Imaginate: Children's festival to tackle 'childish' world leaders, climate change, wars and gender

The climate crisis, wars, gender stereotypes, mental health, youth activism and “childish” world leaders are all set to be tackled in Scotland’s leading festival for young audiences.

Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain and across the UK will be appearing in this year’s Edinburgh International Children’s Festival.

Also known as Imaginate, the event’s forthcoming edition will feature 14 productions encompassing circus, comedy, dance, music, performance art, spoken word and theatre.

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The Traverse Theatre, the Festival Theatre Studio, Assembly Roxy, the Southside Community Centre, Summerhall and Dance Base will be among the venues hosting performances during the festival, which will include a day of free pop-up performances at the National Museum of Scotland.

The show BullyBully will be part of this year's Edinburgh International Children’s Festival. Picture: Kamerich & BudwilowitzThe show BullyBully will be part of this year's Edinburgh International Children’s Festival. Picture: Kamerich & Budwilowitz
The show BullyBully will be part of this year's Edinburgh International Children’s Festival. Picture: Kamerich & Budwilowitz

Highlands of the festival, which runs from 27 May-4 June, include new play Protest, “a celebration of youth activism” by the writer, poet, playwright and performer Hannah Lavery.

Focusing on three girls – the best runner in her school, a victim of bullies and a young environmentalist – Protest will explore “what it takes to make a difference, the power of friendship, and the importance of believing in your own voice.”

BullyBully, by the Netherlands-based company Maas Theater and Dance company, is a “madcap musical” looking at what a toddler and the "average world leader” have in common.

Belgian company Nevski Prospekt’s show 9 to 5, which is partly inspired by Metro Boulot Dodo, the French expression for the daily grind of work, will focus on a creature of habit whose daily routine is suddenly turned upside down.

The show Protest will be part of this year's Edinburgh International Children’s Festival. Picture: Ali WrightThe show Protest will be part of this year's Edinburgh International Children’s Festival. Picture: Ali Wright
The show Protest will be part of this year's Edinburgh International Children’s Festival. Picture: Ali Wright

Another Belgium company, Grensgeval, will combine murmuring backpacks, a landscape of scattered tiny speakers and an acrobatic composer to create the “immersive sound theatre experience” Murmur.

Slovenian show Somewhere Else, by the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre company, is billed as “a touching story about a girl caught in the middle of a war.”

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Classic puppet animation, storytelling, live video projections and virtual drawings will all be used to explore “the absurdity of war.”

The French-Canadian dance drama The Problem With Pink focuses on a debate over whether the colour pink is “just for girls."

The show Too Close To The Sun will be part of this year's Edinburgh International Children’s Festival. Picture: Jassy EarlThe show Too Close To The Sun will be part of this year's Edinburgh International Children’s Festival. Picture: Jassy Earl
The show Too Close To The Sun will be part of this year's Edinburgh International Children’s Festival. Picture: Jassy Earl

Scottish company Barrowland Ballet’s dance show Too Close To The Sun, which will explore the story of a girl weighed down by the responsibility of the environmental crisis, is inspired by the Greek leged of Icarus.

Performers from the Netherlands and Norway will feature in I…er...Me, a fast-paced show exploring mental health issues, which will be performed on a rotating set.

Imaginate director Noel Jordan said: “This year’s programme delivers performances with big ideas, epic stories and flamboyant physicality which will help young audiences make sense of our sometimes-conflicted world.

"The festival cements its reputation for pushing the boundaries of what is expected of children’s theatre and dance, exploring important themes like mental health, war, identity and gender,all in joyful, visual and accessible ways.”

The show Murmur will be part of this year's Edinburgh International Children’s Festival. Picture: Geert RoelsThe show Murmur will be part of this year's Edinburgh International Children’s Festival. Picture: Geert Roels
The show Murmur will be part of this year's Edinburgh International Children’s Festival. Picture: Geert Roels

Lavery said: "It felt important to write a play for young people which offered hope. We’re living in such tumultuous times that can leave us all, and especially young people, with a sense that we have no agency to inspire and create change.

“I wanted to celebrate those young people who, within their local communities, schools, families and friendship groups, are working to make their world a better and fairer place for us all.”

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