Babor— show explores magic stories behind peopleÕs forgotten treasures

Everybody has a box somewhere filled with possessions that bring back important memories. Photos, concert tickets, match tickets – we all have our treasures. But what happens when time passes and these things become forgotten?

That’s what Losha, an unusual and magical creature created by Sligo based Monkeyshine Theatre, will explore during this year’s Baboró Arts Festival for Children.

Losha collects forgotten things and invites people to make stories about them. These items include a handkerchief, a candle, a shoe . . . things that people have cast aside, but that have fascinating tales to tell, explains Kareen Pennefather of Monkeyshine Theatre.

It’s a play that uses shadow, animation, choreography and puppets to tell the story of these objects, says Kareen, who plays Losha.Kareen and her Monkeyshine partner, James Jobson got the idea for this play when somebody asked her “where do things go when you forget them?”. It was a question that intrigued her.Monkeyshine began workshopping the idea with schoolchil

dren in Sligo, making boxes and talking about memories. Then they worked with Roscommon Youth Theatre on the same issue – Monkeyshine is currently Theatre Maker in Residence in that county in a scheme funded by the Arts Council. Kareen and James also used their own studio, getting ideas and collecting their own memories.

Along the way, thanks to Baboró, Monkeyshine was brought under the wing of one of France’s leading practitioners in children’s theatre, Charlot Lemoine of Vélo Théâtre.

In addition to running Ireland’s biggest children’s arts festival Baboró nurtures theatre groups for young people in this country. It has developed a mentoring scheme, under which young Irish groups are paired with established companies in other countries. The Artistic Director of Baboró, Lali Morris felt that Charlot Lemoine of Vélo was an ideal mentor for Monkeyshine, which was formed in Belfast in 1999 and has been based in Sligo for the past four years.

Vélo was founded by Charlot and Tania Castaing in 1981. The company creates performances based on images and using few or no words, feeling that actors can interpret objects just as they can interpret words and phrases.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.