Child's play as festivals focus on the little ones

'TIS THE SEASON for children's festivals. October now has at least 10 children's festivals all over Ireland, reflecting a real growth of interest in art for children, and a raising of the bar in terms of quality.

Baboró, the grandaddy of them all, has grown in stature and scope over its 12 years, and this year the Galway children's arts festival (October 13-19th, www.baboro.ie) has upped the ante on a number of fronts. For the first time there's theatre for teenagers, with the Irish premiere of NIE's European Narrative Trilogy, which has just had a run on Broadway. The three high-energy shows deal with European history, war and contemporary life (the third show in the trilogy is also at the Dublin Theatre Festival). Baboró's Lali Morris is also bringing in a German opera Schaf! for, believe it or not, children from aged five upwards. The 70-minute opera is about a sheep and features live harpsichord and cello. The extensive programme also has contemporary dance for children of four and over (Pequenos Paraisos from Spain), and there's a focus on children's theatre from Italy. Since Baboró was born (originally as part of Galway Arts Festival), many venues and county councils have increased programming for children, with visiting international companies doing mini-tours to a number of venues. There's a second nexus of international children's shows growing around June, with Spreacha in Blanchardstown's Draoícht as the fulcrum.

Irish companies are taking children more seriously too: this October, for example, Púca Puppets are touring a new show Róisín agus an Ron. The show is at Baboró, and it and another Irish show Fables, Tales Tattlers, from dysfunctional storytellers Theatre Lovett, are also at the Pavilion in Dún Laoghaire.

The Pavilion unveiled its festival line-up this week for its new kid on the kidfest block, the Flip Flop children's theatre festival (October 20th-26th www.paviliontheatre.ie), which has grown since its first outing last year, teaming up with the Mill Theatre, Dundrum, to make it a two-pronged week. Flip Flop this year features a 9ft Scottish giant and his uncouth dog, Hansel and Gretel from acclaimed UK/Italian Lyngo Theatre Co, and the Children's Fiction Slam.

As well as Baboró and Flip Flop, other Irish children's art festivals around the October period are: Roola Boola in Castlebar, Lollipop in Roscommon, Sonas in Louisburg, Aisling in Longford, Fizz in Dublin (Helix), Leanbh in Drogheda, Rí Rá in Carrick-on-Shannon and Spleodar in Nenagh.

Mansergh calls

"The creation of this centre, this artists' retreat, is a declaration that the will of the imagination, the will of the heart matters, the creative impulse matters; the life of the imagination matters; magnanimity matters. Above all, this is a place that reminds us that, when all rigid ideologies and grand strategies have been exhausted, it is to these we will always turn for solace, renewal and hope."

Junior Minister for the Arts Martin Mansergh was speaking this week at the launch of the five-year plan for artists retreat the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig. Annaghmakerrig: A Place Apart: Strategic Plan 2008-2011 has five aims: to enhance and develop facilities and services for residents; maintain, conserve and improve buildings, records and collections; build the profile of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre and celebrate achievement; maintain and develop national and international bursaries for artists, and develop the management and effectiveness of the centre.

It was Minister Mansergh's first visit to Annaghmakerrig with his new hat on, and he also announced new bursaries, called Annamakerrig Connections, along with the National Library, Abbey Theatre, Irish Film Board, Music Network, Foras na Gaelige and the Royal Dublin Society.

Director Pat Donlon "wanted the Tyrone Guthrie Centre to link arms with the best in the art forms in Ireland, and through these links provide even greater opportunities for arts practitioners to come and experience the Annaghmakerrig factor, even if only once in their lives." She plans to extend the initiative and urged any institution which feels left out to contact her. The weather may not have been great, but the day was enlivened by music from Neil Martin and The West Ocean String Quartet, and an impromptu performance by singer Nóirín Ní Riain, while Maeve Ingoldsby also sang.

Pulling the strings

Also on a children's cultural theme, the International Puppet Festival which opened last night at the Lambert Puppet Theatre in Monkstown, Co Dublin, is the only international showcase of this art form for adults and children in Ireland, writes Sylvia Thompson. Now in its 15th year, the programme includes shows by eight puppet companies from Europe, the United States and South America. "This year's festival will challenge the common misconception that puppetry is just for children," says Ronan Tully, the festival's new director. "We're encouraging anyone who holds that view to come and see a show and have their minds changed," he says.

This year's festival theme is the "Visual Power of Puppetry" and many shows have few or no words. Many performers also move way beyond traditional puppets such as Dutch puppeteer Leo Peterson, who uses just his hands and wooden eyes to create his characters for the show, Hands Up. Similarly, Peruvian mime artist and puppeteer, Hugo Suarez, uses fingers, hands, knees and even his stomach to create his characters in Short Stories.

A highlight comes from American marionette artist Phillip Huber, best known for his astonishing marionette sequence in the film Being John Malkovich. Huber's musical marionette cabaret show, Suspended Animation, is in the Pavilion Theatre from Thursday to Saturday.

Lambert Puppet Theatre founder Eugene Lambert says the festival is a great opportunity to see what the rest of the world has to offer. "Hopefully, it will inspire young Irish artists to investigate the potential of puppetry as an art form". With that in mind, the festival's new artist in residence, Brazilian puppeteer Maira Coelho, leads workshops in shadow puppets, rod puppets and hand and finger puppets today and next Saturday. www.puppetfest.ie or 01-2800974.

Music of the Big Top

Galway's Leisureland will be transformed into a musical Big Top today at 3pm when the RTE Concert Orchestra performs a programme of circus music. The event is the first in the fifth season of Adventures in Music, concerts organised by an enterprising group of mothers. Children colour and do word searches before the show and interact with the musicians afterwards. "We believe we have produced a new model of delivering arts to children of all ages," says Anne Weadick, secretary of Adventures in Music.

Theatrical honour

Joe Devlin, artistic director of the Focus Theatre, is to get the British Theatre Award for encouraging new writing from the Writers' Guild of Great Britain this month at a ceremony in the Old Vic Theatre in London.

Devlin was nominated by author Brian McAvera for bringing his works to the Irish stage. Devlin produced three of McAvera's plays at the Focus (including Picasso's Women) and plans to bring another two to London. McAvera said: "At long last I have a champion in Ireland who believes in my work and is determined to promote it!"

Devlin said: " I was a bit surprised, I was just doing my job. I have been working in theatre for 18 years, developing new works. New writing is the life blood of theatre, without that, theatre doesn't have a future."