Synopsis:

PLAYlab+ is a developmental platform targeted at budding artists or collectives interested in Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) for ages 2 to 6 years old. PLAYlab+ aims to provide opportunities for research and development in the creation of new TYA productions. Shortlisted proposals were supported through opportunities for critical feedback, an honorarium and a work-in-progress showcase.

PLAYlab+ is an offshoot of PLAYlab, which aims to provide emerging TYA artists more time, space and support in the creation of new shows for Esplanade's PLAYtime! series.

Artists were invited to consider the following questions when working on their PLAYlab+ proposal:

1.How is your work suitable for children in terms of addressing their developmental milestones between 2 to 6 years old?
2.What are your artistic approaches to creating the work?
3.What are some innovative practices that can be incorporated in your work to ensure sustainability?
4.How would this collaboration benefit all members of the team?
5.How does your work contribute to creating a safe and accessible space that is inclusive to a diverse range of children?

The artists presenting will be articulating the topics and processes that they explored in PLAYlab+. These projects were an opportunity for them to critically engage with the topics.

About the Projects
Shared Dreams
Judy Ngo will be sharing about Shared Dreams. This project was conducted through three diagnostic phases. Using excerpts from their work-in-progress showcase, they will share more about their diagnostic deductions. Music was incorporated into the exploration, using three questions:

How can music encourage movement?
What kind of sound can affect movement?
How can music affect the story?
The work-in-progress showcase was a made-to-measure approach for every set of audience member, and how it is meant to engage with education through fun and play. The movements can be repeated at home for parents and caregivers who are more enthusiastic to instill good muscle control and core strength in their children.

Breath of Dot and Line
Breath guides our thoughts, emotions, actions, and interactions with others. Essential as it is, yet invisible to the eye. How can we visualise breath during play?

In their presentation, they will be talking about the inspiration behind Breath of Dot and Line, their incubation processes and discoveries, and why they believe that the concept of breath is an important one to introduce to young audiences.

Transportation
A multi-sensory live show for an inclusive audience based on the theme of travelling through sky, land and sea. This is a creative collaboration by Jessy, Vick Low, Zee and Zip Zap Zoom Collective (Claris Tan, Elizabeth Loh and Jeremy Leong).

On behalf of Zip Zap Zoom, Vick Low and Jessy, Claris and Zee will be sharing their personal and collective thoughts about their PLAYLab+ journey. They will be sharing their motivation behind creating inclusive theatre, as well as the process of creating the work. Creating multiple sessions of multi-sensory trials for audiences with needs proved a lot riskier during this pandemic. However, they were grateful to have the support of Esplanade to assist them in creating a safe environment for the artistes, young audiences and their family members. It was a humbling journey, and during their research process they were driven further to improve their knowledge on the various considerations and aspects of creating work for an inclusive audience. They were heartened to know that several organisations such as Esplanade, The Artground, Super Hero Me, Maya Dance Theatre have already began making such works and they are inspired to keep learning and creating works for everyone, as they believe that the arts is one of the ways to bring people together.

Timmy's Favourite Word
Timmy's Favourite Word is a digital performance created for both children with autism and neurotypical children, aged 4 to 6 years old. The story takes place in Imagination Station where trains come in all shapes and sizes. Timmy is a train conductor and he will guide audience members on their first day of train conductor training.

Knotti Collective's presentation will be on creating sensorial and autism-friendly performances for the digital landscape. We will talk about the difficulties we faced in adapting our original idea and the many ideas we found in trying to bring Imagination Station into the living rooms of our audiences. We will be specifically discussing about script adaptions, using the camera as a character and interactive toolkits.

The session will be followed by a Q&A session moderated by Kenneth Kwok.