It is almost here — RoolaBoola, the Linenhall Arts Centre’s ever-popular annual Children’s Arts Festival takes place over the October Bank Holiday weekend, from Friday October 28 to Monday October 31. As usual, this year’s RoolaBoola will be offering another great programme of theatre, music, exhibitions and workshops for young people and their families. It is booking now, and it is booking fast.
One of the highlights of this year’s RoolaBoola is the family show Conor: At the End of the Universe, an energetic sci-fi adventure told with live performance, puppets, animation, music and a whole lot of creative imagination by Collapsing Horse, a theatre company that makes comic, lo-fi, spectacular, tactile, and virtuosic work that leaves the performers really, really, sweaty at the end. In this production you will follow Conor on a mission to get to the outer edge of the Universe before he runs out of time. But how long until the end of the Universe? How much space? How much time? The result is a sensory and artistic journey through space at time-bending speeds to places that you have never seen before.
While geared to its young audience, Conor has taken its inspiration from Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time and Timothy Ferris’ Coming of Age in the Milky Way. Collapsing Horse has collaborated with animator Jody Barker-Rockett and audiovisual specialist Mick Cullinan, in conjunction with the company’s signature puppetry aesthetic, to transport the audience across vast stretches of space and time on Conor’s journey. In the company’s own words, “This piece aims, through live performance, music and design, to open up the imagination to the great big universe… and to experience our place within it.” Collapsing Horse has been described by The Irish Times as “one of the finest groups of artists to emerge in recent years”, and by The Stage as “a thrill to watch”. Here is a chance to experience the company first hand. Conor is aimed at families with children four to six years of age.
