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What’s On Family Five things
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Family theatre
to do with the family
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1. Fly a kite ONE you’ve made yourself at that! Wimpole Hall is holding two days of kite crafting activities on Tuesday and Wednesday next week – Mary Poppins would be proud. You’ll be able to design and make your own suitably aerodynamic kite (we’re thinking it should have lots of streamers), and then put it to the test. The sessions cost £2 per child and you can just drop-in on the day from 10am. Call (01223) 206004 for more details.
2. Play in the mud NOW you’ve got a real excuse to roll around in the mud! Wicken Fen is running two sessions devoted to gloriously sludgy, mucky mud on Friday. Chuck it about, use it as paint and indulge your inner architect by building a mud castle. (Mums and dads: it might be wise to pack a change of clothes). The workshops are running from 10.30am – 12.30pm and 2pm-4pm. Suitable for children aged 3+, don’t forget to book on (01353) 720274. Tickets cost £4.75.
3. Make a sundial ONCE upon a time people didn’t have watches and phones to tell them how close it was to dinnertime, instead they had sundials (crazy, right?). As part of Summer at the Museums, the Whipple Museum of History and Science will be explaining how to make your own sundial and use it to tell the time on Wednesday. Head over between 12.30pm and 4.30pm. Open to ages 7+, it’s completely free so just drop-in!
4. Create a butterfly EVER wanted a pet butterfly but they kept on fluttering away? The Stained Glass Museum in Ely has come up with a crafty solution – make one out of recycled materials (clever and ecofriendly: win, win). They are holding a translucent creatures workshop on Wednesday so you can cut and stick your way to a beautiful butterfly, dragonfly or any other crazy winged creature from your imagination. The workshop is on from 2pm until 4pm. All ages are welcome and best of all, it’s free! Call (01353) 660347.
5. Visit a maize maze AND go on safari! The Skylark Maize Maze and Funyard in Wimblington (near March), has a new jungle themed giant maze to race round complete with some hidden jungle animals hidden and some challenges. You can also watch pig racing, have a go on pedal-go karts, tackle an obstacle course, jump on giant inflatable slide and try out the zip wire. You can even use a water pistol to shoot at pigeon targets (prepare to get wet!). Open daily from now until Sunday, September 8, visit www.skylarkmaizemaze.co.uk for details.
Alice – An Extraordinary Adventure N
OW, where did that flamingo get to? And those pesky jam tarts? They are really quite necessary when it comes to spending a madcap evening with Alice and the crazy, colourful characters of Wonderland. The Heartbreak Theatre Company is visiting Wimpole Hall this Saturday with an outdoor production of Alice’s adventures in Wonderland – and everyone is invited. Described as “a bit trippy” by director Peter Mimmack, Alice – An Extraordinary Adventure is an amalgamation of Lewis Carroll’s two literary forays into Wonderland; Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass. “It’s quite a quirky production,” says Peter. “All the favourite characters from the two stories are in there.” The Mad Hatter and his unruly tea party, the red Queen, Humpty Dumpty and the hookah smoking caterpillar all appear alongside Alice – who’s 11th birthday party it is. “It’s set up very much as Alice’s party,” Peter explains. “So bring your picnics, bring your games, we’ve got the croquet and the cricket on the go. It’s a family party and then
suddenly it all flips round and we end up in Wonderland and it all becomes a little bit more surreal. It’s a fun, whimsical piece.” And the staging – fantastical in itself – is a big part of that. “It’s essentially a chess game, Alice ends up in Wonderland and can’t get back home unless she manages to complete this mad game of chess,” says Peter. “Each square she moves forward she encounters another character, another set of problems. There’s a bit of a journey attached to the adventure as well, so hopefully
you’ll start rooting for her by the end – she is threatened with her head being chopped off!” He adds: “It’s quite lovely, and quite a journey and it’s all written in verse as well. Lewis Carroll wrote in a lot of verse so we took that theme. When Alice is in Wonderland everything becomes poetic, it’s quite a language piece in that sense. ” However, they haven’t gone too overboard on the wordplay. “It’s one of those weird ones,” Peter muses. “Lewis Carroll’s stories aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but I think we’ve managed to find a nice balance. Because they’re so wordy, I think everyone enjoys the characters but not everyone enjoys reading the books because they can be a bit hard work if you’re not into wordplay. “We’ve kept a bit of wordplay in the mix but we’ve also made a nice journey and we’ve also got some nice songs and some lovely elements.” Audience interaction is also key to the production, (good singing voices at the ready then): “We’ll certainly end up getting the kids involved in one way or another, whether they become part of the jury or some other aspect of the show.” So why should people come
ᔡ Alice – An Extraordinary Adventure, Wimpole Hall, Saturday, July 27 from 6.30pm. Tickets cost £14 adults / £10 5-17 years / under 5s go free / family ticket £46 from 08442491895
along? “Most people are really happy by the end of the evening. They’re not quite sure why they’ve enjoyed it so much, but they always come away saying ‘oh yeah! I really enjoyed that!’ in a slightly surprised way,” Peter laughs. “It’s a perfect show for a summer’s evening, particularly somewhere like Wimpole Hall which is beautiful.” Time to don your party dress. ella.walker@ cambridge-news.co.uk