A generous dollop of festive family theatre

Yule Be Merry is the festive offering from award-winning not-for-profit theatremakers, Brave Bold Drama, who make work for families and for people living in care homes. The show will be coming to Page Park, in Staple Hill, from 20-23 December.

Co-produced by the company and the Bean Tree Café, where the production is taking place, Yule Be Merry follows the success of the Halloween event, The Spooky Spooktacular.

The hour-long show blends theatre and an outdoor treasure trail, with a series of clues leading audience members of all ages to a secret treat.

On a break from rehearsals, Bristol 24/7 spoke to creative producer Paul Lawless to find out more:

Can you give us a little precis of Yule Be Merry? What can audiences expect?

“Yule Be Merry is a festive sketch suitable for the whole family to enjoy. Audiences meet two event planners, Noel and Holly from fictional events company ‘Yule Be Merry: carefully curated Christmas creations’. Noel and Holly are, let’s be honest, totally out of their depth.

Tasked with assembling a ‘12 Days of Christmas’-themed event to a tight deadline for a demanding boss, they encounter a host of challenges along the way including escaped poultry, delayed performers and tech glitches. Daft, quirky and uplifting, the show itself is then followed by an imaginative, Christmas-themed outdoor treasure trail for families to complete independently.”

How did the show originate?

“The show was written last year with the intention of presenting it at the Bean Tree Café & Sensory Garden for Christmas 2020; however, due a change in Covid-related restrictions, we had to postpone the event until Christmas 2021. The show concept was inspired by personal experiences. Between 2016-2018 I worked as theatrical consultant alongside an events company whose job it was to oversee the licencing of a christmas-related event throughout the UK.

During the three seasons I spent working alongside the UK team I encountered every scenario imaginable and I would often relay my experiences to our artistic director Gill Simmons, usually prefacing this with ‘you’ll never believe what happened…’ Gill then drew from my experiences and the characters of Noel and Holly were born – two Christmas event planners who were boundlessly optimistic irrespective of the set of circumstances they found themselves in.”

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What are the benefits of being outside a conventional theatre space?

“Placing theatre in community spaces means people who might not feel inclined to engage with theatre in conventional spaces are more likely to take a punt and show up. If people feel at home in a space, they will engage more confidently even with unconventional and exploratory performance styles. It is essential that a wide range of arts experiences happen in community spaces, particularly in areas where many people having challenging lives.

Bringing our work into unconventional spaces means those communities experience first hand that theatre isn’t just pantomimes or musicals presented in large regional theatres with expensive tickets.

“We both live locally in BS13, and Gill also grew up here in a working class family, meaning we have a detailed understanding of the many complex reasons why people in our local area don’t often feel able to engage with theatre and other cultural activities in more affluent areas of the city. This is why we are both a theatre and community arts company.

Alongside our work as a theatre company we create opportunities for our local community to engage with many different art-forms through a rich programme of engagement work. We are funded by Bristol City Council to programme family arts events at Hartcliffe Community Centre, and the programme there includes live theatre, music and dance from many different cultures including a steel drum band and Japanese Taiko drumming.”

Brave Bold Drama audience members – photo: Dougie Allward, StudioDuo

How has the show been going down so far in school performances?

“We’ve had an absolute blast performing the show to children of primary schools based in BS13 and had wonderful feedback from both children and teachers. We’ve performed to every age from Nursery and Reception up to Year 6 and everyone, including staff and TAs have clearly enjoyed the show. The younger children love the farcical elements, the visual clowning and the special effects, while the older children and staff enjoy seeing the characters struggle and desperately problem-solve as best they can as one thing after another goes wrong.”

Is there a common aesthetic to all Brave Bold Drama shows? How would you characterise it?

“The theatre we make is award-winning, and for all. We are best known for our family theatre, and we never forget that true family theatre needs to speak to all ages, not just the children. We carefully craft thoughtful layers into all our devised work so that all ages of audience have something to relish. No one should feel our show is not for them.

Photo: Dougie Allward, StudioDuo

“Our family shows are boldly non-didactic. They are glimpses into multifaceted worlds. Of course our shows discuss ideas, for example resilience, selfishness, absent parents and environmental activism, but these ideas emerge organically from within the world of the play and are not writ large.

We do not believe family theatre should be simplistic, saccharine or superficial. Our shows do not end with neat and tidy resolutions, but leave our family audiences with questions to discuss together afterwards. There’s no clunky moralising with us. Children deserve nuance because they are complex human beings.

“Our shows explore many different ways audiences can interact. One of our shows, The Munch Mission, takes this to the max as the show is playable so the audience actually control the plot! Our shows always include original music and sound designs written by Gill Simmons.

Many of our shows feature singing and instruments played live on stage; clowning, stylised movement, vibrant characters (multi-roled between two actors) and a broad streak of comedy are also characteristics of our shows.”

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Yule Be Merry is at Bean Tree Café, 21 Page Park, Staple Hill, Bristol, BS16 5LB on 20-23 December, at 3.30pm, 4.15pm, 5pm and 5.45pm on all days. Tickets are £7.50 and must be booked in advance through www.eventbrite.co.uk (children under two do not require a ticket).

Main photo: Dougie Allward, StudioDuo

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