The Artground’s inaugural 100 and 100 More Festival for Young Audiences brings together the best of children’s productions from all over the world, as a culmination of the centre’s artist incubation and partnership efforts over the past year. Through the festival, The Artground hopes to provide kids activities for children aged 0 – 12 years with 100 and 100 more ways of allowing their curiosity to take root in artistic expressions, to make connections between the abstract and the physical, and ultimately, to achieve the centre’s vision to let art do, what art does.

This biennial festival is envisioned to be a key platform to present original new works for young audiences in Singapore and in the region, as well as encourage the exchange of ideas between local practitioners and their international counterparts. Highlights include Into the Blue Forest – a local festival commission, Especially On Birthdays – a co-creation with Australia, as well as other prolific works and artists from Denmark, Scotland, Indonesia and Japan. With a total of nearly 70 ticketed and non-ticketed programmes, there will be something for everyone.

Audiences can also enjoy a range of non-ticketed visual arts exhibitions and workshops by local and overseas artists. Rolling @ TAG by Daiya Aida (Japan) is an interactive play area encouraging spontaneous play and will be the first to launch on 18 April as a lead-up to the festival. A pop-up Cardboard Art exhibition by local inclusive arts movement Superhero Me will open the festival on 25 May 2018.

PERFORMANCES

Into the Blue Forest

By Jeffrey Tan (Singapore)
Recommended Age: 4 – 8 years
Date: 25 – 27 May 2018 (Fri – Sun)
Time: 10.30am & 3pm
Duration: 45 minutes
Venue: Goodman Arts Centre, The Artground (White Box)
Price: $22 (Early bird and bundle discounts available here)

Imagine, a green tree trying to stand out in a busy green forest. Who will the tree meet? Can the animals help? Will the green tree ever achieve the dream of being in a blue forest? A new intergenerational performance for children inspired by the drawings by Dario Moretti and original story by Jeffrey Tan, this immersive performance is best for children 4 to 8 years old. Children will be invited to participate and play the different characters through interactive storytelling, and along the way, learn about friendship and how we can all lend a helping hand to one another.

Especially on Birthdays

By The PaperBoats & The Artground (Australia & Singapore)
Recommended Age: 3 – 8 years
Date: 1 – 3 June 2018 (Fri – Sun)
Time: 1pm & 4pm (Fri), 10am, 1pm & 3pm (Sat & Sun)
Duration: 40 minutes
Venue: Goodman Arts Centre, Black Box
Price: $25 (Early bird and bundle discounts available here)

“Especially on Birthdays” is an intimate visual-theatre experience for 4 – 8 year olds that shares the ups, downs and roundabouts of being a twin, especially on that most anticipated day of the year. Part performance, part game, part celebration, “Especially on Birthdays” engages children in deeply human stories of friendship, play, giving, receiving, sharing, forgiving and understanding.

PUNO (Letters To The Sky)

By Papermoon Puppet Theatre (Indonesia)
Recommended Age: 5 years & up
Date: 29 & 30 May 2018 (Tue & Wed)
Time: 11am & 2pm
Duration: 50 minutes
Venue: Goodman Arts Centre, The Artground (White Box)
Price: $25 (Early bird and bundle discounts available here)

Tala is a little girl trying to cope with the departure of her beloved father, Puno. As a young girl who has lost her father, she feels anger and sadness at the thought of being neglected by her loved one. She writes about her feelings towards her father, sealing the letter in an envelope that is never sent… Until, she finds out that the souls of your loved ones remain around for 40 days after their death. Now, Tala has the chance to live alongside her father Puno for 40 more days. Will Tala share with Puno the contents of her letter? How will she say goodbye to him at the end of 40 days? As part of the show, children will be encouraged to write and send their own “letters to the sky”.

Hans Christian, you must be an angel 

By Teatret Gruppe 38 (Denmark)
Recommended Age: 9 years & up
Date: 25 – 27 May 2018 (Fri – Sun)
Time: 11am & 2pm
Duration: 50 min
Venue: Goodman Arts Centre, Black Box
Price: $28 (Early bird and bundle discounts available here)

It is necessary for a human being to be seen as well as seen through and being loved in spite of everything. Hans Christian Andersen saw that. A long table is set for a birthday party and 2 waiters are on the job of their life: To wait on a table of fantastic personalities – each with his own peculiar whims and needs, created by Andersen himself. The rest of us, who have been invited without a seat at the table, walk in single file around it. We sniff the vacuum jug, which smells of love and we look at the magical little things at every setting that tell which fairytale sits here.

Songs From Above

By Teater Refleksion & Teater My (Denmark)
Recommended Age: 2 – 4 years
Date: 28 – 30 May 2018 (Mon – Wed)
Time: 10am, 12pm & 4pm
Duration: 40 minutes
Venue: Goodman Arts Centre, Black Box
Price: $25 (Early bird and bundle discounts available here)

Small musical and image-rich stories form the framework of a flow of intense and lyrical moments. “Songs from Above” is a theatre performance about being little, in a perfectly remarkable world. A white and open tent structure encloses the audience gently and in a bright universe of stars, stories are told with the joy of recognition and the wonder of memory.

Snigel & Friends

By Caroline Bowditch (Scotland)
Recommended Age: 0 – 12 months, pre-walking babies
Date: 1 – 3 June 2018 (Fri – Sun)
Time: 1pm & 3.30pm (Fri), 10.30am, 1pm & 3.30pm (Sat & Sun)
Duration: 40 minutes
Venue: Goodman Arts Centre, The Artground (White Box)
Price: $22 (Early bird and bundle discounts available here)

Join Snigel, the inquisitive snail, in their cozy home underneath the leafy canopy; a colourful and sensory world where Snigel’s insect friends come to visit. They dance, play, sing and make music in the undergrowth while uncovering secret treasures. An inviting new work for children aged 0 – 12 months and their adult.