Kim Donohoe – creating inspiring & ground-breaking performances for young children
Kim Donohoe is passionate about early years theatre and committed to “pushing the boundaries” of what kind of performances can inspire very young children.
As co-creator of Little Top Kim will ensure the show’s creative development is guided by the needs and interests of its target age group (0-18 months). As well as taking ideas directly into nurseries to work with babies and toddlers there, Kim draws on a decade of experience creating early years productions and arts experiences.
It was a trip to the International Children’s Festival during her third year as a student at the Royal Conservatoire Scotland that sparked Kim’s interest in early years work. Whilst studying she joined pioneering artists here at Starcatchers to work on Forgotten Forest – a beautiful, open installation space with changing landscapes where babies and their carers could play creatively together.
Over the past few years most of Kim’s work has been with and for the under fives including being an Artist Host in the gorgeous Blue Block Studio and more recently touring with Sprog Rock, an interactive music gig for little ones.
“I’ve always loved how radical children’s theatre can be and the freedom that it offers”, said Kim. “Traditional theatre is rooted in so many unspoken rules and expectations, which have built up over the years, but none of them make any sense to very young children. You can’t tell a baby to be quiet for example.
“People still ask me ‘How can babies watch and experience theatre?’ The answer is ‘In so many different ways’. We have to be absolutely focused on creating a multi-sensory experience. Narrative is often the starting point in theatre productions, but for very young children it’s just as valid to start creating from movement, colour, lights, sound, textures, and new ways for performers to engage and interact with their audience.
“We want to distill the joy of the Big Top right down into Little Top so that it’s warm, friendly and colourful but equally impressive and magical.”
Book your tickets for Little Top here