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Each baby gets a one-on-one introduction to the performance team to ease them into the space and the unfamiliar people in it. The performers never loom over the tiny children they approach them on hands and knees, mimicking the body language of each child – some shyer, others vocal and gregarious. Together with about ten pairs of parents and their infants, we've ducked out of the harsh afternoon sun for a half-hour of magical, suspended time.Īs each baby-in-arms enters the space, they're inducted into the experience by the three performers, all dressed and made-up uniformly in dungarees and neat braids.

The centre of the room is heaped high with soft textiles, from bubble wrap to a collapsible play tunnel. It feels like the magic hour in the womb of Artground's White Box, that brief dusky moment between day and night where setting sun bathes the landscape in purples and oranges. Gurgling babies and their sets of parents are making themselves comfortable around a large mattress in the middle of the performance space. Here's my (adult) take on the experience. Then they ran a couple of test shows in November to see what worked and what didn't. The Esplanade's popular Playtime! series, for instance, caters to toddlers and children aged two to four. I remember having a long conversation with Luanne a few years ago about the need for performances that focus on narrower age ranges: 18-24 months, for instance, instead of ones targeted at, say, five to twelve-year-olds that will almost inevitably bore or elude some portion of that demographic because of their widely differing developmental milestones.Įllison and Myra met in April to begin work on You Can Reach the Sky. They had worked on several Playtime! shows together and had wanted to create a show specifically for babies for some time. By August they had embarked on a devising phase with the cast, bringing in an early childhood development specialist as a consultant, visiting infant care centres to get a sense of their audience and test out elements of the show, and experimenting on Ellison's young nephews to see what stuck and what didn't. It's run by a new company, The Ground Co Ltd, in collaboration with the National Arts Council The Ground is headed by Luanne Poh, formerly a producer with the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay who's been especially involved in programming for young children. The Artground, a new multi-disciplinary arts and play space for children under 12, opened in July this year.

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Full disclosure: Ellison Tan, who co-created this immersive theatrical production for pre-walking babies, is a friend of mine – she invited me to watch this performance at the Artground on December 22.