By Welcome to the…Birdhouse Family Festival
25 – 29 May 2019 CLEETHORPES
The Birdhouse Family Festival celebrates the on-set of summer in Cleethorpes, with a fantastic programme of indoor and outdoor events and activities for children and their families.
Taking place over the Spring break half term, the festival makes the most of the resort by offering exciting and fun activities, in a variety of accessible locations, for your enjoyment.
See leading street theatre acts, enjoy indoor family shows and take part in interactive story-telling and inspiring creative sessions.
Brought to you by Grimsby-based children’s arts organisation, Birdhouse, the festival is supported by Arts Council England. The majority activity is free to access and tickets for paid-for shows are available at very reasonable prices, through the Birdhouse website at www.birdhousetheatre.co.uk
PROGRAMME
Saturday 25 May
A circus theatre experience for 2-5 year olds and their families
PLINK AND BOO by Can’t Sit Still
Holy Trinity Hall
Grimsby Road
Cleethorpes
DN35 7LH
11am and 2pm
£5 adults and children (a joint ticket available at £8 to see this and Yellow is the Colour of Sunshine on Wednesday 29 May)
Lasts about an hour and includes a stay and play session
Some might be Plink and others are Boo
Why does it matter, what’s the to-do?
Jumbled up people and boxes too small
Come play in our den and discover it all…
Welcome to the topsy-turvy world of Plink and Boo. Using acrobatics, live music and mountains of toys, join us in an interactive circus theatre adventure to explore what happens when people don’t fit into boxes.
This exciting and fun show has been created and written by Can’t Sit Still in collaboration with children, parents and childcare professionals.
Can’t Sit Still combine physical theatre and circus with original music. They tell stories, start conversations, and try to change the world!
Monday 27 May
FREE STUFF!
Pier Gardens (opposite Seaway Fish and Chips)
Central Promenade
Cleethorpes
DN35 8LG
11am – 4pm
THE BOMBARDIERS – Rhubarb Theatre
11am, 1pm and 3pm
Tally ho and chocks away. Three courageous airmen, Roger, Reggie and Rupert are returning from battle when their trusty aeroplane is caught in a freak storm. The daring heroes bravely leap from the craft and find themselves hurled far and wide.
Armed only with their wits and extremely good looks, who knows where they’ll end up, what adventures they’ll find and if they’ll ever be reunited…expect mime, physical theatre, mischief and laughter!
THE BEWONDERMENT MACHINE – by A Bird in the Hand
11.30am, 1pm and 3pm
THE BEWONDERMENT MACHINE is an artist-built cycle-powered carousel, a kinetic public sculpture and a magical journey for small children.
It combines found objects, puppetry, machinery and music. With riding space for up to 10 at a time, this is also a miniature theatrical flight of the imagination, empowering the very young to care, to be curious and to believe in their own strength.
This is a celebration of the creatures that are increasingly losing their familiar place in our children’s lives and in their language.
GIRL GUIDES – by SWANK
11.45am and 1.45pm
Be enthused by the terribly terribly jolly Girl Guide duo ‘Val Keen’ and ‘Babs Eager’. With their jangling kit and ‘be prepared’ PMA (positive mental attitude), Val and Babs engage the public in achieving their SWANK GUIDES badges. Whether ‘Ging Gang Goolying’, ‘Fit for Anything’ or simply ‘Doing My Best’, everyone is a badge winner and enjoys the ridiculous and hilarious badge presentation ceremony.
ONCE UPON A WALL – by FULLY BOOKED THEATRE
12.30pm and 2.30pm
A new interactive dance-theatre show for children and families
An egg. A wall. A very big fall.
Join Hum-T on her fast-paced dancing adventure through the streets of Lost Sandwiches. Build a giant wall, throw down some signature moves, and watch one very large egg scramble to the top. Kids and adults alike join in the fun on the egg-venture of a lifetime, becoming hoofed horses, hip-hopping with the Royal Rebels and helping an egg to see the sunny side of life.
Commissioned by Stockton International Riverside Festival and Middlesbrough Council and supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Plus the amazing BUBBLE FAIRIES! 11.45am, 1.45pm and 3.15pm
TUESDAY 28 MAY
Cleethorpes Sandpit and Discovery Centre
Off Kings Road
Cleethorpes
DN35 8AH
MORE FREE STUFF!
THE BEWONDERMENT MACHINE
12.15pm, 1.45pm, 3pm
This beautiful hand-made interactive sculpture returns…take a ride on this theatrical flight of imagination.
NONSENSE SHOW by Mambo Jambo
11.45am, 1pm, 2.15pm
Bursting with nonsense songs & raps… & nonsense in general!
SUMMER STORIES with Rhubarb Theatre – outdoor, interactive story-telling
Very Hungry Caterpillar
11am – 11.40am
By the light of the moon a little egg lay on a tiny leaf… and out popped A Very Hungry Caterpillar. What a big journey he has ahead of him…come and join Rhubarb Theatre for this classic tale, where we make our way through lots of obstacles to find that food. With live music and fun props.
For ages 0 – 6
The Admirable Admirals
12.10pm – 12:45pm
Hoist the flag and shout Aye-aye!
Walkabout characters Nelly, Bones and Fred are here to battle flying fish, each other and any unsuspecting passers-by with their water pistols and salty sea-dog ways.
Summer Stories with Rhubarb Theatre – outdoor, interactive story-telling
Jack and the Flum Flum Tree
1.30pm – 2.10pm
Jack’s granny’s got spots, big round purple ones, lots and lots. The only cure is the fruit from the far away isle of Blowyernose. Jack needs a boat and a crew – are you brave enough to join Jack on his voyage across the sea? Come on a quest for adventure with this great story from Julia Donaldson.
For ages 4 – 8
The Admirable Admirals return
2.45pm – 3.20pm
And another chance to enjoy the BUBBLE FAIRIES throughout the day!
ALSO TUESDAY 28 MAY
Comedy Writing Workshop for kids with James Campbell
Moon on the Water
North Promenade
Cleethorpes
DN35
1.30pm – 3.30pm
£5
(Workshop and show combined entry £10).
Must be booked in advance – limited spaces available
Suitable for ages 8 – 11
Do you find that the writing you do in school is not enough for you? Do you long to write bigger stories – better stories? Do you want to be a writer when you grow up?
Well the good news about wanting to be a writer when you grow up is that you don’t have to wait until you grow up. Just grab a notebook and a pen and get on with it.
Better still, come along to James Campbell’s Comedy Writing Workshop For Kids.
James has written many books including The Boyface series and The Funny Life of Pets and The Funny Life of Teachers. In this workshop he will show you how he plans his ideas and makes them bigger, bolder and more beautiful before starting to write them.
He may also explain why he always carries a banana for emergencies and will absolutely have time to talk to everyone about their own writing and what they are trying to do with it.
Absolutely NO frontal adverbials will be mentioned during this workshop.
James Campbell’s Stand Up Comedy for Kids
Moon on the Water
North Promenade
Cleethorpes
DN35
7pm
£7 – advance booking advised to avoid disappointment
(Combined children’s workshop and show ticket £10)
A stand-up show for children over 6, their parents and anyone who likes comedy without the rude words.
Hold on to your socks, take the banana out of your ears and enjoy the best comedy for kids from the man who invented it. James Campbell also writes the hilarious Boyface books; has appeared on TV programmes such as Blue Peter and has performed at the Royal Festival Hall, The Royal Albert Hall, on Broadway and the West End and even a tiny tent on the back of a hamster.
James’ show will find The Funny Things about everything including pets, couscous, spaniels, making your own yoghurt, bees, why we have hair and will answer questions such as:
This show might include stories of lollipop ladies, giant catapults, and some of the worst drawings in the world including this terrible picture of a Labrador that looks more like Darth Vader.
“James Campbell pioneered the idea of stand-up for children, and it is still genuinely impressive to watch him hold the attention of a theatre full of six-to 11-year-olds for an hour with nothing but a microphone.” – The Guardian
WEDNESDAY 29 MAY
Theatre show for children aged 3 – 8 and their families
Tutti frutti presents:
Yellow is the Colour of Sunshine
Written by Brendan Murray
Cleethorpes Memorial Hall
DN35
11am and 2pm
For ages 3 – 8
£5 (joint ticket available at £8 to see this and Plink and Boo on Saturday 25 May)
Lasts about an hour
Yoshi and Hani are as different as chalk is to cheese:
One big, one small
One noisy, one quiet
Side by side they play by the blue sea, run through the green fields and dance in the yellow sunshine.
But one day the sky turns grey and everything starts to change…
Will the sun ever come out again?
Yellow is the Colour of Sunshine is a new play told in words, sign, colours, music and movement about feelings, emotions, empathy and how we communicate.
Award winning writer Brendan Murray collaborates with tutti frutti to bring you a show full of beautiful multi-coloured delights, for children to think about, be inspired by and enjoy.
‘tutti frutti enraptures its young audience with a wonderful and warm piece of theatre.’- The Stage
To find out more, visit www.birdhousetheatre.co.uk and follow the festival on Twitter @BirdhouseT or on Facebook at Birdhouse
For any enquiries please contact charlotte@birdhousetheatre.co.uk
Please note – all details correct at time of going to press and can be subject to change
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