I did NOT like that show!

“I did NOT like that show!” said Dorothy after we watched H2O. “Write about THAT!”

So… okay. I guess I will.

I didn’t have to ask too many questions before I understood that “I did NOT like that show” is actually just 4-year-old speak for “I’m frustrated because I wish I was in the real live audience getting splashed and surprised and playing with the water.” Ah-ha! Our first online theatre hurdle.

H2O is a very cool show. Three performers on a stage that throughout the performance becomes more and more of a pool, making various sounds and shapes and scenes out of water, buckets, glasses, sponges, ice, and steam. But Dorothy is the kind of kid where if she sees a puddle, she jumps in it. If there is a water spill on the table, she gleefully makes it worse. She touched poison ivy last summer and I roughly scrubbed her down with freezing cold dish soapy water – she loved it. So, I can absolutely appreciate why a fun show about water that she can’t reach out and touch would be a tough one.

But guess who has all kinds of new summery watery activity ideas after watching that show? This mom! So while my daughter may not have loved the experience of watching H2O online, I know for a fact she’s going to get hours and hours of joy out of the water games and experiments that will be 100% inspired by it (whether she knows it or not).

The Cozy One-Man Band is a staggering piece of puppetry/musicianship that I found incredibly compelling, but it didn’t consistently hold Dorothy’s attention the way a narrative piece does. There were so many elements she latched onto however that, again, I know it will inspire creative play later on. The Rube Goldberg-esque assembly of simple household objects – plastic cups, thimbles, an electric fan, a cheese grater – into musical instruments is a rainy day (or Lockdown 4.0) activity just waiting to happen.

I’m watching every show at the festival with my daughter. Some are going to be right up her street, and some just aren’t. She’s going to be really into stuff that surprises me, and she’s going to be bored with things I can’t take my eyes off of. But there is value for both of us in all of them and I hope everyone else watching is finding that value, too.

Christine Horne