Babies at the theatre

When the very young go to the theatre, or when the theatre comes to them, it is an event. A happy one, to be sure! But this does not go without saying.

As long as the infant does not perceive itself as a separate being from its mother, as having its own clearly defined body, then the mother’s absence can entail its own disappearance. In this case, landmarks, anything the infant is familiar with, become essential in that they provide the infant with continuity of being. The house is familiar, the nursery or pre-school teacher’s home will become so.  In familiar surroundings, the child can encounter the unknown and the unexpected without ceasing to exist. The very young even take a lot of pleasure in approaching and discovering what they don’t know, driven as they are by the desire to grow.

Telling babies that they are spectators is to think of them as a separate person in their own right. The baby is a spectator like all those around him, seated on cushions or benches around the stage. There is a theatre convention which states that you cannot cross the line of the stage, that spectators watch and actors perform. The theatre stage is a space of separation. So does allowing babies to roam around the stage not amount to barring their access to theatre, to another kind of space?

            Theatre also entails an encounter with transience. This is what sets the theatre apart from many other cultural initiatives aimed at babies. It is also what draws criticism, with regards to the very young: what are they possibly going to be able to remember from what they have heard and seen, if they have had no time in which to make it theirs, through repetition, touching or playing? What can theatre possibly bring the very young, if it is so short-lived and one-off ?

            Theatre breaks with the everyday and upsets routine. It therefore involves adapting to the unusual and unexpected. If spatial and temporal markers change, those that are tied to the people that the child invests in emotionally remain. The reassuring presence of these people provides a reference which frames the unfamiliar.

            Taking very young children to the theatre implies staying with them and being aware of their needs, encouraging them with a look, gesture or word to give free reign to the emotions which arise unexpectedly, without being submerged by them; enabling them to keep on watching the show if they want to.

            Although the smiles and laughter of the very young are a breath of fresh air to the adult who sees and hears them, tears are very often a source of anxiety and distress. How then to deal with the children’s shivers and tears? Can theatre reproduce the myth of a happy and carefree childhood? The very young will take fright and become alarmed if they are overwhelmed with excitement, if their psyche goes into overload and all markers are shattered. Feeling a reassuring presence, having a watchful adult near them helps reign in these potential overflows, and also encourages them to come up with their own solutions to deal with whatever has upset them.

            In this way, the very young are able to walk happily along the shores of a performance, taking nourishment from imaginary scenes that will help them find their way in the world. A world that is not just magical and nostalgic for a so-called paradise lost, nostalgic for the ideal of childhood. Rather, a world which allies conflicts, fear, suffering and tears with laughter and the joys of being alive.