A SHOE that turns into a boat with a flickering light, miniature seagulls circling around a lighthouse, three characters hurtling, swinging, somersaulting: for once it will be parents who'll be asking their children what's going on on stage - which will be a bit like trying to discover what their secret games are about.
Devised and performed by Barabbas theatre company, Out The Back Door is an hour-long show for seven-to 12-year-olds, which sets out to capture the energy and freewheeling fantasies of this age group, using the company's adventurous blend of mime, music, parody, puppetry and clowning.
"We are going to trip out in our imaginations," says Barabhas member Mikel Murfi, "straight into the children's subconscious - without a text, without interaction, without explaining anything or patronising them." Anyone who has seen the Barabbas productions in the Project Arts Centre over the past few years will testify to the company's physical versatility, inventiveness and boundless sense of fun.
This is their first show for children, although each of the core members - Veronica Coburn, Mikel Murfi and Raymond Keane - has worked for children in the past. This new commission from Martin Drury of The Ark has afforded them the luxury of three weeks to devise the show, before the production team at The Ark got to work and Michelle Forbes joined them as a director.
Exploration and experiment are central to what Barabbas do; the process of discovery is as important as the performance. "They're frustratingly self-sufficient," Michelle Forbes says, acknowledging that it was a bit difficult to come in at a late stage. "But what has been inspiring is the attention given to the tiniest thing and the way the most unlikely ideas become part of the performance. In terms of vision, there are simply no limits.
It has been a good year for Barabbas: in January they brought their last show,
Strokehauling, to the London International Mime Festival, and their one-minute visual gags, broadcast every evening on TnaG (called Barahbas) won an award at the Celtic Film Festival for the "most entertaining show".
They're a little nervous about the new production: "we won't know till the opening night whether we have managed to catch the spirit of the children's fantasy world," Veronica Coburn says. "The kids might say to each other: "c'mon, this is cat, let's go to Star Wars..."