I’m sitting in a theatre packed with excited children being taken to the moon and back in Motionhouse’s new family show Starchitects. But this is no usual performance - there are youngsters wearing ear defenders, little ones getting in and out of their seats and a relaxation area at the back of the auditorium for anyone needing a break.

This is a relaxed performance of the show at Birmingham Hippodrome and it aims to ensure audience members who might find the full theatre experience a sensory overload have an opportunity to enjoy the production in a way they are comfortable with.

Increasingly being offered by theatres and other venues, relaxed performances cater for children, and adults, who might not otherwise attend a show.

The changes are more around how the audience experiences the show than the production itself although both sound and some of the digital effects have been muted for this audience and the auditorium is not darkened.

At Birmingham Hippodrome, which has developed its relaxed performance programme over recent years, there is real attention to detail - even the hand driers in the toilets are turned off and paper towels with coloured bins provided instead.

At the beginning of the performance we are given a quick explanation of how the show will work and we practice a countdown to blast-off so that youngsters who might find the digital effects at that point too strong know the moment to cover their eyes.

Relaxed performances aim to encourage everyone to attend the theatre without compromising on the quality of the show - and there is little doubt our audience is enjoying the latest Motionhouse production.

Starchitects is particularly effective for a performance of this kind because it is high on spectacle and humour and low on dialogue - so if any audience member misses a bit they will still follow the action.

The storyline is simply, a group of five children are playing in their bedroom when their attention is drawn to outer space. Fulfilling the adage that children love nothing better than to play with a cardboard box, they construct a rocket out of boxes and fly to the moon. Here they meet some strange creatures and experience geological marvels and then return home.

In the hands of Starchitects creator Kevin Finnan there is so much more to the show than this. The performers, all adept at dance-circus are one moment flying through the air, the next turning back-flips and then shimmying up and down poles. The cast of five, Alex de la Bastide, Olly Bell, Berta Contijoch, Dylan Davies and Chris Knight, perform these incredible acrobats with apparent ease while also maintaining their childlike characters.

Simon Dormon’s sets allow the performers to disappear through gaps in the background and reappear elsewhere, carrying the surreal atmosphere of the moon into the space on stage.

The production is greatly enhanced by Barret Hodgson’s visual design and Logela Multimedia’s digital imagery which provide a panorama of amazing backdrops from rolling flows of lava and star-studded skies to stalagmite caves and collapsing walls.

The show is aimed at children aged three and above and, with it lasting just under an hour and involving some audience interaction, the youngsters around me are hooked from beginning to end. Whether attending the usual or the relaxed performance this is a show to excite the imagination and take a child into another world.

Starchitects next shows at Lichfield Garrick on Wed 5 & Thurs 6 April.

For more information on Starchitects see https://www.motionhouse.co.uk/production/starchitects/

by Diane Parkes