Fox, Bird, River, Sing!

Excerpt

Where the land meets the salty water you stand, barefoot.  The sea laps upon your feet and in-between your toes. It’s dawn and the birds are wakening the land and as you lift your eyes, you see the sun peep over the blue horizon. It all looks mysterious today……

                                                                               Fox, Bird, River, Sing!

A new and beautiful audio theatre adventure for children titled Fox, Bird, River, Sing! has been created by artists Thomas Johnston and Orla Kelly on the occasion of Cruinniú na nÓg 2021 – a national day of creativity for children.  Fingal County Council Arts Office is delighted to announce that this innovative play for children will be aired on RTÉ Junior Radio this Saturday June 12th at 11.55am and again at 4.55pm.

This play is a whole family audio adventure that transports listeners from the sea to the singing forest on an epic, interactive, musical journey of dancing and singing, frolics with curious creatures and fantastic fun for the whole family. You decide where the venue is; the comfort of your own sitting room, garden or forest.

This special play is accompanied by a newly developed website to host the audio play and support material which includes an interaction guide especially designed for children, parents and carers to stimulate the senses. 

Following Cruinniú na nÓg, Fingal Arts will engage with special education settings in the county and provide a ‘sensory resource pack’ for teachers to engage children with special needs.

Mayor of Fingal, Cllr. David Healy said, ‘Making art is always important, but this kind of artwork allows artists to reach children and families in a new way, this work transcends age, we encourage people of all ages to tune in to RTE Jnr this Saturday or to download the audio link and travel through the rich soundscapes and healing music in this powerfully imaginative play’.

Emer O’Gorman, Director of Fingal County Council said, “Through our arts service we support artists to take risks within their art practice and to experiment with new and interesting ways of engaging with their audiences. This audio play is a new type of offering for children, and we’re delighted to present it as part of this year’s Cruinniú na nÓg Programme”.

Julie Clarke, Youth & Education Officer said, ‘We are delighted that the joyous play will be aired on RTÉ Junior Radio”, she continued, ‘both Orla and Thomas are extremely talented artists with a wealth of experience in creating work for young audiences, they really considered what children need right now and this play is a gift.’

When asked about her inspiration, artist and co-creator Orla Kelly said, ‘I listen to the radio a lot and love sounds, music, how the imagination works and how our body feels when we are prompted to invent a world. Thomas and I love stories and lots of our work uses story to scaffold or to jump into other experiences. Having been bombarded with many virtual visual offerings over the past 18 months and thinking how children without sight or without screens have been experiencing that time, there seemed to be an opening to another way to engage children and their imaginations rather than through screens and the virtual experience.

 When asked about the making of this piece artist and co-creator Thomas Johnston said, "I am constantly inspired by the wonder, beauty and mystery of the natural world across all my work and making a radio play is the perfect way to speak directly to the imagination. It’s a new type of adventure which required a new way of working, across disciplines and into new collaborative and exciting territories.’

I would invite families to be sitting comfortably and relaxed before beginning their journey. Then, open your minds and let them wander into unexpected places - you never know what you'll find!”

Turn on your imagination, tune in the radio or download the audio link from www.fingalarts.ie and travel through the world of Fox, Bird, River, Sing!

For full details of the Fingal County Council Cruinniú na nÓg programmes see: https://www.fingal.ie/cruinniu-na-nog-2021

ENDS
For further information please contact [email protected]