Adelaide
\nCome Out Children\u2019s Festival
\nMay 22 \u2013 30.<\/p>\n
Argus
\nDead Puppet Society
\nSpace Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
\nMay 23.<\/p>\n
A Kid Like Me
\nPresented by True North Youth Theatre Ensemble
\nThe Parks Theatre, Angle Park
\nMay 20.<\/p>\n
History of Autism
\nby Julian Jaensch
\nCompany@ Autistic Theatre
\nThe Opera Studio, Netley
\nMay 30.<\/p>\n
The biennial Come Out Children\u2019s Festival has been an Adelaide fixture since 1974 and it gathers in tens of thousands of children, from littlies to high school students, for nine days in May. The activities, covering all artforms, are linked with school programs, regional hubs and, conspicuously again this year, have been concentrated in and around the Adelaide Festival Centre.<\/p>\n
Come Out has always offered first-rate performances and this time, the engaging, and drolly named, Dead Puppet Society captured young audiences with Argus<\/em>, a journey of tribulation and friendship depicted with a maximum of invention and a minimum of artifice. Directed and designed by David Morton, this work gives the idea of hand puppetry new meaning.<\/p>\n Shrouded in black, the four presenters – Matthew Seery, Nathan Booth, Anna Straker and Laura Hague- combine fists, fingers, splayed hands and one hand folded at the second knuckle to make a composite figure \u2013Argus, complete with enquiring LED eyes, searching for his lost friends. Other notable productions were community works devised and presented by young performers themselves. History of Autism<\/em>, written, directed and performed by the ebullient Julian Jaensch with his support Company@, is a timely reminder, using sketches, commentary and video documentary, that the history of the diagnosis of what is now called Autism Spectrum Disorder has been a bumpy one.<\/p>\n There are heroes, from the pioneer doctors, Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger, to the breakthrough work of Dr Lorna Wing. But no less heroic are the fourteen ensemble members who not only reveal a hidden history but eloquently share their own stories with dignity and quiet pride. Expertly managed by Zavarce and writer Sally Hardy, with thrifty design by Kathryn Sproul, A Kid like Me<\/em> is a version of Augusto Boal\u2019s Forum Theatre at its enjoyable best \u2013 vividly presenting life situations and giving young audiences a genuine chance to interact and register their opinions.<\/p>\n Murray Bramwell<\/p>\n \u201cPuppeteers delight youngsters with the whole world in their hands\u201d The<\/em> Australian<\/em>, June 3, 2015, p.16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Adelaide Come Out Children\u2019s Festival May 22 \u2013 30. Argus Dead Puppet Society Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre May 23. A Kid Like Me Presented by True North Youth Theatre Ensemble The Parks Theatre, Angle Park May 20. History of Autism by Julian Jaensch Company@ Autistic Theatre The Opera Studio, Netley May 30. The biennial Come Out Children\u2019s Festival has been an Adelaide fixture since 1974 and it gathers in tens of thousands of children, from littlies to high school […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,17,5,11,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-32","category-adelaide-companies","category-archive","category-festival","category-theatre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2637"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2638,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2637\/revisions\/2638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHis journey takes him from beach to desert, to the ocean floor and outer space, as the eight hands wittily morph into flocks of birds, schools of fish and numerous crazy critters. With splendid music, composed by John Babbage and performed by Topology, the Dead Puppets\u2019 lively use of simple objects, lights, bubbles, fingers, thumbs, and sheer imagination is a delight.<\/p>\n
\n <\/em>
\nA Kid Like Me<\/em>, presented by the twelve member True North Youth Theatre, directed by Alirio Zavarce (whose excellent production, Sons and Mothers <\/em>toured widely last year) invites young audiences to identify and respond to common issues for young people. With a repertoire of six plays to select from, the audience uses electronic voting devices to choose themes relevant to them \u2013 Social Anxiety, Peer Pressure, Bullying, \u201cSexyfication\u201d and The Future.<\/p>\n