Meal One - New Wolsey Theatre

Meal One

Performed on Thu 24 Feb


'Meal One' Trailer

The image shows an illustration of a mum giving her son a piggy back in a bedroom. Branches of a plum tree swirl above them inside the room and their dog jumps up at the bed. They are both smiling.

Produced by 509 Arts with Hull Truck Theatre, supported by Mind the Gap, Funded by Arts Council England

MEAL ONE

Helbert and his mother like doing a lot of things together but their experiment with a plum stone gets out of hand!

A boy is asleep in his bed. Suddenly he sits up in surprise and shouts:
“Who put a plum in my mouth?”
“Me, me, me!” shouts Mum.
And that is how it begins.

Meal One is an immersive and playful family show featuring Helbert, his Mum, a dog and a cat. One day they plant a plum stone in the bedroom floor. By morning, a huge tree has grown and turned the bedroom into the best tree-house-playground ever. But when they go downstairs for Meal One, the kitchen is full of tree roots busily munching through anything they can find!

Based on a 1970s children’s book by Ivor Cutler and Helen Oxenbury, Meal One is a journey of discovery filled with breath-taking projections, music and singing, dance and fun.

For ages 5+ and equivalent learning age.

Meal One, ©1971 The Estate of Ivor Cutler.

Meal One has been developed as an accessible show. It features amplified music and colourful projections and includes mild jeopardy (reference to scratches and blood).

Ear defenders are available with the show, for children who are unused to amplified sound.

The production features repetitive songs and incorporates captions. An audio described guide to the production will be available ahead of the performance and other online resources will include a specially commissioned reading of the original picture book by Cbeebies actor, Chris Hannon.

A number of devices (iPads) will tour with the production, for those families who don't have access to mobile devices, to access the pre-show augmented reality content.

Children of all ages with learning and physical disabilities are welcome and the team behind the show have adopted the principles of relaxed performances in their approach to making the work.


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