Staging magic for the children

The festive season is nearly upon us. If you’re looking to reward the kids and inspire their young minds with delightful, family-friendly theatre, we have you covered. Here’s a roundup of the top five children’s theatre productions to look forward to. 

Adventures in Pantoland

The annual pantomime at the Joburg Theatre is a long-standing end-of-year tradition for Joburgers. Writer-director Janice Honeyman’s winning formula of witty, fun-filled comedy; awesome on-stage spectacle; magical storytelling and social commentary, enjoyed by both children and adults, keeps audiences coming back. 

Now in its 27th iteration, this year’s production is called Adventures in Pantoland. According to Honeyman, it is a mash-up mega-mix of pantomimes, where ever-popular characters such as Princess Aurora, Aladdin, Snow White and Jack the Joller meet on stage with the Wicked Queen Evilina, the Abominable Uncle Abanazar, Madame Kakkeloura Khakibos and the Crooked Captain Hideosa Hook, in a quest adventure to retain the Golden Goblet of Goodness. 

“Adventures in Pantoland is an epic journey of traditional good versus evil. Obviously, good wins out in the end,” Honeyman says. 

The cast includes Didintle Khunou, Ilse Klink, Hlengiwe Lushaba Madlala, Carmen Pretorius, Brenda Radloff, Justin Swartz, Grant Towers and Ben Voss.

The pantomime is on at the Mandela Stage at Joburg Theatre until 24 December. Tickets start from R260. Book on the Joburg Theatre website or by calling 0861 670 670. There are discounts for groups of 10 or more. 

Seussical Jr 

Theodor Seuss Geisel, popularly known by his pen name Dr Seuss, is famous for having written many of the most popular children’s books of all time. The classic Horton Hears A Who!, The Cat in the Hat, How The Grinch Stole Christmas! and The Lorax might come to mind. 

Many of his books have been adapted to films and musicals including Seussical, the Tony-winning Broadway musical by Lynn Arehns and Stephen Flaherty. 

The National Children’s Theatre in Parktown, Johannesburg, is inviting the young and young at heart to its own Dr Seuss adaptation with Seussical Jr. Here, popular characters such as Horton the Elephant, The Cat in The Hat, Gertrude McFuzz, Mayzie LaBird and the Whos of Whoville spring to life in a fantastical musical extravaganza. 

Expect toe-tapping musical styles from Latin to pop, swing to gospel, and R&B to funk. 

Speaking about his approach to the production and what kids can expect, director Ivor Jones says, “The show is an hour and 10 minutes. It is visually beautiful for the children because it is set in a fantasy jungle. 

“Most of the show is sung. There’s also audience participation to get the children in the vibe — the elephant gets auctioned and the kids get to bid on who buys the elephant. It’ll be a lot of fun.” 

Children will be engaged on themes such as imaginative thinking, being true to themselves, responsibility, perseverance, kindness and caring.  

Seussical Jr is on at the National Children’s Theatre in Johannesburg until December 22. It also runs at the Pretoria Youth Theatre in Irene on 2, 3 and 10 December. Tickets are R140 at Quicket and Computicket. 

Balloonacy

Children as young as two years old can enjoy the Tony-award-winning production of Balloonacy by Barry Kornhauser at the National Children’s Theatre. Kornhauser is an American writer-director and educator known for his contribution to the cultural enrichment of children. 

The appeal of Balloonacy is that it is a 45-minute no-dialogue show that works with elements of mime and clowning which are enriching and inclusive. 

The comical and heart-warming story is centred around a grumpy old man celebrating his birthday alone. When a magical balloon appears at his window, his solitary ways are challenged. The zippy, lively balloon teases him out of his funk. 

The local production is in the trusted directorial hands of Toni Morkel, a brilliant and nuanced physical theatre performer and practitioner. She directs Craig Morris in this one-man show about the power of friendship and unconventional companionship. 

Morris says, “The show transcends any limitations that one might encounter concerning language. Body language is the only language that everybody speaks. 

“The physical humour will punctuate the show which kids are going to love,” he says. 

“What’s also super exciting is that the balloon is a character. There’s a certain level of puppetry in the way I interact with the balloon, giving it qualities of movement, which can be read as emotion or personality. 

“Kids, with their wonderful imaginations which we tend to lose as we get older, will at the end believe this balloon is sentient.”      

Balloonacy runs at the National Children’s Theatre from 6 to 22 December. Tickets are R120 for adults sitting on chairs and R100 for children seated on cushions. 

The Nutcracker

Popular ballet The Nutcracker celebrates its 137th anniversary this year and the Cape Town City Ballet is putting on a magical production at the Artscape Theatre, alongside the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. 

After nationwide auditions, 40 children at each show have the chance to delight audiences as they perform alongside the company at select performances.  

“What better way to round off the year than with a sumptuous feast of ballet and entertainment in our production of perennial favourite, The Nutcracker?” says chief executive of the company Debbie Turner.

“We encourage patrons to have fun, dress up and use every performance as an opportunity to celebrate the holiday season spirit. 

“At our closing performance, on 23 December, young audience members can enjoy the Children’s Parade, take pictures with the characters on stage and receive a sweet treat,” says Turner.

The uplifting and enchanting story, which revolves around the gathering of friends, family and children on Christmas Eve, follows the main character Clara, her brother Fritz, the handsome Nutcracker Prince and The Mouse King. 

As the children receive their special gifts, Clara is spellbound by her unusual nutcracker doll. She falls asleep holding it and dreams that she saves the doll’s life in a “fierce battle” against The Mouse King. The doll magically changes into a handsome prince, who whisks Clara away through The Land of Snow to the Kingdom of the Sweets. 

The Nutcracker is on at the Artscape Opera House from 7 to 23 December. Tickets range from R175 to R495 at Computicket.   

Jack and the Beanstalk

Durban’s Kickstart Theatre is presenting Jack and the Beanstalk as a fun-filled family pantomime. Expect groovy songs, slapstick comedy and romance accompanied by fantastic sets and over-the-top costumes. 

Written and directed by Steven Stead and designed by Greg King, some of Durban’s favourite actors will bring the adventure to life. 

Newcomer William Young is Jack the hero and Roshanda Lewis is his love interest, Princess Jill. Blessing Xaba is the Dame and Jack’s long-suffering mother, Flora Flatbroke. Popular panto regulars Brian Hiles and Iain “Ewok” Robinson are the inept robbers, Cecil and Claude. 

Jack and the Beanstalk happens at the Sneddon Theatre from 8 December to 15 January. Tickets range between R130 and R250 at Computicket.