Mythical Creatures unleashed in Malvern
In the recently converted theatre
space at Malvern’s Re-con venue, fifty children found themselves
transported five thousand miles across the Atlantic to historical
Central America. Taking them there was Sorcha Cummins, with her
newly formed one-woman TIE performance of The Popol
Vuh - ancient Mayan for ‘Book of the People’. The
question is, how much diversion and variety can you cram into a
forty minute educational show? Ms. Cummins, who
trained in puppetry with internationally acclaimed theatre
company The Fetch, seemed determined to find out.
With her wild black hair, patchwork sequinned coat and feathery
hat, the eccentric story-telling narrator demanded our attention
from the outset. Assisted by a range of ingenious props and
painted masks we were introduced to the indigenous people of
ancient Guatemala and their fantastical creation myths. The young
audience were hypnotized by the range of skilfully manipulated
puppets, most of them wonderfully grotesque, including an insect
guzzling mud monster, a spindly stick skeleton and a slavering
bejewelled dragon. There were shrieks of laughter as the puppets
convulsed and jerked to resonant tribal music, and eyes widened
at the lifelike movements of the Mayan boy through whose vision
several of the myths were told. Even for those too young to
understand there was more than enough riotous colour and
evocative world music to engage them.
The performance is designed primarily to offer Key Skills
learning opportunities for primary school years 3-6, and can be
combined with creative tailor-made workshops to extend
cross-curricular understanding. Given the number of
children who flocked excitedly around the story hunter to ask
questions after the show, I could only conclude that the
intention to inform and inspire had been successful. This
free début show may have come to an end, but
for Storyhunter Theatre the story has only
just begun.
Performances are ad hoc and Midlands based.
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