Marc Mac Lochlainn is Artistic Director of Branar Theatre, which will take part in Polka Theatre’s first Big Dreams Early Years Festival running from 24 – 28 August.
It is a festival curated by Polka Theatre which showcases and celebrates Early Years Theatre by leading UK and International companies. The Festival includes inspiring shows for children and fascinating talks and workshops for artists and industry professionals.
This inaugural festival is also part of Mapping, a Creative Europe funded programme which explores the aesthetics of performing arts for Early Years. More information can be found here.
Polka Theatre’s first Big Dreams Festival will run at the end of August, what can you tell us about it?
It’s the first Big Dreams Early Years Festival which Polka plan to host every 2 years. There are 2 international performances (Rothar being one of them) and Dreamy from Teater Tre is from Sweden. It’s a wonderful opportunity to come to a world-leading venue in children’s theatre and experience international theatre on your doorstep.
Why do you think it’s so important to showcase early Years Theatre?
We only have one chance to be 1 or 2 or 3 years old and we never get that chance again. It’s our job as adults and artists to ensure that these years are amazingly years and full of stimulating experiences. These tiny humans deserve to have as much access to excellent art as adults do. Its brilliant that Big Dreams can celebrate the youngest members of society and dedicate a festival of work just for them.
And it’s more than just performance, what else can people expect from Big Dreams?
As well as 5 different productions for ages 0-6 years, this is a festival! There will be lots of free activities including face-painting and glitter tattoos to name but a few, and Polka has recently undergone an incredible redevelopment and their indoor and outdoor play areas, café, shop and garden will be brimming with a celebratory atmosphere and lots of fun! As well as all this, the festival is for professionals too who are interested in early years theatre, and Polka are holding a number of workshops for adults and free talks to inspire, educate and stimulate those with an interest.
How does it feel to be part of this festival?
It’s a privilege to be part of the festival. We have been working with Polka on the Mapping Project as part of a Creative Europe project since 2019 and its going to be amazing to see the shows that have been created by the partners. It’s really important that we keep our connection with colleagues in the UK despite the challenging political situation.
What’s the biggest challenge in creating early years theatre?
I would say the biggest challenge is a lot of the time our audience can’t tell us in words what they liked or disliked about the piece. We share a lot of works in progress with children and learn the signals of engagement and disengagement. But mostly the challenges are to our advantage and the to the advantage of the audience because we are forced to be inventive and push our imaginations and creative skills to the limits to find engaging ways of telling stories. If work for early years was on stage for adults it would be lauded for its invention, imagination and experimentation with the form.
What would you say to anyone thinking of coming to Big Dreams Festival?
Get ready to have fun and be immersed in something out of the ordinary. Polka is a very special place for children and adults alike. You can come for a show or stay for the whole day and the children will have the best time. It’s not every day that children can experience international theatre, and this is an opportunity not to be missed. Early years theatre is so important as it engages young minds and sparks interest, imagination and inspiration.
