The younger children at Norfolk House School in the Transition, Reception and Year 1 classes were so excited when, on Thursday 11th January, they travelled by coach to the Birmingham Town Hall to see the fun-filled stage adaptation of Stick Man.
This enchanting version of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s hugely popular children’s book Stick Man was an hour-long, interactive show, specially adapted for young children. Touching and funny, this original award-winning production featured a trio of top actors and was packed full of puppetry, songs, live music and funky moves.
The show was a perfect educational introduction for our children to live theatre which was feast of dance, music and costumes and had us laughing, singing and interacting all the way through.
First published in 2008, Stick Man has become one of the best-loved books from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, creators of The Gruffalo. Stick Man’s story is a tale of adventure, courage and the wonderful bond of family. Stick Man lives in the family tree with his Stick Lady Love and their stick children three.
After going for a jog one morning, Stick Man encounters a bounding dog, who just wants to play fetch. This sparks a series of unfortunate adventures, which lead him far from home and, in the theatrical version, had the children enraptured and laughing delightedly.
As the seasons pass, Stick Man meets a surprising friend who is able to help him get home to his family and the story ended happily, much to our relief.
There are so many benefits of live theatre, apart from the immense pleasure it provides. Watching a live performance provides a sense of vitality as well as a memorable experience socially, culturally and emotionally. Educationally, taking the children to the theatre boosts their literacy learning cultivating their curiosity and teaching them to imagine the unimaginable; skills necessary for creative writing. Theatre also connects to the importance of reading and has the ability to jump a story off the page and bring it to life. This can be a revelation to regular ‘bookworms’ but also a real positive effect for reluctant readers who may not show a natural interest in reading. Live theatre can help engage these children into reading texts so that they become skilled and even enthusiastic.
The changing scenes and creative acting, with use of props, within the live version of a theatre production, rather than animated films, demonstrate to even our youngest children, that with imagination they can make-believe and role-play any story.
Our children, within their classes, have also been immersed in cross-curricular topic learning based on the Stick Man story culminating in the theatre trip. A real treat for us all!
