In development - Plink/Boo
January - June 2017
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Catherine is currently working with her company, Can't Sit Still, on the research and development phase of a brand new show for very young audiences. The creative process will involve 2-5 year olds and their parents and carers to explore the themes of gender stereotyping in children's toys and play.
The inspiration for this idea is the feminist social media campaign Let Toys Be Toys, which calls for retailers and publishers to stop gender stereotyping children’s toys and books by labelling them as ‘for girls’ or ‘for boys’, and let children have the freedom to decide for themselves what they want to read and play with. |
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Plink/Boo furthers this campaign by not only questioning what children are playing with, but how they are playing, and their attitudes towards play. Where the campaign targets retailers and publishers, the show will be directed at children and families. It will gently interrogate some of the beliefs that even the youngest children already hold, about what is and isn’t appropriate for them, according to their perceptions of gender identity.
The show will be held by two performers and a live musician, with action created through physical theatre, movement, acrobatics, object manipulation, original music, and spontaneous, improvised play. The show will be highly participatory. The audience should feel free to react spontaneously and naturally within the performance, and any contributions will be acknowledged and brought into the space. Our audience will not be expected to understand or comply with the tacit codes of theatre-going in this country, but create their own rules, in the space with the performers. |
Can't Sit Still is extremely grateful for the support it receives for this show from the following organisations:
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If you, your family, or your setting is interested in becoming involved in the research for Plink/Boo, we'd love to hear from you. You can get in touch here.
Industriosity - PanGottic at Gravity Fields Festival, September 2016
You are cordially invited to be part of the mayhem of animating a giant Heath Robinson contraption on the streets of Grantham. Laboriously contrived and lovingly made, this is the greatest machine never to be invented in the Industrial Revolution.
Explosive, bombastic and fantastic, Industriosity brings together ingenious human creativity with traditional metalwork, carpentry and steam power. Part kinetic sculpture, part performance, Industriosity showcases the talents of Grantham College students and staff, alongside internationally acclaimed contraption designers and maverick circus innovators PanGottic.
In 2016, PanGottic were invited to Grantham to create their biggest ever Heath Robinson contraption as part of Gravity Fields festival. Working with art and engineering students and staff from Grantham college over a period of six months, Industriosity was born. Catherine co-directed this outdoor visual spectacle alongside PanGottic Artistic Director and performer Matt Pang, with a supporting cast of inventors and engineers.
