Ahead of Raven visiting Northern Stage in October, we went behind the curtain with writer Danielle Slade and director Stan Hodgson, to find about about children’s theatre, the art of puppetry, and what inspired the play.
What is the importance of discussing and showing mental health in children’s theatre?
Danielle: Theatre is the ideal tool to help children understand their own emotions. It’s not invasive, and children learn a huge amount through ‘play’. And ultimately that’s what theatre is – play. They can choose to see themselves in a character and empathise with a character’s journey. For example, Raven struggles with her ‘big emotions’ or ‘wild heart’ as we like to call it in the show. A child may watch the show and see certain behaviours or actions from Raven that they recognise in themselves, therefore normalising this behaviour and these emotions and ultimately showing children coping techniques and learning strategies through creative outlets such as song or dance (which can be more memorable or understandable to a young brain). We’ve had a lot of parents tell us how helpful Raven has been to their child’s wellbeing…
Stan: …One parent came over after a show of Raven we did last year at Alphabetti Theatre, and said that their child nudged them during the performance, pointed to our main character and said: “That’s me isn’t it? Do I have a Wild Heart?” and they were able to begin a conversation about it. There’s still a lot of stigma around Mental Health, and it starts at a much younger age than we realise. That’s why we wanted to create a way to talk about mental health that can celebrate young people as well as talking about those coping/learning strategies.
How does the art of puppetry contribute towards the show’s message? What is it representative of?
Stan: We have a couple of puppets in Raven (designed by the brilliant Georgia Hill). They provide a lot of comic relief and they’re beautiful to look at.
We have a Gargoyle called Artimould, who lives on top of Raven’s house and comes to life as she travels through the woods. He represents a few things in the show. Firstly, he’s a huge ‘heavy weight’ that Raven has to carry around with her as she’s on her journey. He becomes a lovely metaphor about not judging a book by its cover: even though he’s scary-looking, heavy and VERY annoying to Raven, he protects her and helps her once she learns to accept him.
We also have a Stick Insect Barbershop Quartet, who come on at different points and sing about management strategies and mindfulness – of course!
What was the inspiration behind the play?
Danielle: Since becoming a mother (now of two girls, aged five and two) I started to feel more overwhelmed and out of control of my emotions than I ever had done before. I was very aware that if I didn’t know how to regulate my own big emotions, there was no way I could expect two children to regulate and understand theirs! So I began researching the neuroscience behind regulating our nervous systems, the growing brain of a child, how different emotions such as anger, sadness and anxiety are necessary and normal and how to express these healthily. Through all of this reading, my creative brain decided I needed to put this in words that children would understand, and even simplify it for myself! Therefore I feel Raven is both a resource for children and parents alike.
Stan: I completely agree. When Danielle started building this character and this world, it suddenly started to feel like a Pixar Film – how they create magical stories that approach very big ideas. We’ve worked really hard with Dramaturg Susan Mulholland, Musician Calum Howard, and the whole cast and Creative Team, to make an immersive, magical world that this story takes place in. There’s lots of songs and humour and high stakes. I hope everyone, young and old will enjoy it.
From the moment Raven was born, her family were forced to live as Shadows, never to be seen or heard again. She has never known why, but on the eve of her tenth birthday, strange feelings begin to bubble inside her, and she follows her wild heart away from the safety she has always known.
Join Raven on a journey of bravery and discovery as she begins to understand her feelings, learns how to regulate them, and breaks out of the shadows into the beauty and freedom of her wild-hearted self.
Book your tickets for Raven, showing at Northern Stage between 26 October – 3 November.