Tikumu’s letter

Press, 26 February 1980, Page 14

Tikumu’s letter

Dear Readers, The Canterbury Children’s Theatre is taking part in the Christchurch Arts Festival that begins on March 8. The play “Badjelly the Witch” is to be performed again. This is good news because it was a tremendous success during its August school holiday season last year. • The children of Christchurch will have a part in celebrating its popular return. The Chil-’ren’s Theatre has arranged a fancy dress parade of “Badjelly the Witch” characters, to be held in the quadrangle at the Arts Centre on Sunday, March 2 at 11 o'clock. : It will be a lot of fun. You will enjoy dressing up . as the character you like best in the play, and joining the parade among all the other “favourites.” The quadrangle will look like the fantasyland of Spike Milligan’s imagination when he wrote the story. As well as the children, some of the characters in the play will be on parade, wearing full costume and make-up as they will be seen on the stage at the James Hay theatre later in March. Neville Wakem of 3ZB will be judging the competition and describing the parade to radio listeners. Perhaps your parents and

friends will hear something about you. The prizes will be tickets for the opening night of "Badjelly the Witch” at the James Hay theatre, on Tuesday, March 18. However, the fancy dress parade will be a prize in itself for those who attend. Members of the Children’s Theatre work for children all the year. The plays they have been presenting during the school holidays for the last 27 years are proof of this. But this year they are working overtime. Following the opening of the Arts Festival on March 8, the Children’s Theatre is holding an open day at its premises in the historic Malthouse, Colombo Street South, on Sunday, March 9, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. The Malthouse is the theatre workshop made up of many departments. People will be free to explore the building to see where stage'' sets are made, scenery is painted, costumes are prepared and stage properties are made. The wardrobe department holds a large collection of magnificent costumes from past shows. The cloaks, gowns, crowns and coronets have an aura of royal splendor, : and there is a whimsical magic in the costumes of some of the well-loved fairy tale characters. All the cos-

tumes are rich in colour and in cloth, and there are so .nany of them. They will make you want to stand and stare, but do not stay too long, because there are other interesting things to see. During the day there will be demonstrations of theatre make-up on costumed characters from “Badjelly the Witch.” Upstairs is a large highceilinged room where the actors spend many hours rehearsing, under the direction of the producer, until the high standard is reached for which the Children’s Theatre productions have become ■wellknown.

The floor is mapped out to the size of the stage on which the play will be performed, and the properties to be used are marked on this rehearsal stage so that the players can suit their movements to the space they will have. A visit to the Malthouse will give you some idea of all the work that goes into staging a sparkling production like “Badjelly the Witch,” the play many of you will enjoy during the Arts Festival.

The Canterbury Children’s Theatre works for your enjoyment, and they believe there is no better form of entertainment than live theatre. Its members give their time and skill free of charge because they believe in this ideal.