Blub, Blub (world premiere)
Through August 2
9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Saturdays; 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m. Sundays. No performances on July 4. $10 adults; $5 children 6 to 17; free for children 5 and under.
Bankoff Gallery, a small room located near the Peachtree Street entrance of the Memorial Arts Building (or the east side of the building), Alliance Theatre, 1280 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. Tickets: 404-733-5000 or go to www.alliancetheatre.org/blubblub. Tickets my be purchased before the show but advance tickets are recommended due to space limitations. The space can only accommodate up to 10 adults and 10 babies or toddleres at a time.
The playspace is open to the public for free Monday - Friday 9 a.m - 5 p.m.
Two-year-old twins, Drake and Gavin Spencer bang on turtle-shaped xylophones and strap foam shark fins to their backs.
Forget about simply watching this new “Blub Blub” show at the Alliance Theatre, these toddlers – along with every other young child at this performance – are part of the show.
Now through Aug. 2, the world premiere of “Blub Blub” is part of the Alliance’s “Theatre for Very Young.” But while other shows have been created for children between the ages of 18 months to 5, “Blub Blub” is aimed for the wee little ones – babies and children up to just up to 2 years old.
A small room with stark white walls known as the Bankoff Gallery at the Alliance Theatre was transformed into a magical underwater scene complete with green lights that sway to simulate the motion of an ocean along with interactive toys, including a giant clam shell. The children in the audience are not only free to move around the room, but they are encouraged to join a playful school of fish.
The performances take place on weekends. During the week, the play space is free and open for play.
“It’s at least 7 before you can expect your kids to sit and watch a show,” said Jon Spencer of Duluth. “For us, it was very exciting to have these opportunities like this for kids this young. They were both enthralled moving around the room, and my wife and I loved watching them play and discover new things.”
The Alliance Theatre’s programming for the very young started in 2011. The theater is one of a few in the country with live theater performances aimed at young children. With younger siblings and other babies and toddlers attending the shows, Chris Moses, Associate Artistic Director and Director of Education said the Alliance decided to craft a piece toward a group of theatre goers not yet talking and just learning to crawl or take their first steps.
Directed by Park Cofield, the 20-minute performance does not follow a traditional narrative. There is minimal language — actress Julie Puckett utters “blub blub” and not much else to communicate with the audience.
At one point in the show, the French crab, “Crabcois,” is caught by a trap in a delightful hide-and-seek game. Then, the adults are given their own crab-shaped springy bins to trap their little ones.
The space, designed by Jeffrey Zwartjes, is filled with sea animal puppets, and pillow-shaped creatures. Every prop, puppet, and piece of carpet was made with different textures including soft felt, netting (used for the crab traps that kids could crawl through) and shag-carpet (for corral reef).
“If we can artistically baptize young children, our hope is you could grow up to not only see the Woodruff Arts Center as an artistic home but more globally see art as an essential part of being a well-rounded compassionate human being” said Moses. “And we want the show to be fun.”
