The world premiere of Mount Gambier-based theatre project ‘Seven Little Wonders’ will be showcased at Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre this Saturday at 6pm.
Seven Little Wonders was a project created by The PaperBoats and Country Arts SA and was two years in the making.
There will be 15 performances held across two weeks until March 18 with the first starting today.
More than 1500 children from South East schools and kindergartens will attend the performances which tell the story of StarMan Sam, played by local actor Gavin Clarke.
StarMan Sam finds himself on Earth and shares the powers of music and colour. Six children from the audience will become characters in the show and help him on his quest to return home.
The performance came together under the stewardship of The PaperBoats artistic director Dave Brown and production manager Bob Weatherly. Local theatre technician Fay Cakebread provided invaluable technical support.
The team worked with local professional actors and theatre-makers including Mr Clarke, who also composed the music for the performance and Sarah Brokensha.
“It has been a really joyous journey,” Mr Brown said.
“It is fabulous to be at this end of the process, but I must say the process itself was satisfying.”
The title of the performance was inspired by Sir Isaac Newton’s 17th Century discovery that white light could be split into seven colours of the rainbow using a prism.
This coincided with his observation there were seven notes in the musical scale which led him to suggest colour and music may be connected.
“Even though we now know that this is not scientifically true, we loved the idea that music and colour belong to each other, so that when they play together in human company they cause us to dance, connect and find joy through art and creation,” Mr Brown said.
The interactive performance will engage children with an array of colour, light and music, with visual surprise and melodic beauty.
“Our job, our task, our challenge is to ensure every moment of that 45 minutes they spend in the theatre is an engaging one,” Mr Brown said.
