On Wednesday, April 1, the Redfern Arts Center hosted a performance of “Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster” by Manual Cinema. This performance was part of the Redfern’s “Presenting Series,” which aimed to create experiences that integrate with both the campus and external community.
The Redfern Arts Center invited local elementary school classes to come and watch the show, and the performance was open to any KSC students who wished to see it.
Afterwards, the cast and crew of the show hosted a two-hour workshop for KSC students run by Co-Artistic Director and Director of Marketing for Manual Cinema Julia Miller.
The show was watched and enjoyed by children, parents and students alike. Two first-years, Quinne Richard and Su Tran, spoke on how the show went, as well as its effect on the young members of the audience.
“I really loved the puppetry work, I thought it was phenomenal,” Richard said. “Even though the show was definitely geared towards more of a younger audience, I still enjoyed watching it.”
“Everything was really well choreographed,” Tran shared. “They do everything that you do in a play, but they did it with puppets–especially the turning of the storybook pages and that kind of stuff.”
The importance of the younger audience was emphasized by both Miller and the Redferns’s Performing Arts Program Manager and Artistic Director Stephanie Bass Abrams.
“Being in the same space together, first of all, I feel like it really does build community,” Abrams said. “That’s part of our mission at the Redfern–to really build and strengthen our community, but also to reach out to the larger Keene community. To build our community through access to the arts.”
“When children love something, they’re gonna laugh, cheer and shout,” Abrams said when asked about the importance of having a shared audience of young children and older students. “They’re going to be so engaged in what you’re doing, then our students get to hear that in the moment and be part of it. That was an intentional choice to not book a separate performance just for Keene State students, so that we could have everybody here together.”
Miller also shared a similar sentiment when asked for her thoughts on how the show went.
“Manual Cinema originally did theater for only adults, but it is so incredible to provide these school shows to kids and students because a lot of the time, it’s their first experience with live theater, which is so special,” Miller said. “The show’s message is really important. It’s about empathy and it has a lot of important lessons to share, so it’s really nice to offer that. It’s not too preachy, either–it’s more speaking to the complicated emotions that being a kid entails and productive ways of dealing with those challenges.”
Those involved in the project spoke highly of their desire to inspire a young audience and introduce them to something that they may have never seen before, with the hope that it inspires some of them to develop a love of performing when they grow up.
“I really feel like it’s so important to mold kids when they are very young so that they can develop a love for stuff like this,” Abrams said. “They shouldn’t have to wait ‘till high school or college or when they’re grown to go and have those experiences, because these kids will remember this experience. Some of them may have watched this show and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so cool. I want to go home and make a puppet.’ They may end up here someday in our theatre and dance department doing what they learned.”
Michael Ardita can be contacted at
