A 3-month visual theatre performance project, inspired by the book ‘La Mariposa’ by Francisco Jimenez’, working with Keys Meadow Primary Schools’ Year 5 & 6 Pupils.
Scarabeus worked with the pupils to explore team-building and trust, movement and staging, physical theatre and aerial skills; as well as visual art, costume and set design.
The project culminated in a performance telling the story of a young migrant who lives in a refugee camp and speaks little English; feeling different and facing isolation at school, our protagonist takes comfort in oversving a caterpillar housed in a jar near his desk that slowly transforms into a butterfly.
Working with the school, the grounds were transformed into large-scale sets; a refugee camp, a physical border crossing, a factory assembly line and the final scene of suspended aerial cocoons where a number of butterflies hatch and take flight.
Supported by using public funds from Arts Council England.
Images by Daniela Essart, video by Chloë Plumb.