Join Betty, Doris and Arthur as they explore the textures, smells and tastes of their World War II allotment. You’ll be visited by a mischievous mole and will escape to a magical and relaxing forest, where you’ll encounter bees buzzing around their hives.

Made especially for young audiences described as having profound and multiple learning disabilities, this multi sensory show creates a welcoming and enchanting world with music, puppetry and lots of invitations to take part in immersive interaction.

Bamboozle are delighted to be touring this especially adapted show, which ensures that individual attention is given to every audience member. The production has been carefully designed to fully accommodate social distancing and make sure that all interactive elements are delivered in a covid safe way.

“A magical, relaxing experience” Andrea, parent

“A lovely experience to bring us together in such strange times. Safe, inclusive and such a pleasure” Sam, parent

“Ingenious, refreshing, uplifting” Kate, parent

Running time 45-55 mins

Age recommendation: We usually recommend an age range of 6 to 14 years for the show, though it has often been enjoyed by older teenagers and young adults and may be suitable for some younger audience members, we think families are best able to judge this themselves.

We are currently accepting bookings from families for the following dates – thanks to funding from Arts Council England and the Garfield Weston Foundation all places are FREE!:

Saturday 22 May 2021 – performances at Belgrave Hall, Leicester LE4 5PE, 10:30am, 12:30pm and 3 pm

Sunday 23 May 2021 – performances at Belgrave Hall, Leicester LE4 5PE, 10:30am, 12:30pm and 3 pm

Saturday 12 June 2021 – performances at Belgrave Hall, Leicester LE4 5PE, 10:30am, 12:30pm and 3 pm

Sunday 13 June – performances at Belgrave Hall, Leicester LE4 5PE, 10:30am, 12:30pm and 3 pm

CLICK HERE to register your interest.

Watch this space for announcement of further dates at the Timber Festival and other locations coming soon!

We also have a limited number of dates still available for schools performances of Down to Earth in the following areas:

• Leicestershire schools (performances at Belgrave Hall w/c 7 June 2021)
• Hertfordshire schools (performances at Lakeside School’s Forest School site, Welwyn Garden City, w/c 21 June

For more information about these weeks, please email info@bamboozletheatre.co.uk

More information

Down to Earth at Belgrave Hall – Guide and FAQs

Down to Earth Companion Pack for Teachers and Support Staff

For Families in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire

Our Front of House performances are designed to bring a burst of live music and colour to your front door!

Our performances provide a 30-minute set of acoustic and electric songs from a team of three musicians and a technician. The team arrive and set up a festival-themed performance area in either a front of back garden, or on street outside your house.

Front of House performances have been designed to ensure that our team can remain socially distanced from each other and from our audience. In order to for us to set up, we’ll need room to put up a 3m x 3m gazebo, with at least another 3m in front of the gazebo, and a meter either side for speakers.

If weather permits, families can sit outside to enjoy the performance, or remain inside the home to enjoy the music, e.g. this set up is recommended if you and your family are shielding, or if social distancing might present an issue for your children.

We encourage neighbours to listen in from a safe distance, too, whether in their own gardens or from their doorsteps. We will provide flyers that you can put through letterboxes to notify neighbours about our visit in advance.

NEXT AVAILABLE IN APRIL 2021. Dates will be released on our website and social media channels.

Our Front of House performances are available free for families on specified dates. We aim to visit as many families as we can during a day, so places for performances are extremely limited, and are dependent on our ability to travel to you on our available date.

For Schools and Residential Care settings:

Our Front of House experience is available for “one-off” bookings for schools and residential care settings.

Initially devised to be performed outside and taken directly to people’s homes, we have successfully piloted these performances for larger groups of young people in existing bubbles in a care setting and a residential school. Each performance lasts for about 30 minutes, and we are able to provide up to three performances in a day.

To enquire about booking a Front of House experience, please email: jennifer@bamboozletheatre.co.uk.

What families have said about our Front of House performances

“A special privilege of having a private concert on our front garden! My daughter laughed and danced and it felt so special to have those memories”. Andrea, parent

“I was humbled by the effort Bamboozle had gone to specifically to entertain my daughter. Our neighbours were thrilled to be invited and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was really lovely to see and be able to talk to people we hadn’t had any face to face contact with for some considerable time. It brightened up our weekend and lifted our spirits”. Iona, parent

“My daughter absolutely loved the performance, which was truly unique and something she hadn’t experienced before. She loved the fact that the performance was taking place in her garden and so she didn’t have the anxiety she would normally experience going out to a venue to see it. Tess, parent

“Amazing experience, so special just for our family. Unforgettable” Judith, parent

“It was something extremely special for my daughter as she has been shielding. It was a way of keeping her connected to the things she loves through this tricky time. Her visual difficulties mean she struggles to access things via a screen so this was perfect for her”. Joanne, parent

What you need to know

Recommended age range: flexible

Possible triggers: Loud music (volume can be altered as appropriate).

Download visual story

See an example of our flyer for neighbours

FAQs

How will you be ensuring social distancing?

• The performances have been designed to ensure that our team can remain socially distanced from each other and from our audience, this includes all of our team members travelling separately where they are from different households.
• We want you to be where you will be most comfortable and get most enjoyment from the performance, whilst being able to maintain social distancing. We will talk to you in advance so that we can understand more about the set up of your home and the outdoor space; where you would like your family to experience the performance from (e.g. from inside with the windows open, or outside in your front garden etc).
• To ensure social distancing and in compliance with the new law regards social gatherings of no more than 6 people, we ask that any neighbours who may wish to enjoy the performance do so from their own fronts doors or gardens and we ask all participating families to ensure that they do not invite participants from outside the street where this would be in breach of the new law.

Bamboozle experiences are often hands on, how will you make sure that items are not touched by lots of people?

• This performance will not involve props etc being shared with or touched by the audience. It will be designed so that our team do not have to share materials unless they can be sanitised between use. Our team will be travelling with hand sanitiser so that they can keep their hands clean throughout the day.

Is there anything you need us to do?

• We hope that the performances will draw attention and brighten people’s day, but neighbours might be surprised if they are not expecting it. We will provide you with information to share with your neighbours, explaining what is happening and explaining how they can join in if they would like, whilst maintaining social distancing and legal responsibilities around gathering.
• We ask that you do not invite participants from outside the street where this would be in breach of the new law or present any risks in respect of social distancing.
• We will need to talk to you in advance to find out more about the space we will be able to perform in and practical considerations such as where our team will be able to park their cars.

What happens if the weather is bad?

• We will be providing shelter for our team, so that they can continue to perform whilst maintaining social distancing. We will not be able to provide cover for the audience, so the experience will have to adapted so that you can experience it indoors.
• We may have to vary the performance time to fit with the weather in the case of short downpours etc. and if the weather is very bad, such that the shelter for our team is not appropriate, then we may not be able to go ahead.

I still have questions

Please contact us via info@bamboozletheatre.co.uk and we will respond either via email or with a phone call if that is more suitable.

“Amazing and beautifully paced. Actors gave students enough time to process and interact in their own ways. Very inclusive. It was beautiful to see how students enjoyed it. Thank you!”. Alex, Brookfields School

In a land where dragons are more than myths, we meet Makara – a girl who is different – a girl who has wings. Makara wants to learn how to fly.

A dragon’s egg – the first in a thousand years – is about to hatch. It is Makara’s destiny to return the young dragon to where it belongs. The mountains are calling. The mountain dragon is waiting.

About Makara and the Mountain Dragon

Makara and the Mountain Dragon is Bamboozle’s newest production designed for young audiences who might be described as having profound and multiple learning disabilities, and toured to UK schools in December 2019 and January 2020. The development of the show was supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation and Arts Council England.

About Bamboozle’s shows for disabled audiences with complex needs

Makara and the Mountain Dragon is an intimate show for just 6 children and is specifically designed for children who might be described as having profound and multiple learning disabilities, along with their family groups or teachers and support staff.

Performances are tailored to each child’s needs by a team of Bamboozle performers who are highly experienced in adapting to, and interacting with, children and young people who have a variety of complex needs.

The show is particularly suitable for children who use a wheelchair.

“The most beautiful sensory spectacle! Everything from the music, puppetry and scenery was completely captivating and spellbinding. Watching our pupils immersed in the experience and the joy in their faces was utterly magical. It met all the sensory needs of our pupils with PMLD, I only wished it could have lasted another hour!” Hannah O-Mara, Birch Wood School

“A fantastic experience for both staff and pupils! All pupils were appropriately engaged and their needs had been thought about and catered for. Some pupils who are very difficult to engage usually, chose to engage with the specialist props/musical elements. Wonderful to see how the performance was adapted dependent on needs of children with very complex needs. An emotional experience for staff – we were blown away! Thank you!” Lucy Naylor, Sunningdale School

What you need to know

The production uses a number of sensory elements, including aromas of essential oils (these are not applied directly to the skin) and the scent of Lapsang Souchong tea. The production also includes moments of loud music.

Recommended age range: 6 – 14 years

Further information and resources

Watch a short film about the show

See an example programme for the show

Listen to an example audio programme

Makara and the Mountain Dragon Companion Pack for Teachers and Support Staff