Baby opera from Fringe
Musical magic is coming fresh from the Fringe to Motherwell Theatre next month as Scottish Opera brings their Bambino show to wow Lanarkshire babies.
Designed for six to 18- month- olds, Lliam Paterson’s ‘opera for babies’ uses interactive theatre and music to narrate a baby bird’s first flight.
During the show, babies are free to explore and engage with the singers and each other. Bambino celebrates the creativity of music and the infant mind, by reinventing opera for children, at an age when they are wide open to new experiences.
Written by Scottish Opera’s former Composer in Residence Lliam Paterson, and directed by Improbable’s critically-acclaimed Phelim Mcdermott, the performance is a coproduction with Manchester International Festival and Improbable.
Director Phelim Mcdermott, explained: “Bambino has gone down a treat with our tiny audiences and it has been fascinating to see their reactions.
“With some mimicking the sounds made by the singers and others dancing along to the beat, it certainly looks like they’re enjoying it.
“Adults get the chance to experience opera in a new way too, through the eyes and ears of the babies.”
Lliam Paterson said: “Bambino is a little opera with a big heart, bringing all the operatic passions to the youngest of newcomers and their parents.
“Together with director Phelim Mcdermott and designers Giuseppe Belli and Emma Belli, we have created a work that is as freshly experimental as it is in love with the grand traditions of opera.”
He added: “The smallest ears as well as the seasoned connoisseur will find something new and joyous in Bambino. It’s not every day you get to have a truly new theatrical experience at the same moment as your baby!’
Scottish Opera’s director of education and outreach, Jane Davidson, said: “This is a perfect opportunity to experience the highs and lows of opera, created in miniature, through the eyes and ears of your very own bambinos.
“Watch as babies and performers e x p l o re a beautifully crafted world full of golden eggs, soft blue cushions and soaring notes.”
The opera comes to Motherwell Theatre on September 17 and 18, with showings at 10am and 11.30am.