Polyglot is gearing up for a busy second half of the year performing in five languages and in four countries, living up to its name which comes from the Latin for "many-tongued" From Shanghai, to California, Seoul and Okinawa, Australia's Polyglot Theatre continues to take its renowned interactive and experiential theatre for children aged up to 12 to the world.
The first stop on the itinerary is the Chinese-language production of Muckheap (La Ji Da Bian Shen), which will be performed at the Shanghai International Children's Theatre Festival on 13 and 14 August at the Malan Flower Theatre, Shanghai. This production will be performed by Polyglot's local Chinese cast. In 2009 Polyglot's production of Check Out! won the award for Best Production in the festival.
Muckheap will then tour to America, where the English-language premiere of this brand new 10th Anniversary production will open at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County, California, USA. The season will take place from 6 October to 9 October in the Sumueli Theater.
Also being performed at the Segerstrom Center will be We Built This City from 1 October to 6 October. This is the third time We Built This City has performed in America following 2009's breakthrough performance at the Kennedy Center and 2010's performance at the International Performing Arts For Youth Showcase in Pittsburgh.
The season concludes with We Built This City in Seoul, Korea, where it will be performed on 12 and 13 October at The National Theatre of Korea, as part of the Performing Arts Market in Seoul (PAMS). This is a major Showcase performance, and We Built This CIty is the first Australian production to ever be selected to showcase at PAMS.
We Built This City has just finished a successful season in Taipei for the Taiwan International Children's Festival, and in Japan for the Kujimuna Festa Okinawa International Children's Festival. Tickets for both performances sold out within one hour, and the performances have been an enormous success.
Muckheap will be made into an Auslan (Australian sign language) version later this year, which will tour into Deaf schools in 2012.
Polyglot continues to be Australia's busiest children's theatre company, delivering 157 performances of seven works, creating two new works, and reaching a total of 105,872 people in seven countries last year.
International tour details:
Muckheap (La Ji Da Bian Shen) - Malan Flower Theatre - Shanghai International Children's Theatre Festival - 13
- 14 August
Muckheap - Sumueli Theater - Segerstrom Center for the Arts Orange County California, USA - 6 - 9 October
We Built This City - Segerstrom Center for the Arts Orange County California, USA - 1 - 6 October
We Built This City - National Theatre of Korea - Performing Arts Market in Seoul- 12 - 13 October
