Family Arts Festival Set for Greenwich Theatre in October

A magical story-telling show combining puppetry, live music and circus will launch the third annual Family Arts Festival at Greenwich Theatre in October.

The King of Tiny Things - which had a long weekend at the Southbank Centre in July - was adapted by Metta Theatre company's artistic director Poppy Burton-Morgan with help from her husband, designer William Reynolds, and three-year-old son, Noah.

"We were given the book as a present for Noah and he wanted us to read it night after night as toddlers do," said Poppy. "I started to imagine how interesting it would be transform the insects into circus disciplines.

"So we've got a juggling slug, acrobatic baby bats and stilt-walking daddy longlegs."

The children's story by Jeanne Willis and Gwen Millward is about two sisters who huddle together in the dark on a midsummer's night when a mysterious winged creature leads them on a moonlit adventure.

"As we developed the story it became much more complex and rich, virtually a musical in which one of the girls is scared of the dark and insects," said Poppy. "We've written songs and found other things that are resonant for older children and adults.

"We've brought in the fear of growing up and the fear of change and difference, so we think we've got something that's fun but also spectacular and visually exciting.

"We feel very passionately about making work for a family audience that's not simplistic and not just for very young children. You can be quite dark and bold with children, and hopefully we've done that and still keep it accessible."

Metta Theatre company, founded by Poppy and William 10 years ago, are staging 10 shows in celebration of their anniversary, including Mouthful, six new plays about the global food crisis, which opens at the Trafalgar Studios in London on September 8.

They first worked with Greenwich Theatre five years ago when they presented a show based on Luigi Pirandello's The Man with a Flower in his Mouth at The London Particular pub in New Cross.

"They have grown and grown by discovering high quality narrative circus as a particular niche in their shows," said Greenwich Theatre's executive and artistic director, James Haddrell.

"Family theatre has always been very important for us and the point of the national arts festival is to present arts and activities the whole family can enjoy together. The key moment for us is the pantomime but there's no reason why that shouldn't continue throughout the year.

"The King of Tiny Things will be followed by Tall Story's production of The Snow Dragon and, very excitingly, The Lost Things byTortoise In A Nutshell, which will take place in a customized prefabricated dome in a location somewhere in Greenwich."

The aim of the Family Arts Festival is to attract a whole range of ages to develop a long-term relationship with the theatre "You can fall in love with the theatre at the age of four and stop going at the age of eight if there aren't the shows for you," said James. "So it's brilliant that we have a national festival where all ages - and the family together - can participate and get the theatre in their blood."

*The King of Tiny Things launches the Family Arts Festival with two performances on Monday, October 26, 12pm & 3pm. Box office: 020 8858 7755.

Find out more at www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk