Ready, Steady, SHOW! is The Civic’s ongoing programme of work for children and Young People, across both LIVE and DIGITAL platforms The key focus for RSS! Is PLAY & STORYTELLING with a particular emphasis on supporting artists as they develop new and innovative experiences for babies, children and young people via individual, educational, peer group and family contexts. PLAY & STORYTELLING are the two cornerstones of excellence for Ready, Steady, SHOW! These are our anchor in all areas of output and a focus for our artist development initiatives.
This August, we are delighted to announce our commissions for both live and digital work.
DIGITAL COMMISSIONS
Matt Szczerek – ‘Matt & Hat’
Matt’s work during next few months will focus on fusion of Virtual Reality (VR) and hip-hop dance performance for young audiences, creating short stories based on my his solo dance piece ‘Matt & Hat’ and developing them for virtual experience in collaboration with animator Fergal Brenan. Matt plans to develop a series of short workshops and interactive visually guided games that will allow him to branch out and develop his choreographic practice beyond dance and theatre with strong tech support and guidance from mentor Camille Donegan.
Freshly Ground – Sióg
Sióg is an immersive exploration of the role of the fairy in Irish folklore and mythology, incorporating augmented reality technology in an innovative blend of live performance and digital elements. The plan for this project is to create a large-scale, outdoor spectacle performance, allowing early years children and their families to be immersed in our historical and contemporary knowledge of fairies. Freshly Ground Theatre plans to work bilingually with artists and mentors in the Irish language, as well as incorporating acoustic and electronic music and sound to create a truly immersive live experience. This project is supported by Creative Ireland and South Dublin County Council’s Engagement with New Technologies Award. During Ready Steady Show!, Freshly Ground will investigate the blending of live and digital technology as well as learning and employing new skills in immersive technology, and engaging with young audiences in new and innovative ways.
LIVE COMMISSIONS
Bombinate Theatre – ‘Blue’
BLUE centres around climate change, schools strikes and the power of young people to make a difference. This play follows two young girls who are galvanised by a young climate change activist. They learning about the world we live in, how it functions and what we can do to change it for the better. Taking inspiration from contemporary environmental hero Greta Thunberg and John Tyndall, a prominent 19th Century physicist, BLUE will incorporate puppetry, music and magic to excite, educate and inspire young audiences.
BLUE is for children aged 6+. Bombinate will continue to develop this project through 2021 and 2022, with a proposed premiere in 2022.
BLUE research and development is supported by The Civic Ready Steady Show and VISUAL: Carlow.
Mark Ball – ‘No, no, no’
As a part of Ready Steady Show, Mark will develop a new piece for 3-5 year olds called No, no, no! This will be devised in collaboration with performer Madi O’Carroll, sound designer Lara Gallagher and associate director Anna Newell. It will be a physical theatre piece exploring, and only using the word no, drawing on elements of cabaret, clowning and electronic music. No is a delicious word. Used to draw boundaries, cause chaos and assert freedom! But it is also used by other people to restrict, police, or force. To shut down creative and individual expression. Ready, Steady, SHOW! will allow Mark to develop their practice for Early Years, through experiments with young people.
This project and exploration was initially supported thanks to the Exploring & Thinking Bursary 2020-21, a Dublin City, Fingal, South Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council partnership, and with support from Super Paua.
According to Hannah Mullan, creative producer at The Civic. “We are delighted to be working on these brave and innovative projects with these talented makers! I am very much looking forward to seeing how the commissions develop over the coming months. The research and development space offered by RSS! is vital. Working through new ideas in a supportive environment encourages stretch and risk taking. We hope that the RSS! Commissions and Artist Development Program will help our artists to explore new areas of their practise and result in exciting new work with and for our younger audiences”.
More detail on the individual projects to follow soon.
With thanks to the ongoing support of South Dublin County Council & The Arts Council
