Speaker 1: Weekend Breakfast with Amy mckivor in for Sarah Jane Mcguanla
Speaker 1: King on Kay Talk. Time to go to the theater. Now,
Speaker 1: what is happening? It is, of course school holidays and
Speaker 1: so at the Artscape you can catch Blue's big play,
Speaker 1: the stage show. Now, I wasn't very familiar with Blue
Speaker 1: when the producer Amber and I were discussing this interview,
Speaker 1: but when I turned to my twelve year old daughter
Speaker 1: and said, is this something you'd like to see? She
Speaker 1: was all over it. It is apparently incredibly popular. So
Speaker 1: if you, like me, don't know about it, you probably should.
Speaker 1: The beloved Blue Healer family consists of Bluey Bingo, Mum
Speaker 1: and dad and they are teaming up with the Cape
Speaker 1: of Good Hope SBCA to support animals in need during
Speaker 1: the cold winter months. Joining us on the line, or
Speaker 1: rather by zoom because she's based in Australia to tell
Speaker 1: us more, is co director Jess Minis. Jess, thanks so
Speaker 1: much for joining us this morning or this afternoon in
Speaker 1: your case.
Speaker 2: Good luck, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1: I think it's very exciting for South African audiences that
Speaker 1: the Bluey stage show is. Yeah, they are and obviously
Speaker 1: very beloved characters. How do you bring them to life
Speaker 1: on stage through the puppetry.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we have four very beautifully crafted puppets for Mom, Dad, Blue,
Speaker 2: and Bingo, and we've got two puppeteers that perform behind
Speaker 2: each of these puppets, and we are breathing our emotion
Speaker 2: into these puppets to bring them to life. And the
Speaker 2: puppets themselves really emulate the same versions of these characters
Speaker 2: that children know and love from the iconic TV show
Speaker 2: Blue and Yeah. It's a spectacular show and I can't
Speaker 2: wait for audiences to see it.
Speaker 1: Jess, what's the biggest challenge when it comes to making
Speaker 1: these characters feel real for a live audience.
Speaker 2: Well, if I'm honest with you, I don't think a
Speaker 2: lot of it is challenging because the response we get
Speaker 2: from the audience is just so welcoming and you can
Speaker 2: just really tell that they're enjoying it. It's a lot
Speaker 2: of the kids' first time in a theater, so I
Speaker 2: think the show is very impactful and also has a
Speaker 2: little bit of adult humor in there for the adults
Speaker 2: that are accompanying the children watching this show. I don't
Speaker 2: know that there is a challenging part. I must say,
Speaker 2: I've performed the show myself, Nelli, eight hundred times, and
Speaker 2: I really do love every minute of it.
Speaker 1: Well, it's a pretty fast that you aren't here in
Speaker 1: Cape Town to perform on our stage and enjoy the
Speaker 1: beauty of our city. But we're still grateful to you
Speaker 1: for putting the show together and allowing it to come here. Jess,
Speaker 1: can you tell us about the design of the puppets.
Speaker 1: How closely do they resemble the characters?
Speaker 2: Yes, for sure, the puppets are pretty spot on, well
Speaker 2: as close as you could be to emulating a animated
Speaker 2: TV show. I suppose each puppet has three mechanisms inside
Speaker 2: its head, and we've got an eye trigger, an eyebrow trigger,
Speaker 2: and a mouth trigger, as well as rods connected to
Speaker 2: the hand and the feet of the puppets. So we've
Speaker 2: got one puppeteer that will operate the head or the
Speaker 2: trunk of the puppet, and then we've got the second
Speaker 2: puppeteer that then adds on gestures and allows the movement
Speaker 2: that's performed by the puppet to get as close as
Speaker 2: possible to the cartoon that we all know and.
Speaker 1: Love and are the performers that are controlling the puppets
Speaker 1: completely hidden or do you see the people behind the puppets.
Speaker 2: No, we haven't actually gone to any effort really to
Speaker 2: hide the puppets is because I just don't I don't
Speaker 2: think it's necessary. Anyone that sits in the audience and
Speaker 2: watches this show will know exactly what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2: But basically, the puppets is are not hidden and are
Speaker 2: very much there on stage with the puppets, but their
Speaker 2: energy is being focused into the puppet, and the puppet
Speaker 2: is during the attention of the audience. The movement that
Speaker 2: we are performing to create live action with these objects
Speaker 2: is really is really what people are there to see,
Speaker 2: and I think within the first minute of the show
Speaker 2: you forget there's people even behind these puppets.
Speaker 1: So clever jes. Do you have a favorite character in
Speaker 1: the Blue Ey play and why?
Speaker 2: I might be a little bit biased because I've played
Speaker 2: Bingo for five years now, so I think Bingo's got
Speaker 2: to be my favorite. But overall, I just love the
Speaker 2: emotional journey that all of the characters go through throughout
Speaker 2: the play, and the audience gets to come in and
Speaker 2: spend a day with the characters from the minute they
Speaker 2: wake up to the minute they go to bed, and
Speaker 2: there's lots of fun, lots of games, some dancing, some singing,
Speaker 2: and yeah, all kinds of fun ready to be had.
Speaker 2: And I think Bengo's got to be my favorite.
Speaker 1: What is your day to day job like as an
Speaker 1: assistant puppetry director, Jason, What drew you into this career?
Speaker 2: Well, initially, I actually studied a Bachelor of Creative Arts
Speaker 2: in dance, so I have a movement based background and
Speaker 2: that's kind of how I fell into puppetry. I didn't
Speaker 2: actually realize the crossover between ants and puppet cree and
Speaker 2: how similar these two skills are. I think they both
Speaker 2: compliment each other a lot. And yeah, I just think
Speaker 2: that I was kind of lucky to be in the
Speaker 2: right place at the right time to end up on
Speaker 2: this Blue Adventure. And yeah, I'm forever grateful for the
Speaker 2: experience I've had. I was able to travel Australia, I
Speaker 2: was able to travel to New Zealand, Canada, North America,
Speaker 2: and most recently South Africa. And yeah, getting in the
Speaker 2: room with the South African cast was incredible. I think
Speaker 2: they've brought something new to the show. Obviously, it is
Speaker 2: an Australian show, but just working with a local cast
Speaker 2: and local crew has really brought a new element to
Speaker 2: the show that I'm super excited for people to witness.
Speaker 1: And just last question, I know that you are your
Speaker 1: focus in particular is the puppetry, of course, but I
Speaker 1: just wonder how the collaboration with the SPCA came about.
Speaker 1: What inspired you guys to partner with them, and what
Speaker 1: are the audience encouraged to do to help?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yes, so, if I'm honest with you, I don't
Speaker 2: have a lot of connection with that side of things.
Speaker 2: My job is just to get in the room, teach
Speaker 2: the show and make make sure the show is up
Speaker 2: to part And yeah, I've done that. I've gotten into
Speaker 2: the room with the director Jacob Williams, He's incredible, and
Speaker 2: have taught the show to the local cast and made
Speaker 2: sure that everyone's happy and they're all doing the show justice.
Speaker 2: And yeah, I know that. You can find more information
Speaker 2: about that on Showtime social media and Showtime's website. If
Speaker 2: you go to Showtime dot co dot za or also
Speaker 2: at ticketmaster dot co dot za. You can purchase tickets
Speaker 2: there and read more about the.
Speaker 1: Fundraising Jasmine As We'll leave it there. Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for your time on this Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon,
Speaker 1: your time. She was joining us by zoom from Australia.
Speaker 1: She is the co director of Bluey's Big Play. It's
Speaker 1: on at the Artscape at the moment until Sunday, the
Speaker 1: sixth of July, so you've got at least another week
Speaker 1: to go and see the show. I'm sure your kids
Speaker 1: will be begging you to take them along, but that
Speaker 1: is something that you can do to enjoy the school
Speaker 1: holidays with your family.