When we are born, we are like a clean slate. Slowly, we begin to perceive the stimuli around us. We react to them with all our senses – hearing, sight, touch, smell. The blank page that is the child’s brain is slowly being filled in. We remember sounds, images, touch, scents. We recall the feelings that accompany us as we explore the world around us. We learn to recognise relevant external stimuli and to process them in a way that makes them useful.
To support a child’s harmonious development, from the very first moments of life we should provide them with a sense of security, and an interesting and motivating environment. All this can be found in the stories written on the pages of books. It is books that stimulate imagination, relaxing and broadening our horizons. The Little Book is a show created out of love for children and a fascination with the art of origami and kirigami.
We are greeted by a simple, ascetic set, consisting of flat, white planes. We see blank sheets of paper from which the actors create various forms and make sounds. In a book lying on a platform, they perceive colours.
Flipping through successive pages, viewers discover new worlds. It is worth mentioning that the pages are arranged according to children’s developmental stages. First, white and shadow appear. Next, black forms contrasting geometric shapes with white, and then the actors arrange the shapes familiar to children. In the next scene we see new colours being discovered – yellow, blue, and red. Abstract, three-dimensional forms appear. The hitherto white is filled with coloured light What follows is a stroll into a garden in bloom, full of colours and fragrances. Surrounded by the changing seasons, we meet its inhabitants and discover their distinct emotions. Next, we take the audience on a journey – a rain-soaked swim in the high seas. We sink into an underwater world to get to the surface and, with the help of the audience, fight the elements. This is how the show ends, framed by illustrative, imaginative, and relaxing music.
However, the end of the performance does not mean the end of the shared adventure. We find an envelope full of blank cards, hinting that it is time for the audience to create their own stories. Let’s play and discover the different ways in which paper can be used.
The Little Book is an interactive performance that explores the senses and stimulates the imagination. Created with the youngest audience in mind, it also awakens the interest of older audiences. It surprises with a variety of abstract forms and encourages interest in origami, an art of paper folding that develops imagination and manual skills.
By Elżbieta Bieda