Weekend Breakfast with Amy mckivor in for Sarah Jane Mcguanla King on Kay Talk. Time to go to the theater. Now, what is happening? It is, of course school holidays and so at the Artscape you can catch Blue's big play, the stage show. Now, I wasn't very familiar with Blue when the producer Amber and I were discussing this interview, but when I turned to my twelve year old daughter and said, is this something you'd like to see? She
was all over it. It is apparently incredibly popular. So if you, like me, don't know about it, you probably should. The beloved Blue Healer family consists of Bluey Bingo, Mum and dad and they are teaming up with the Cape of Good Hope SBCA to support animals in need during the cold winter months. Joining us on the line, or rather by zoom because she's based in Australia to tell us more, is co director Jess Minis. Jess, thanks so much for joining us this morning or this afternoon in your case.
Good luck, Thank you for having me.
I think it's very exciting for South African audiences that the Bluey stage show is. Yeah, they are and obviously very beloved characters. How do you bring them to life on stage through the puppetry.
Yeah, so we have four very beautifully crafted puppets for Mom, Dad, Blue, and Bingo, and we've got two puppeteers that perform behind each of these puppets, and we are breathing our emotion into these puppets to bring them to life. And the puppets themselves really emulate the same versions of these characters that children know and love from the iconic TV show Blue and Yeah. It's a spectacular show and I can't wait for audiences to see it.
Jess, what's the biggest challenge when it comes to making these characters feel real for a live audience.
Well, if I'm honest with you, I don't think a lot of it is challenging because the response we get from the audience is just so welcoming and you can just really tell that they're enjoying it. It's a lot of the kids' first time in a theater, so I think the show is very impactful and also has a little bit of adult humor in there for the adults that are accompanying the children watching this show. I don't
know that there is a challenging part. I must say, I've performed the show myself, Nelli, eight hundred times, and I really do love every minute of it.
Well, it's a pretty fast that you aren't here in Cape Town to perform on our stage and enjoy the beauty of our city. But we're still grateful to you for putting the show together and allowing it to come here. Jess, can you tell us about the design of the puppets. How closely do they resemble the characters?
Yes, for sure, the puppets are pretty spot on, well as close as you could be to emulating a animated TV show. I suppose each puppet has three mechanisms inside its head, and we've got an eye trigger, an eyebrow trigger, and a mouth trigger, as well as rods connected to
the hand and the feet of the puppets. So we've got one puppeteer that will operate the head or the trunk of the puppet, and then we've got the second puppeteer that then adds on gestures and allows the movement that's performed by the puppet to get as close as possible to the cartoon that we all know and.
Love and are the performers that are controlling the puppets completely hidden or do you see the people behind the puppets.
No, we haven't actually gone to any effort really to hide the puppets is because I just don't I don't think it's necessary. Anyone that sits in the audience and watches this show will know exactly what I'm talking about. But basically, the puppets is are not hidden and are very much there on stage with the puppets, but their energy is being focused into the puppet, and the puppet
is during the attention of the audience. The movement that we are performing to create live action with these objects is really is really what people are there to see, and I think within the first minute of the show you forget there's people even behind these puppets.
So clever jes. Do you have a favorite character in the Blue Ey play and why?
I might be a little bit biased because I've played Bingo for five years now, so I think Bingo's got to be my favorite. But overall, I just love the emotional journey that all of the characters go through throughout the play, and the audience gets to come in and spend a day with the characters from the minute they wake up to the minute they go to bed, and there's lots of fun, lots of games, some dancing, some singing, and yeah, all kinds of fun ready to be had.
And I think Bengo's got to be my favorite.
What is your day to day job like as an assistant puppetry director, Jason, What drew you into this career?
Well, initially, I actually studied a Bachelor of Creative Arts in dance, so I have a movement based background and that's kind of how I fell into puppetry. I didn't actually realize the crossover between ants and puppet cree and how similar these two skills are. I think they both compliment each other a lot. And yeah, I just think that I was kind of lucky to be in the right place at the right time to end up on this Blue Adventure. And yeah, I'm forever grateful for the
experience I've had. I was able to travel Australia, I was able to travel to New Zealand, Canada, North America, and most recently South Africa. And yeah, getting in the room with the South African cast was incredible. I think they've brought something new to the show. Obviously, it is an Australian show, but just working with a local cast and local crew has really brought a new element to the show that I'm super excited for people to witness.
And just last question, I know that you are your focus in particular is the puppetry, of course, but I just wonder how the collaboration with the SPCA came about. What inspired you guys to partner with them, and what are the audience encouraged to do to help?
Oh? Yes, so, if I'm honest with you, I don't have a lot of connection with that side of things. My job is just to get in the room, teach the show and make make sure the show is up to part And yeah, I've done that. I've gotten into the room with the director Jacob Williams, He's incredible, and have taught the show to the local cast and made sure that everyone's happy and they're all doing the show justice. And yeah, I know that. You can find more information
about that on Showtime social media and Showtime's website. If you go to Showtime dot co dot za or also at ticketmaster dot co dot za. You can purchase tickets there and read more about the.
Fundraising Jasmine As We'll leave it there. Thank you so much for your time on this Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, your time. She was joining us by zoom from Australia. She is the co director of Bluey's Big Play. It's on at the Artscape at the moment until Sunday, the sixth of July, so you've got at least another week to go and see the show. I'm sure your kids will be begging you to take them along, but that is something that you can do to enjoy the school holidays with your family.