Funny, fast and fantastically messy, Muckheap is a tale of two people trying to clean out their shed for hard rubbish day. In the process they find everything that they thought was junk is too interesting, useful or too full of memories to throw away. While the 'keep' pile gets bigger and bigger, they find themselves telling the story of Jack and the Beanstalk-with a twist. In the end, all godd intentions are joyfully discarded in favour of a rich and exciting life. Junk will never look the same!
On October 18 we took Little JaJa for a short trip to Orange County to enjoy a unique children’s theater show called Muckheap. This was the second time we took her to a theater work that target solely children (the first time was when she was 3 years old). After 40 minutes of driving, just when we thought she was about to doze off into a nap, she bounced back to her usual energy level the second she set her eyes on the stage, where the two main characters were wrestling each other for a toy chicken!
The story of Muckheap is both new and old, it is a creative new twist on the well known Jack and the Beanstalk story, but the ending is a pleasant surprise for us, because the giant didn’t get stolen his treasures and Jack did not turn into a goose thief.
The tale started with two siblings trying to clean out their shed to prepare for a move. In the process, they find everything they thought was junk is too interesting, useful or too full of memories to throw away. The children among the audience couldn’t lift their eyes off stage puppeteers create characters out of junk - - newspaper foled into birds, goggles turned into a monster, and watering can flipped into a giant’s head…with hilarious slapstick, physical energy and audience participation, Muckheap delivers a double story of good intentions gone awry and the most unexpected happy ending you can imagine.
The show was a short one-hour production and the two main characters carried out all the acts. The production captured the full attention of the children in the audience, even the 3 years old were giggling along with the story. On our drive home we noticed that Little JaJa was making up new songs with her friend in the ride, and at home, she was digging up old newspaper from the recycle box to make new characters for her own story creation. We all know that creative play is critical in helping children develop their ability to think and problem solve, but how to ‘teach’ kids to play creatively is never an easy task. The Muckheap guys sure have found a fun way to inspire children with originality and imagination.
Children among the audience lined up after the show to take photos with the two 'brother' and 'sister'. We were told that alll the props were hand made by the actors themselves and they made them with paper, paint and plaster.
Future Shows in the Sergerstrom Center for the Arts Famiy Series 2011-2012
