Steps & Holes Theatre with the Australian Theatre for Young People have created a complex theatre piece for children, about children and performed by children.
The story is set in 2079 when children are created by gene selection – except for one, Jerry. His parents made the bold decision to have a child naturally – no gene selection for them. The result is the free-thinking outsider who has no personal bot. The other children each have a bot – a robot teacher, recorder and disciplinarian.
The bots want a ‘soul’ and the children want ‘freedom’ from the bots to discover their own souls. And what is a ‘soul’ they ask? Soulcraft is explored with much humour. Even Elon Musk’s great great great grandson has a view.
The twenty performers are all in years 5 to 7 from private and public schools across the city. They are in a complex theatre production that includes screen projections, torch lighting for shadowing, movable set pieces, clever costumes, smoke effects, music, sound effects, voice-overs, roller skates and skate boards.
Twenty children zipping across the stage with near perfect timing is quite a feat. These young thespians have learned not just acting techniques, but operational skills, critical pathing, occupational safety as well as patience, persistence, team building and time management. They are set up for life skills whatever field they later pursue.
There are some very funny lines, lots of action, a good story line by writer Kate Walder and enthusiastic and talented youngsters. What else could a theatre lover want? Voice projection. About half of the children’s voices were too soft. It was a struggle to hear many of the bots and some of the gene-created characters. No matter, you can generally follow the story line.
The Rebel Theatre, named for sponsor Rebel Wilson, a former ATYP student, is a beautiful space with 196 seats curved around a half circle stage.
SOUL TRADER is recommended for children aged eight and upward. Make it a family outing. It’s terrific to see the young actors. It’s a pleasure to be in the Rebel Theatre. And it’s always an adventure to wander around the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct.
There are so many talented creatives in this production, it would be difficult to pick out a few to mention. The details are at:
SOUL TRADING is on at the Rebel Theatre until September 10 2023.