Katharine Wootton The motto indelibly branded onto the 2012 Olympics to ‘inspire a generation’ sought to encourage today’s youngsters to be inspired by sport and the success, challenges and determination of the world’s athletes to grow into a healthy, engaged and united community of adults for the future. However, now Roxanna Klimaszewska from pioneering York theatre group, Six Lips Theatre, wants to preserve and extend this vital Olympic message for children through the medium of imaginative and dramatically different theatre.
Developed in partnership with Yorkshire’s Cultural Olympiad programme imove, Six Lips are presenting Keep Up! a unique promenade performance that aims to open up a magical Mad-Hatter-esque world of sport a-whirling with heady storytelling for primary school children aged 7-11. Set against the backdrop of the enchanting and curious Rowntree Park, Keep Up! offers fun and frolics for all the family that matches games, challenges, races and all things Olympic with the theatrical and creative, thrashing through oft-supposed divide between sport and the arts.
Jammed with vibrant colours, dizzyingly exciting tales and a generous heaping of good old silliness, Keep Up!, written by Six Lips’ Anna James, will see athletes, gods, animals and mythical creatures take you on an interactive journey through the five continents symbolised in the Olympic rings. Incorporating elements of film, movement, performance and art, Keep Up! will provide a truly multisensory and up-to-the-minute platform through which to encourage kids to abandon their X-boxes and switch off the TV in favour of sport, exercise and outdoor play.
Roxanna Kilmaszewska, director of Keep Up! and an Apprentice Producer for imove said of the production: “It aims to encourage children of primary school age to explore their notions of athleticism and healthy body image as part of the Olympic season.”
Keep Up! is at Rowntree Park from Thursday 30 August until Sunday 2 September at 11am, 1pm and 4pm before touring around Yorkshire. Tickets cost £4 per person an £14 for a family of four and can be purchased online here or from the Theatre Royal Box Office.
