Steel utensils
Dinner is at 8
A non-verbal play for three- to five-year-olds, made from the sound and shine of the steel that is already in every kitchen.
- 3–5 years
- 28 minutes
- 2 performers
- Non-verbal
Premiered 21 July 2016 at Ranga Shankara, Bengaluru, as part of the AHA! International Theatre Festival for Children.
The play
An ode to the everyday.
The special in the mundane. The extra in the ordinary.
Dinner is at 8 uses steel utensils as its central object of play. They work as a sensory medium through sight and sound for our very young audiences, and they let us, the makers, think through the idea of the “everyday”.
We choose to look at the everyday not just as the routine, the mundane and the ordinary, but as that which accommodates the special in the mundane, the extra in the ordinary. The everyday is how we live and what we do; yet it is also the break that stops what we do and how we live. This play is an ode to that notion.
For the adults who bring them
What to expect.
Children from 3 to 5 years. We ask that only children within the play's age band attend.
One parent or guardian with each child. You sit together on the floor, close to the playing area.
Children may move, make noise, or turn away. None of that is a problem. The play does not depend on holding their attention by force.
The children are invited into the performance area to handle the steel. We take that as their feedback on the play.
For schools and venues
Technical
The play tours light and has been performed both in a proscenium house and on the floor of an ordinary room.
| Age range | 3–5 years |
|---|---|
| Running time | 28 minutes, no interval |
| Language | Non-verbal |
| Cast | 2 performers |
| Company on the road | 5 in all: 2 performers, 1 director, 1 production manager, 1 technician |
| Audience capacity | 20–25 children, each with one accompanying adult |
| Performance space | 25 × 25 ft (7.6 × 7.6 m), on a suitable even floor. No stage required. |
| Get-in | 3–5 hours before the start of the event |
| Get-out | 1 hour after the performance |
| Lighting | A desirable lighting scenario exists; the play is flexible, from a full rig to almost none. Details on enquiry. |
In performance
Photographs and clips
Click any frame to open it. Clips open with the sound off. Turn it on once and the rest follow.
Credits
The second toddler play directed by Subhashim Goswami.
| Direction | Subhashim Goswami |
|---|---|
| Co-direction | Ashwini Kumar Chakre |
| Performed by | Ashwini Kumar Chakre and Pratyush Singh |
| Earlier cast | Samta Shikhar and Pratyush Singh |
| Production manager | Virginia Rodrigues |
| Presented by | Head Start Montessori House of Children |
| Premiered | 21 July 2016, Ranga Shankara, Bengaluru (AHA! International Theatre Festival for Children) |
I want to bring children
Performances are arranged with venues, schools and early-years settings rather than sold to the public. Tell us who the children are and where you are.
I want to present the work
Running times, cast size, staging conditions and the full technical specification for all three plays. Where fees are a barrier, we seek funding to come anyway.