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Papageno’s Quest
Just So Festival 2021
‘Oh my gosh my little girl, 7, absolutely loved it and hasn’t stopped talking about it…’
In spite of the rain the campers came to watch another incarnation of Papageno’s Quest at Just So Festival last weekend.
The cast received some fantastic feedback from the families who came up to them after their shows and Clonter had this lovely email yesterday.
“Hi there, we were at Just So Festival this weekend and watched Papageno’s Quest. Oh my gosh my little girl, 7, absolutely loved it and hasn’t stopped talking about it… She loves the theatre and this was a perfect combination of theatre, audience participation, songs and a perfect introduction to opera. Thank you so much” – Laura
When Just So commissioned Clonter to adapt our production of Papageno’s Quest (devised originally for the Clonter Education Programme and then adapted for a Digital Version) for the festival, Sarah Atter (flute, keyboards and accordion) and Joe Harrison-Greaves (guitar, double bass and percussion) set about creating special music arrangements and sound effects for the show and Jessica Staton to design a mobile set to complement the Wonderland stage and the Just So vibe.
From the minute Clonter arrived the whole company felt a fantastic sense of excitement and anticipation of how our show would be received.
Clonter were so grateful to all those intrepid parents who got their children all togged up in their wet weather gear to attend our first show at 9.30am on Saturday and were really proud of our stage manager and tech wizard Steve Brookfield’s sound and visual effects which emanated from his dream catcher orb which miraculously all worked and went according to plan during the first performance giving the dialogue and music everything it needed to have maximum impact in the forest setting – with The Queen of the night’s ringing tones wafting through the trees luring more people towards the second show like the pied piper! The mics enabled all the funny ad lib moments and very funny exchanges with the audience to be heard. Baritone John Ieuan Jones (Papageno, witch and harpist), soprano Naomi Rogers (Cinderella, The Queen of the night, Papagena and Gretel) and Mezzo-soprano Charlotte Badham (Carmen, Musetta, Hansel and Prince Charming) of course stole the show in equal measure giving 100% + levels of energy and commitment, fabulous singing and brilliant acting making every show feel really special, totally engaging, no matter how soggy the costume changes or how wet their feet were. How they managed the quick costume changes with such wet clothes with such good humour one can only marvel at.
Clonter is enormously grateful and proud of all the company for making this such a memorable and rewarding experience for everyone who came to watch the show in the rain with their umbrellas. The singers were very grateful to all the enthusiastic children and adults who helped to create a fern covered performance space in front of the Wonderland Stage. Necessity is the mother of invention.
