Polka Theatre’s Spring 2023 season continues with Let’s Build!, the premiere of a new interactive show for 2 – 5-year-olds, in the Adventure Theatre: the versatile studio space in the recently revamped Polka building in Wimbledon.
Follow two very curious builders who are committed to getting the job done. Their biggest challenge is they have never built anything before…
A hilarious, interactive exploration of how we learn to live amongst the buildings, noises and people all around us. Let’s Build! embraces the magic of discovering things for the first time, where mistakes are a door to something new.
Audiences will be invited to get building too, as part of a stay and play. Will things turn out wonderfully or could they topple to the ground?
Calling all builders, makers and shakers of the future – we need your help!
The ‘Builders’ in Let’s Build!, will be Marshall Defender Nyanhete, whose credits include Icarus (Unicorn), Water Bread and Salt (Tangle/ UK Tour), and Volpone (UK Tour) and Joey Holden, whose most recent stage credits include The Xmas Cracker (Hull Truck Theatre); The Tempest and Bleak House (Creation Theatre Company); and Peter Pan (Hull Truck Theatre).
Directed by Trina Haldar, designed by Verity Quinn and with lighting design by Rajiv Pattani, Let’s Build! has been created in collaboration with Mapping, a Creative Europe funded programme which explores the aesthetics of performing arts for Early Years. The noises and sounds of the city will be captured by award-winning music composer and Indo-Jazz musician Arun Ghosh.
Polka’s Artistic Director Helen Matravers said, ‘Let’s Build! is the perfect combination of hilarity, surprising discoveries and working out how to cope when things don’t go quite to plan. Trina Haldar and Verity Quinn have created the perfect playground for young audiences to explore the built environments around them, and centres the child’s experience brilliantly by asking “what would you change”? We can’t wait to welcome the architects, builders, town planners and explorers of tomorrow to Polka to clown around in a brand-new city, built especially for and by them.”
Polka Theatre is one of just a handful of dedicated children’s venues in the UK. Polka underwent a major renovation, re-opening in 2021, and continues to present a year-round programme of shows produced by Polka and from visiting companies, and a full programme of creative learning activities for ages 0 – 12. The redevelopment meant Polka enjoys flexible rehearsal and workshop spaces along with two performance spaces: the Main Theatre has a 300-seat capacity, and the Adventure Theatre can seat up to 90 depending on the show format.
The space is also fully accessible with a large, friendly café, free-to-access outdoor and indoor play areas, a shop, a book corner and comfy places to sit.
