Claytime
An Indefinite Articles Production
Aimed at ages 3-6
The award-winning Indefinite Articles present their work for the very young: Claytime, a play with clay, where the audience are invited to participate.
Come to a place where the earth’s natural material meets with children’s imaginations: a world of fabulous forms, amazing animals and morphing monsters.
Each Claytime is totally unique – creating its own world, its own characters and its own stories drawn directly from its young audience. Truly, interactive theatre at its most engaging.
“..an out-of-the-ordinary theatrical experience”
– Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
“…a masterclass in clowning and visual improvisation”
– Total Theatre Magazine
Gallery
Age Guidance
Claytime is aimed at ages 3-6
This show has standard seating for our studios. There are rows with chairs and soft blocks facing the stage, and some mats on the floor at the front. There will be up to 70 people watching the show.
Yes, this is a verbally interactive show where the children tell the performers their own ideas for the story. The audience remain seated for the performance, but you can leave and re-enter at any time. At the end of the show there is a chance for the children to play with the clay themselves.
Every show is unique with the ideas coming from the children in the audience, so we can’t predict what characters will be created or what will happen in the story, but the adult performers will ensure all stories end happily.
All ages are welcome at our shows and age ranges can only be a rough guide, but please bear in mind that Claytime is not intended for under-threes, and works best for children who have developed the listening and speaking skills to be involved in the storytelling.
About the Company
Indefinite Articles was formed in 1994 by sculptor Sally Todd and puppeteer Steve Tiplady to combine their passion for transforming the everyday and mundane into something sublime. They believe that theatre that is live and lets the audience know it, is the medium’s trump card over its more technological rivals. To date they have told stories with sand, oil, chalk, glass, a few drops of ink, a lot of clay, a puppet, here and there….and a lot of shadows.
The Ethos
Claytime has developed from a philosophy of making “open” theatre shows where the audience are actively involved in the creation of the story. The idea originated from Sally Todd’s extensive work with early years children in artist’s residencies in nurseries, informed by the work of Reggio Emilia. Her work with children is child-centred, process led and focused on developing children’s ideas and imaginations.
How it works
After exploring the medium of clay through clowning, two artists ask the young audience for ideas for characters, settings and stories which are then developed immediately. Based on this input, the company then improvises a play. Each play is unique to that specific audience. The piece culminates with a short on-stage workshop where the children have their own opportunity for some hands-on clay time. At the end the children’s objects are gathered together with the name of their story made from clay, this is then photographed and the picture sent back to the school.
Claytime has toured extensively throughout the UK and Ireland – to schools, theatres and festivals – over 500 performances to date.
Credits
Directed originally in 2005 by Carey English – additional material Sally Todd, Steve Tiplady, Guy Holland and Giles Leaman
Designed by Sally Todd
Preset music by Giles Leaman
Performed by Sally Todd & Steve Tiplady
Multibuy Offer on Children’s Puppet Festival events:
(exclusions apply*)
Get 10% off when you book 2 events
Get 20% off when you book 3 or more events
How it works:
Step 2
If you add a second show or family workshop to your basket 10% discount applies to both events
Step 3
If you add a third show or family workshop to your basket 20% discount applies to all events
* Puppet Placations, other Family Workshops and Adult Workshops are excluded from this offer. Offer applies only to shows or family workshops (Ice Screams! and Ahoy There! Puppet Pirates) taking place between 1st August and 1st September only. Shows and family workshops need to be booked in the same order for the discount to apply, but if you have booked in separate orders and would like to claim the discount, please contact the box office. Please note that if you book more tickets for one show or family workshop than another, the discount only applies to the number of tickets booked on all events (e.g. if you book 3 tickets for two shows and 4 for a third show, 9 tickets are discounted 20% and the extra ticket on the one show is not discounted).
August – September 2024
Little Angel Theatre’s OFFIE award winning Children’s Puppet Festival
Jam-packed with shows and workshops for all the family and adults too!
We are delighted to announce the return of our Children’s Puppet Festival which will take place across both Little Angel venues this summer from 2 August – 1 September 2024. The vibrant programme will showcase a broad range of puppetry by the most exciting UK and international companies currently making theatre for young audiences.
There will also be plenty of opportunities for everyone to take part, with workshops for families, community events, fun days for children and courses for adults to try out the craft of puppetry.
If you cannot find an available event to suit you, you can join our waiting list for sold out events here.