June 12. Day 164. A Sticky situation

Right now I would love a child under the age of eight. This has nothing to do with the fact that toddler tantrums seem more attractive than teenage angst right now (although that's totally true if only because memories fade).
I want a child under the age of eight so I can fully enjoy the Out of the Box Festival.
It is a wonderful thing to live in a place that gives over its entire performing arts precinct to world class children's theatre and entertainment once every two years.
Out of the Box is a unparalleled celebration of children and the arts and I love it. I love it so much that I intend to visit most days during the five day festival and blog about the shows I see and people I meet.
Today was the opening day and my first point of call was Sticky, a giant maze constructed of sticky tape which invited children to go in and stick paper or anything else they fancied to the sides. It was so much fun.
Among those who were enjoying the maze was four-year-old Halle who was at Out of the Box with her mum Lizzy. Both were stuck on the attraction.

The Flying Orchestra: Image Courtesy of QPAC

 The Flying Orchestra - Review 

When adapting young adult or adult fiction for the stage or screen the challenge is usually what to leave out.

The Flying Orchestra: Review 

Adapting children’s books creates a different problem. How do you make a work that is perhaps only a couple of hundred words long into a full-length production?

Often the answer is to go the approach used in adapting Dr Seuss and to create a back story or embellish. The results are often not pretty.

The Flying Orchestra is not like that. The picture book by Queensland writer and illustrator Clare McFadden is simply brought to life.

“Some days are so windy that even the angels lose their balance... It’s always a day like this when the "flying orchestra" blows into town.”

Using a dazzling array of puppetry in a variety of styles, musicians on stage, spectacular lighting and a production quality worthy of any other professional main stage production, The Flying Orchestra is a feast.

Most impressive is the use of combination masks/puppet heads and comic-like costumes that make the actors really feel like they have walked straight from the pages of a picture book.

The five-year-old and 10-year-old with me sat transfixed throughout.

This production, like many other works developed especially for Out of the Box, is destined to go places.
Verdict 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Flying Orchestra is at the Lyric Theatre, QPAC until Sunday. Tickets Child/Student $20* Adult $25*