AN uplifting theatre show about learning to fly and finding inspiration in nature will be performed in a wood as part of Glasgow’s West End Festival.
The Whirlybird uses movement, music, bird song, puppetry and “lots of things that spin” to tell the story of a young bird who needs the encouragement of a pal to take their maiden voyage through the air.
The show, aimed at children aged three to seven and their guardians, is presented by Eco Drama, a local company who aim to put care of the natural world at the centre of their shows.
The performance is part of the Wild Festival and Gala at the Children’s Wood and North Kelvin Meadow, the scene of a long battle involving Glasgow City Council, a luxury housing developer and local campaigners, teachers and parents who want children to have a space to play in nature.
In recent years the three-acre meadow and wood – the last remaining space in Glasgow’s west end and situated in one of the most unequal areas in the UK – has been the scene of numerous community events, with its patron, actor Tam Dean Burn, reading stories to thousands of children.
In May 2018, the National Theatre of Scotland used the land to stage its site-specific interpretation of Naoki Higashida’s The Reason I Jump and a labyrinth used in show was built by local volunteers using reclaimed cobbles from nearby Maryhill.
Also featuring gardening and planting, outdoor cooking, street play, bird identification and a dog show, the Wild Festival and Gala will see a team from Waterstones Byres Road selling copies of The Dear Wild Place, Emily Cutts’s book about the special patch of land and its benefits to the community.
Published by author Carol Craig’s Centre for Confidence and Well-being, the book shows how, in Cutts’s words, “a grassroots initiative can address the intensive materialism of contemporary celebrity culture, improve children’s lives, build a vibrant community and break down barriers caused by pronounced income inequality”.
June 1, Children’s Wood and North Kelvin Meadow, Glasgow, 1pm to 4pm, free. www.thechildrenswood.co.uk www.westendfestival.co.uk
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