Panel Talk — "Staging Play: Making Theatre for Babies, Toddlers & Grownups"

Name: Panel Talk — "Staging Play: Making Theatre for Babies, Toddlers & Grownups"
Start: 2025-12-03T17:30:00+00:00
End: 2025-12-03T19:30:00+00:00
Location: Queen Mary University of London, ArtsOne, RR2

Schedule

Wed Dec 03 2025 at 05:30 pm to 07:30 pm

UTC+00:00

Location

Queen Mary University of London, ArtsOne, RR2 | London, EN

Join us for a discussion and Q&A with three performance companies specialising in creating shows for very young audiences and their carers
About this Event

For this special Quorum event, we welcome artists from HurlyBurly Theatre (UK), Second Hand Dance (UK) and Engruna Teatre (Catalonia) to discuss their work, the joys and challenges of making performances for young children, and the relationship between theatre and play more broadly.

The panel discussion will be chaired by Professor Kiera Vaclavik, Director of the Centre for Childhood Cultures here at QMUL, and will be followed by refreshments and a Q&A with the audience.

This is a free, hybrid event, but please register your attendance to help us plan. Online attendees will receive a Zoom link shortly before the event is due to start.

About the companies

HurlyBurly Theatre (www.hurlyburlytheatre.com) create playful theatrical experiences for babies and adults with singing at their heart. They make shows where babies are free to be themselves and grown-ups have a chance to relax, bond and play. Their shows have been presented across the UK, including by Southbank Centre, Polka, Hullabaloo, The Egg, MAC, Wonder Arts, Lancashire Refugee Integration Team and Manchester Baby Week. Their most recent show You are the Sun toured to Sydney Opera House in March 2025.

HurlyBurly are currently making a new piece for 0-2s, After Party, which is a Little Wonders Commission from Theatre Hullabaloo. After Party has also been supported by an In-House Artist residency at Brighton Dome and a Time & Space Collaboration with Magic Acorns, as well as a series of residencies with 'At the Library' in Sefton, North Liverpool.

Second Hand Dance (www.secondhanddance.co.uk) produce joyful, inspirational performances and digital dance films for children and adults. They collaborate with dancers, film makers, animators, musicians and our audiences in a co-creation process that places the audience experience at its centre.

Their mission is to create beautiful, sensory dance experiences that are accessible and welcoming to all bodies. They describe their work as bold and distinctive, with a rich visual and participatory aesthetic. They use movement and play to create an expanded reality, opening new spaces for expression and feeling that forge connections across generations.

Based in England, the company's work has a growing international profile as well as local and regional impact. They have toured the globe from the UK to Europe, China, Canada, the USA and Japan.

Engruna Teatre (www.engrunateatre.com) is an artistic project led by a Catalonia-based team of creators committed to the performing arts and childhood, who believe in collective scenic creation, creating stories full of reflection and inviting the audience to a unique artistic experience. Engruna combines words, visual poetry, live music and object theatre.

With more than 19 years of experience, Engruna Teatre has produced 14 shows, adding up to more than 1700 performances. Their work has been presented in the main festivals and theatres around Catalonia and Spain. Internationally, they have performed in France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, the UK, Czech Republic, South Korea, Italy and Malta, in festivals such as Baboro in Galway or Imaginate in Edinburgh.

Engruna are presenting their show for 0–2-year-olds, Univers, at the Barbican's Pit Theatre this December (3rd–13th).