Fantastic Weekend With Theater Performance

Looking for a fun weekend for your kids? Well, now you can give them a fun and EDUCATIONAL weekend in May!

The Little Company from the Singapore Repertory Theatre, which has who has made remarkable success with “The Three Little Pigs”, is making a comeback to Malaysia with the whole new musical performance- “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”!

Note worthily, it’s the dynamic musical theater songwriting duo-featuring Anthony Drewe (lyrics) and George Stiles (music)-that brings this children’s classic to life. For your information, they have even both beaten The Lion King in 2000 to win the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical with their show “Honk!”.

If you have joined the previous cast “The Three Little Pigs”, then you will know this musical performance is going to be worthy of your ticket and time. Although the performance is based on well-known tales, they managed to make the story as witty and entertaining as possible to audience, as well as imparting the important learning value to them, especially young children. Best of all, they are going to apply the same basic rules to the story! So, for those who haven’t watched it, here is your chance to experience what it is all about!

The information is as followed:

Address  :  PJ Live Arts, Ground Floor, Block K, Jaya One, 72A Jalan Universiti, PJ    

Duration  :  4^th May – 11^th May 2013

Website      : http://www.pjlivearts.my/

Appreciating theater performance

Now, you know it is good to let children to indulge in arts, but perhaps you will want to know why it is necessary for them to gain exposure to such theater performance at their tender age. As quoted by Gai Jones-a seasoned theater educator whose work has been recognized by American Alliance for Theater and Edcuation-theater arts benefits children’s development in five general areas, namely kinesthetic skills, artistic skills, mental skills, personal growth and interpersonal skills.  Best of all, early exposure to such theater performance is their first step in harnessing their creativity and problem-solving skills.

Generally, young children’s ability to differentiate play from reality is not fully developed yet.  Therefore, theater is a world of “let’s all pretend” to them, and they will participate in the performance mentally and emotionally without reservation. Besides, as for kindergartners and children in early primary levels, they also start to understand the chronology of a story and the fact that a story usually starts with a problem. Therefore, children will observe how the characters confront and overcome their problems or conflicts. More often than not, this experience will serve as a reference point for them to solve their problems.

Now, the question is, how are you supposed to guide your children to appreciate theater performance?

a)    Be prepared for “emergency”

Don’t expect your children to watch the performance quietly for an extended period of time. That’s way too ideal, especially if your young ones are toddlers or preschoolers. If it is their first time watching such performance, maybe it’s a good idea for you to get an aisle seat. This will give you the convenience if you need to leave the theater for any reason if you children behave their way.

b)   Get children mentally prepared

Have you ever tried to watch any movie without any prior knowledge? Was it hard for you to understand the movie?

Perhaps you won’t, but will your children?

For this, it is always better to bring them for the performance that is based on the story that they are familiar with. Don’t worry if it is not about the story they know. Spend some time to read them the relevant story, and perhaps you want to make it as one of the bedtime stories for them. Once they know the characters or plot lines, it will be way easier for them to understand. Besides, it will spark off their interest for the performance and prevent them from getting bored easily, as familiarity breeds enthusiasm!

c)    Get your children in top form

Be sure that your children get enough rest and have their stomach filled before attending the performance. Bring along some snacks for your child in case you need to comfort them, especially when they start to fidget around.

d)   Teach your children the theater etiquettes

Educate them about the proper etiquettes that they should have when they watch theater performance. For instance, they are supposed to dress themselves appropriately for the performance. They need to know they are expected to keep silent throughout the performance, and not advised to talk or get up unless there is emergency. If they have any question, they should only ask it at the end of performance. Such are the basic courtesy that they should learn when they watch a show with mass audience. 

However, there are certainly times that children need consoled. So, if their favourite toys or snacks can’t work on them, bring them out from the performance hall. Don’t allow their emotion to disturb the other audience. Besides, this will serve to suggest “It seems that my temper will affect the other audience” in their mind as well.

e)    Attend “punctually”

Here, it is suggested that you shouldn’t arrive way too early before the performance begins It will be too long for your young ones to wait. So, it is always better to keep them occupied with something else before they enter into the theater.

f)     Share and discuss

Don’t forget to share your views with your young one. Prompt them to air their own views, especially about the values that they learn from the show. Guide them to support their views with the examples they can derive from the performance. Also, share about what each other likes about the performance, stories or characters. It allows them to learn how to appreciate theater performance from the eyes of adults.

Now, ready to make the first step? Give them this hard-to-come-by  experience, and make this bedtime story alive in their mind!