INTERVIEW | 'SUPERHERO ACADEMY: ENVIRONMENTAL ADVENTURE!' EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE

The countdown to the world's biggest arts festival Edinburgh Festival Fringe is on and arrives this month for its 75th anniversary. Between 5 - 29 August you can enjoy a diverse selection of work from across the UK in Scotland's capital city. 

Ahead of the festival, I have fantastic interviews coming up from some of the acts who will be heading there to showcase their work.

Today's interview comes from Play People Productions. They're bringing their interactive children's show about the current climate crisis, Superhero Academy: Environmental Adventure, to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August.  

So to begin with, tell us about Play People productions and what work they do? 

Play People Productions creates family and children’s theatre. We aim to create shows for all the family to enjoy! We also specialise in creating interactive engaging shows for primary-aged children with an educational message, delivered through a variety of fun and engaging performance mediums. This is what led us to create ‘Superhero Academy: Environmental Adventure!’

Superhero Academy: Environmental Adventure is an educational immersive show designed for children. What drew you to creating this work in the first place? 

Children’s imagination and creativity are enhanced through play, and it’s also where their best learning takes place. This is why the children are invited to join in as soon as they walk into the theatre; they become the stars of the show! Children are encouraged to be fully immersed in our show and join the heroes at Superhero Academy to complete the ultimate mission to- save the planet!

When creating the show, I used my years of experience as a Primary School Teacher to inform the creative decisions and how we can present the educational content to have the most impact.

"What better mission to give to the children who are going to be the future of our world!"

Your show is based on global warming and sustainable living - how did you develop this work? Where did your main influences come from? 

Global warming is a huge abstract concept that is difficult to understand even for grown-ups, so how can we expect children to understand the impact that global warming is having on our world if even us adults struggle with it? Our show is aiming to make it accessible and easy to understand through a fun, musical, visual show experience with puppets, songs and dances. It is an exciting and educational experience and children will be learning without even realising it.

Our show brings to life the impact that human actions are having on the planet. All of the information shared and ideas given are things that the children can use independently to do their part in helping the planet throughout the show and beyond.

What better mission to give to the children who are going to be the future of our world? It is vital that children are taught ways to help protect the environment around them and enjoy our world as in years to come children won’t protect what they didn’t know existed.

You have toured around the UK - what was that experience like and how have children received this piece of work? 

It’s been wonderful to share this performance with a variety of audiences and to see all of the children’s reactions to joining in the fun of our show. We teach the children a Superhero Academy chant and it’s great to hear the children singing it as they are leaving the theatres. Parents love that children can join in with all of the show and have commented on how inspired their children have been afterwards. We’ve had messages from families to tell us how their children have taken their superhero mission home and have become eco heroes!

Is there a part of the show which you feel has the biggest impact of all? 

The children always love the interactions with the puppets especially ‘Olivianna the Orangutan’ during the show she tells them about how she has nowhere to live due to deforestation. You can see the children processing this information as they listen to Olivianna’s story and they show great empathy for the character and want to help her find a new home.

There is another moment where the children are singing and dancing with Gilbert the fish and he tells them how his friends often get trapped in pieces of plastic floating in the ocean. This then inspires the children to clean up the ocean for him which they do through a bubble filled sing song!

What has been the most challenging aspect in putting this interactive show together?

Well as we mentioned we have a lot of puppets in the show and Olivianna the orangutan's demands are getting more demanding each show we do! You should see her rider!

Do you depend on the children in order for the show to flow?

The show has a set structure that interactive storytelling follows. It takes the children from cities to polar ice caps, rainforests to under the sea and along the way the puppets/characters the children meet help them to understand how the world around us is being affected by the current climate crisis. The children are able to direct the flow of the show when they are interacting with the puppets. The puppets are live-voiced for each performance which means that they too along with the performers can interact with the children. The children love chatting with the puppets/characters and asking them questions and it creates many unique moments in every show!

Why is this festival and your show important for people to see and support during August?

The Edinburgh Fringe is an incredible collection of hard work, dedication and talent-it’s a wonderful experience! Our show is important to come along and support as it will have a lasting effect on how your children view their own role in protecting our world. The activities and tasks given aim to inspire and give children ownership over the ways they can help. It’s also one of the few shows at the fringe where the children don’t have to sit down and watch for an hour and are up, running and dancing around!

What do you hope for the future with Superhero Academy: Environmental Adventure! after the fringe?

We hope to continue touring the show and sharing our Superhero message inspiring the future generations who will be left looking after our planet. So we really hope our show makes an impact on the mini superheroes who will be joining us on our mission!