A ten-day festival aimed squarely at youngsters arrives in Brighton

Following pilot events at last year’s Brighton Fringe, producer Emily Coleman has curated a full ten-day festival aimed squarely at youngsters who want to discover something new.

“It’s all about commissioning new artists to make stuff which is really interactive and takes place in different parts of the city,” says Coleman. “We felt there was a gap there. It’s not just about taking children to see a show, it’s about doing stuff with them as a family and hanging out together.”

Below Coleman introduces the full programme and The Guide speaks to non zero one – the group behind world premiere Ground Control.

• MAP OF WISHES
  City libraries from Saturday, April 12, Jubilee Square from Good Friday, free

From tomorrow libraries in Whitehawk, Moulsecoomb, Hangleton, Hove and Brighton’s central Jubilee Library will be asking youngsters what they want from their city.

The results will be pieced together on a giant carpet map by Slovenian artists ProstoRoz from Good Friday.

“All the wishes will be represented by helium balloons,” says Coleman. “The map will be split into 14 detailed local areas and will fill a big proportion of Jubilee Square.”

Over the Easter weekend passers-by will be able to add their own wishes to the map, as well as see some of the aspirations already made.

• THE SWING NINJAS
  Komedia, Saturday, April 12, 2pm, £7 adults/£6 children

Already firm favourites at Komedia’s monthly family event Sundae Club, The Swing Ninjas will play a live music show aimed at the under-sixes.

“They are so much fun,” says Coleman. “It’s good to see proper live music as an alternative to pop music.”

• THE DOWNING STREET YEARS
  Komedia, Sunday, April 13, 2pm, £7 adults/£6 children

Noise-punk duo The Downing Street Years offer children aged seven to 11 a live gig experience.

The show, which features support from No Middle Name, has been programmed by Brighton promoters Melting Vinyl.

“They’re quite gritty and full-on, a bit like The White Stripes,” says Coleman. “We were looking for music that was appropriate for children but not pop stars like The Wiggles or an X Factor-style concert. It’s the other side of the music scene which Brighton is really known for."

• MR WATT, GRUMPY MAN OF METAL
  Komedia, Monday, April 14, and Tuesday, April 15, 10am and 2pm five to seven years, 11.30am and 3.30pm eight to 11 years, £7 adult, £6 children

Artist and writer Jon Mills brings his metal creation Mr Watt to Komedia in a combination of storytelling, animation and live art.

Mr Watt is the star of a series of e-books created by Mills.

“Jon does a lot of work in schools,” says Coleman. “His four e-books about Mr Watt follow his slightly disastrous adventures.

“At the workshops children will be able to make something, read the books, watch the animations and see a series of figures that he used to make the books.”

• BUSTER KEATON TRIPLE BILL
  Duke’s@Komedia, Gardner Street, Brighton, Wednesday, April 16, 2pm, £7 adults/£6 children

A screening of three Buster Keaton classics – Sherlock Junior, The Goat and Cops – with live piano accompaniment from Stephen Horne.

“When we did a Sundae Club at Komedia about light and dark, we showed some black and white films and the kids really loved them,” says Coleman. “We are encouraging people to dress up in 1920s clothes for the screening.”

• BRILLIANT: THE FILM
  Your house, Thursday, April 17, and Friday, April 18, 7pm, £5

There's no need to head to the theatre for this bedtime show aimed at three to five year-olds.

Created by Fevered Sleep, based at London’s Young Vic theatre, the 25-minute movie Brilliant is designed to be watched together online either in bed or on the sofa.

“It’s about going to bed and games kids play when they go to sleep,” says Coleman. “They have made their original show into a film which is going to be broadcast into people’s homes.

“Kids are so used to technology – most two-year-olds know how to operate a smartphone and recognise the YouTube logo. Art hasn’t quite managed to keep up, but technology can take art to lots of different places. I’m sure the film will be stunning.”

• GROUND CONTROL
  Komedia, Friday, April 18, and Saturday, April 19, 11am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm and 4pm, £7

No adults are allowed into the world premiere of non zero one’s first children’s show aimed at eight to 11-year-olds.

Forty youngsters will be communicating with a computer called Futuretron to colonise a new planet and make decisions about everything from the planet’s national anthem to its social policy.

“With 40 kids it will be interesting to see if anything like Lord Of The Flies happens,” laughs artist Cat Harrison, co-founder of non zero one. “We have tested the show with ten children so far. Hopefully the story and set-up will help them feel like they have a voice.”

Choice has been at the heart of non zero one’s work ever since creating their first show, Would Like To Meet.

“Would Like To Meet was originally about six pre-recorded audio journeys so people didn’t have a choice in what they were doing,” says Harrison. “It felt really uncomfortable for us. Ever since we have tried to explore different ways of giving people a lot more choice in our work.”

In 2009 they created Hold Hands/Lock Horns, which asked participants to choose between a series of two options – such as whether they would prefer the power of flight or an invisibility cloak – and investigated why the audience made these decisions.

But it was the show The Time Out that non zero one started working on with teenage audiences. In the show the audience were a professional team of waterpolo players about to play an important match.

“We were invited to do it with a GCSE group and really enjoyed working with them,” says Harrison. “We were interested in how a younger audience would take to this kind of work and got chatting to Emily Coleman, who is passionate about theatre for young people.

“The idea of digital interactive work for children really struck a nerve with us.”

Each of the eight groups taking part in Ground Control will create their own world, deciding on the name of the planet and what they should build first.

“We want them to compare their planet to our own,” says Harrison. “We want to hear the concerns and opinions they have at that age.

“We have a mixture of fun activities to get them into the set-up and some bits to get them thinking seriously about what is most important for a new space – from hospitals and universities to completely made-up places. It’s interesting to hear the reasons why they want these things.

“With the open nature of our digital world, I think quite serious adult concerns are apparent to kids as well – such as climate change and the things going on around the world.

“This piece is about showing how decisions are made, so young people can hopefully gain a bit of confidence in making choices and feel more secure about things that are important to us.”

Hijack Children's Festival runs from Saturday, April 12, to Monday, April 21. For more information visit hijackhq.com