I've never dared to pay for a performance or play because I don't know how J would respond to it, or how engaging it would be to her, even though she has been to quite a few (free) mall shows and enjoyed them thoroughly.
I bit the bullet
- It says it's recommended for "2-4 year old". J is two, so, okay!
- This year's performance is presented entirely in Mandarin., which is good because J suddenly stopped speaking in Mandarin after we stopped Grandma School.
- Time to give performances a try.
- It's affordable at $17 per pax.
The set
Simple (but a lot of effort went into it I'm sure!) and colourful.
I'm someone who is easily influenced by ambience so the moment I stepped in, I can already picture myself in a magical jungle. Colourful trees.
The performance
Two words.
Bloody brilliant!
It started with a pre-show entertainment where the performers each take charge of a section and introduced the children to their animal friends - made out of (mainly) recyclable materials and some which we can find around the house. I'm already thinking of making the moth. *inspired!*
It's a cosy group so no child gets left behind. I thought J would be afraid of the animals but upon seeing the other children go forward, she went anyway. Having a jiejie with her helped too.
The hits
It really does suit the very young audience!
In fact, it hit the three most important points to keep young children engaged.
It's colourful.
The pop of colours in the set.
The colourful fabric on the performer's headgear.
It's colours, colours everywhere!
It's interactive.
The children didn't have to sit through the entire performance,
They got to MOVE! And moving is such an important thing to do for toddlers.
They got to stand and dance, then sit for a while, then stand up to dance, then sit for a while as the story proceeds, then walk up for activities. Then dance again.
We also went through the colours of the rainbow, which I thought was a nice way to weave learning into a performance. I gave them a lot of bonus points at this part!
It's short and the pace is just nice.
Plays to me, are slow.
And that was my primary concern just before we entered the theatre.
But this one is just 45 minutes and the pace of the performance went just right.
Not overwhelmingly fast that you don't know what's going on, and not too slow till the children gets bored.
The miss
Only one.
They introduced an animal and the herd of animals were repeating their names. We got a little lost at this point.
What I love about it
I think it tells a lot if you have a sizable group of children and no one is crying.
Maybe it's just the group I'm with today but yes no one cried, and that's impressive.
The headgear are made of recyclable materials. Loads of inspirations for parents.
You could totally do some up at home.
The performers made sure every child is engaged. The little girl in front of us is very young so she wasn't really following through the actions. One of the performers came forward and encouraged her to follow along.
There are bits of learning in it, which I wasn't expecting. So that was a pleasant surprise.
I was engaged through the entire performance. I loved it. One of the best I've ever been too.
*****
My friend told me that PLAYtime! performances are interactive but this one has got more activities than the previous ones she went for. Hopefully all the future shows are the same and I can't wait for go for the next one!
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