Hispaniola (Venue 79)
Aug 6-7, 9-14, 16-21, 23-27 12.20pm
A young troll girl finds herself defending the town from a gang of destructive, deadly dinosaurs! Recruiting allies – a goblin wizard and flame breathing dragon – does she have what it takes to save the day and calm these dangerous dinos' raging reign? Here is the fourth exciting adventure show from Dommy B (BBC’s Rhyme Rocket), following highly popular national tours of The Dragon Who Hates Poetry (co-produced by Z Arts), Spark, the Goblin Wizard (co-produced by Hamilton Project) and When Trolls Try to Eat Your Goldfish (co-produced by Action Transport Theatre, Z Arts and Big Imaginations)
What was the inspiration for this performance?
I have been inspired by how offended I have been by so many of the show I have seen aimed at children recently.
I have found the representations of gender in many shows I've seen really regressive and disheartening.
Jokes around the supposed hilarity of men being effeminate, and representations of young girls as delicate creatures incapable of being strong or funny do not make me feel optimistic. I have seen a lot of this and wanted to write something as an attempt to offer some kind of counter balance.
I am aware I am a white, cis gender man. So, whilst wanting to create something fun and positively representing more modern attitudes towards gender, I didn't feel doing this alone was my best option.
My show, Aaaaaaaaaaaaagh! Dinosaurs! is a free fringe show aimed at 5 to 10 year olds and their families and has been written by me in collaboration with pupils from pirimary schools near where I live, the teachers there, and a Manchester feminist literature group called Stirred.
I have been sharing drafts of the writing with these groups at regular stages with the aim of coming up with an hour's entertainment that is really enjoyable, silly, exciting and jokey but at the same time offering characters that are relateable to more children than just young boys who are good at sports.
How did you go about gathering
the team for it?
I love the work of Stirred. They
are a Manchester based feminist poetry and performance group who
create art just for adult audiences. Their input to this process has
been invaluable. I just asked them if they wanted to be a part of
what I was making. I was very happy they said yes! the same with the
children and teachers from schools I've worked with. I guess the
longer you're in the arts the more contacts you build and more great
resources you have to draw on.
How did you become interested in
making performance?
I got interested in performance
from seeing artists who I did think were excellent - Gerry Potter,
Rosie Garland, Michael Rosen, Lemn Sissay, Jackie Hagan - I made art
for adult crowds for a long time before also starting to make work
for younger audiences. There are some amazing groups who I've loved
seeing work from - Z Arts in Manchester and Action Transport Theatre
in Cheshire are top of the list - but, as I said earlier, what I have
often seen at Edinburgh Fringe for kids has often left me less
enthused.
Was your process typical of the
way that you make a performance?
Write, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite,
rewrite, rewrite! Writing is rewriting! Find people who understand
what your original intent was, people who agree with you that that
intent is interesting and worth pursuing, who will then help you
make what you make achieve those original goals the best way
possible.
What do you hope that the
audience will experience?
Laughter, adventure, realisation
that its not just macho men who can be the heroes who save the day.
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