dash of humour and a twist at the end, the story of Lily overcoming her fear of the dark is fast becoming a modern classic.

The festival features a series of other shows based on famous books, including Julia Donaldson’s The Singing Mermaid, Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant, a new musical which brings together all the fairy-tale Jacks that you can think of, and even a new family-friendly comedy take on The Canterbury Tales, but we have a whole strand of new stories too.

Indigo Moon’s Seedheart emerges entirely from a suitcase to tell a tale of human impact on the environment and questions what we can do to restore our once-green planet, with interactive chaos in the laboratory on the way. In Artiste, international Brymore Productions show us a bumbling artist who has destroyed a masterpiece and has less than an hour to recreate it – with the help of the audience.

Continuing the international theme, Simone de Jong Company from the Netherlands bring us Hermit, a silly, funny and intriguing show about a quiet, tall man living in a teeny tiny house. The owner feels happy and proud of his little home and loves to hide away from the world there but can we win his trust so he will invite us inside?

For young music lovers, Groove Into The Woods offers an exciting, jazz and funk fuelled show, following three friends into a fairy-tale forest where they learn some important lessons about who you can trust, who your friends are, and which troll might eat you. Presented by Groove Baby and working in the same way as the perennially popular Comedy Club 4 Kids, the show occupies a place in between children’s shows and adult concerts. Blending electro jungle rhythms, infectious pop themes, and a heavy dose of 60s Blue Note soul jazz, the Groove Baby Organ Trio features standout musicians from the UK jazz and contemporary circuit.

For older children, we welcome back Scratchworks Theatre, one of my favourite companies on the touring circuit, with Hags – A Magical Extravaganza. In the show, three fearless women take us back to Bideford in 1682, the time of the final witch trial in Britain. Packed full of magic tricks, physical comedy & live music, our magiciennes explore the witch-hunt mania that swept the country and sent hundreds of innocent women to the gallows. With mind-blowing illusions, stupendous stunts
and the occasional disappearing rabbit, Hags aims to joyfully set the record straight for thousands of falsely accused women.

The full line-up is on sale at www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk

Picture: Seedheart, courtesy of Indigo Moon Theatre Company