At a time when Arts education is being severely diluted in favour of pushing the core subjects and children are being lured to the screen more and more, we need to take them to the theatre. We need opportunities for children to engage in stories and imagination, to not just be a passive observer, but to be moved, to relate, to empathise and to experience the beauty of being taken on a journey through the ultimate pop-up book which is live theatre.

Victoria University lecturer and director Kerryn Palmer challenges her third-year Collaborative Production course students to devise a piece of theatre for children. Not just to create a formulaic ‘let’s have a jolly ol’ time and have a few laughs’ type piece, but something that is truly inspiring and respectful to the intellect of children that might otherwise be forgotten when trying to ‘entertain’ them.

Moonlight is one of two pieces on offer this week, this one being pitched at the 4 – 8 year olds. [The other, for 8 and above, is In the Attic.]

The calm and peacefulness of the Studio 77 theatre as we enter the space is transforming: the audience joins the reverence of the night scene that is waiting for us. Tranquil music and shards of light filter down as if through trees or a not fully closed curtain. From the moment we set foot in the creative space we are alert and waiting for what is to come.

Luna (Yasmin Golding) is afraid of the dark. When her nightlight (Georgia Ball) fails during a storm, Mr Watt (Kevin Orlando) persuades her to embark on an adventure into the forest of dreams to find the moonlight to power her nightlight again. She meets curious characters like the Tea-witches (Emma Maguire and Alex Robertson), confused Signposts (Pernille Himmelmoe and Finnian Nacey) and Duck (?) twins Silversea (Nicole Topp-Annan) and Lilypool (Dara Flaws) who all, it transpires, are also struggling without the moonlight and are losing their magic and direction.  

With a background of beautifully evocative lighting, a soundscape of original and classical compositions, creative use of space and levels, humour and quiet wonder, Luna tells us her story of learning to see her fears through different eyes while pushing through challenges, and to look inward rather than always expecting help from external sources. 

I am impressed with the attention to detail that is achievable in (I’m guessing) one semester, including time spent in the development of this work with groups of school kids for the adult students to learn how to capture the imagination of children for the theatre genre and the common themes that arise.

I like that this production doesn’t call for the panto style interactions and allows the observer to journey along as if they are Luna in the adventure, but more thought needs to be given to how to acknowledge the offerings of audience members and whether the fourth wall is going to be broken or not.

While the acting itself is delivered with some diffidence, the balance of real and imagined, where it doesn’t ever go too far into the really scary realm for this age group, seems right, and the wonder and heart of the story has this opening show audience – some of whom are younger than 4 – spellbound.

As well as researching, devising and acting the show, the varied and important range of theatre disciplines and roles are also taken on by the students themselves from the costume, set and sound design, and tech operation to publicity and compositions.

The original music and songs (by Joel Rudolph, Yasmin Golding and Georgia Ball) are memorable in their text, style and delivery, and transition the story arc artistically. Familiar classical music like the Presto from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons add drama, and Mussorgsky’s Night on a Bare Mountain is particularly evocative with the use of white stretchy fabric pieces choreographed to be the faceless threat that trap Luna along her way. (These fabric pieces also work as clever screens for the lighting effects and as different scene props.)

As much as theatre makers need to create something to inspire the child, the piece also needs to capture the imagination of the adults who attend with their children. This is often done with ‘over their heads’ humour or subtle adult references but in Moonlight we are given an invitation to suspend our disbelief and to travel this journey with our children and find the child within. The messages resonate for us too.

In her essay ‘Releasing the Imagination’ (1995), Maxine Greene writes, “By setting students on a lifelong journey with the arts, we encourage ongoing, informed perception, appreciation and relationship with the people of the world.” I think this thought is alive and well in the Victoria University theatre department. 

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