I attended a lot of “Family Fare” theatre, another, better, name for “children’s theatre” at the National Arts Festival. This will not surprise anyone who knows my fascination for this particularly important genre of theatre.
One of the shows I managed to see was Colours of the Rainbow with Princess and Frog, aimed at the 1-6 age group, a delightful not-quite fairy-tale where imagination transforms the everyday into the fantastic. This production invites the young and young at heart to come and hop, sing and dance with Princess and Frog as they learn the colours of the rainbow and make friends along the way.
The two actors Briony Horwitz and Tamith Hattingh had the little people in the audience entranced. The production was a huge hit at the National Arts Festival with those who have small children. Creating theatre for young audiences is so important! I did not find this particularly inspiring theatre for adults (often good theatre for young people will touch the adults in the audience every bit as much, if not more, than the children) but the children really enjoyed it.
Colours of the Rainbow with Princess and Frog can be seen at the 969 Festival at Wits Theatre (Wits University in Braamfontein) next Saturday 26 July 2014.
