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THE CHILD AND THE MAGIC

The Child and The Magic is a powerful tale of childhood rebellion against a world of adult expectations and its consequences. An eleven-year old boy is propelled by his own rage into an emotionally charged world of fantasy and fear, from which he can only escape by discovering his capacity for tenderness and hope. Set
in a present day home with a bricolage aesthetic that recycles images from the 1950’s onwards, the theme is relevant to growing up in any era and in any culture. It is the challenge of learning how to love and be loved. Inspired by the London 2012 Games Cultural Olympiad and Arts Council England’s ‘New Landscapes’ initiative, to commission new outdoor work West Sussex Arts Partnership is supporting the research and development period of a bold, new outdoor and tented production of Ravel’s children’s opera masterpiece. Imagined for a circus tent, set within a magical garden, using a 35 piece orchestra, professional singers, aerialists, digital animation and projection, large-scale puppets, stunning imagery, a full professional cast, a community choir and local children’s chorus, the production will visit small festivals and out of the way locations,
premiering in May 2011 at Steyning Festival.

It has been developed as a production collaboration between a number of outstanding creative partners in West Sussex, the UK and France. This Ideas Forum concludes the first period of creative conversations between a number of partners, working towards a treatment and exploring how the artforms work together, production logistics, potential co-producers and public engagement. It is the start of the journey.

To understand and illustrate its potential we have commissioned some animation and design work and rehearsed two short scenes with professional singers and a children’s chorus from St Andrew’s Primary School, Steyning. All this work will be shown by the artists and performers to illustrate how we can realise this extraordinary production, inviting questions, feedback and new alliances. We would be delighted to welcome you into our magical world to share the journey.

THE CHILD AND THE MAGIC
The Opera
L’Enfant et Les Sortileges (The Child and The Magic) is a one-act opera, set to a libretto by the French novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. It was premiered in Monte Carlo, Theatre de Monte Carlo, on March 21, 1925. The theme of the opera is childhood. It takes the audience into the fantasy world of an eleven-year old boy’s imagination as he learns to respect the living environment the hard way. It contains all the classic elements of fairytale: the inanimate springing to life, then fear and danger, which are finally dissipated by love. The boy, shut in his room by his mother, wreaks his fury on his furniture and most treasured possessions only for them, along with the plants and animals of the garden, to terrifyingly spring into life making him face the consequences of his thoughtless deeds and rage.

The score is typical Ravel, mixing elements such as ragtime, 18th-century dance, Chinese motifs and lush orchestration. The ragtime of ‘’How’s your mug’’ has a jaunty irreverence, and the anger of the animals as they turn on the child is full of jagged, passionate fury giving way to a heady languor that sets Ravel’s enchanted garden firmly in the magical hour of blossom-scented dusk.