Preview: Noisy Holiday, Wardrobe Theatre

Towards the end of the long summer hols Kid Carpet, Bristol-based maker of nonsense music and rock’n’roll theatre shows, and his Noisy Animals present a brand new adventure for ages 3-8 and their families, replete with music, mischief and silliness.

And it’s August, so… the troupe are going on holiday. After a long, exhausting music tour they are hoping to get away and have a nice relaxing time. But, if previous form is anything to go by, this won’t be the soothing holiday Kid Carpet was planning. We’re promised pandemonium by the pool – not to mention sand in your sandwiches, upside down Sat Navs and ants in your ice cream. The Noisy Animals are set to take over Kid Carpet’s balmy break with big beat songs, wonky donkeys, live special effects, puppetry and animation.

Kid Carpet

Noisy Holiday is the fourth instalment in the Noisy Animals’ adventures. Is this show very much in the style we’ve come to know and love from previous NA shows? “Noisy Holiday combines all the exciting tricks we’ve previously discovered with energetic music, live puppeteering, all-ages edgy silliness and audience participation,” Ed Patrick, a.k.a. Kid Carpet confirms. “This time, though, we’re also attempting to push the visual style in a new direction with crazy old-school video effects and filming underwater.”

What are Ed’s golden rules of quality, engaging children’s theatre? “I can only speak for myself here from my experiences of making theatre, as I’m pretty sure that my perfect devising process will differ from what most companies do…but I’m foremost a songwriter. I think in terms of scenarios rather than complete stories and I try to put across those ideas initially as music and then try and find the narrative links between the songs. My key requirement is that I’m confident that I’m generating songs that are either amusing or moving, and that they’ll make me proud to perform.”

What makes children’s theatre great, Ed believes, is “when it engages all ages and includes us all in discovering something magical. I’d never taken an interest previously but recently I’ve been reading Harry Potter with my kids and I’m as enthralled and excited as they are to get into the next chapter. I like to see children engaged on their own level, by great performers who understand them. If I found the golden rules to making children’s theatre I’d see them as a challenge to try and break.”

The good news is that – as hinted there with his enjoyment of the Harry Potter oeuvre – Ed likes to sew in enough material for accompanying adults too. “I make work for myself as much as for children. Our Noisy Nativity show probably had more material and jokes aimed exclusively at adults in it than it did for kids. I like to use a lot of 80s references and the childhoods that the parents in the room remember and experienced. The Noisy Animals shows are perfect for a family audience.”

And what to expect this time around? “We’re still putting final touches to scenes, so we can’t say for sure what will make the final cut – but I am very excited about the songs and can’t wait to get singing them to an audience. Also the Hall of Mirrors, some flying fish and some green-screen video magic. Come and see us at the Wardrobe at the end of the summer holidays. It’ll be ridiculous fun.”

Noisy Holiday is at the Wardrobe Theatre from Aug 29-Sept 3. For more info, visit thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/noisy-holiday

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