This month, Gowrie Clare Court played host to the incredible Polyglot Theatre – a world renowned contemporary theatre company, creating innovative experiences for children and families.
After receiving a grant from the Maribyrnong City Council to host the event across five days of immersive multi-part workshops with Polyglot Theatre facilitators, the children got to explore storytelling and play through space-making in the ‘Cubbyhood Workshop’ where they built cubbies with windows that would show who and what is important to them.
In the Cubbyhood Workshop, the children explored their identity, imagination, and the things that are most important to them by drawing on black paper with paint pens that would then light up in the dark when a special light would shine on them. Cardboard boxes were made into cubbies that represented their homes, with little windows cut into them so that the children could create their own cellophane windows with how they interpret the world around them. “This is a window. This is your window. What can you see?” says Polyglot Theatre facilitator, Ashley.
Here’s what some of the children said about their windows:
“This is my garden, and there are flowers all around us, around my family. It is a lovely happy day.”
“You can’t see my mummy because she’s inside the house with me. But we can see rainbows together.”
“This is a dinosaur, because I’m good at drawing dinosaurs. There’s a real dinosaur outside too, in the park.”
The purpose of the workshop was for children to freely embrace their identity and imagination through storytelling. “Through drawing, storytelling, and play, they learn to navigate the world around them, solving problems and collaborating with others along the way,” says Educational Leader, Sarah. “They tell stories of their families, their community and their friends. In Cubbyhood, every moment is an opportunity to explore, create, share and imagine the extraordinary.” she says.
At pickup time, the children have been excited to show their families the stories that they have created, and they join in with the children by adding their own contributions to the colourful work.
This was the first time the Polyglot Theatre had been held at any Gowrie Victoria service. The Polyglot Theatre started in 1978 as a puppet theatre, and since then has grown to include a wide variety of experiences for children and families.
