Leaping into Ourselves, A Study into the layers of engagement by early years children into Licketyspit's immersive theatre project, LicketyLeap by Stephanie Knight
Published by Glasgow Life, May 2011.
LicketyLeap was developed in response to children re-enacting our shows, acting out imaginary adventures in our workshops and sometimes literally trying to join us on stage. Licketyspit shows have a long-term impact on audiences and we hear a lot about children re-enacting and re-inventing tour shows and building them into their play at home and at school.
Ali Maclaurin, Ros Sydney, Tim Brinkhurst and Virginia Radcliffe began to experiment in nurseries with a huge cloth, a few hats and a kit of music and soundscapes, to see whether we could create a piece of theatre children could be in and make a meaningful contribution to, LicketyLeap is the result.
"For me it represents the best of all I have learned about making theatre for Early Years children. I have been watching this audience with my feet on the stage and I have been playing with them for a long time. When I first started this work in 2000, I found, to my amazement, that I could use everything I had learned over many years as an actor. It is incredibly satisfying to discover that LicketyLeap constitutes such a potent response to the call for early intervention. "
Virginia Radcliffe
Currently Licketyspit is pursuing ways of offering extensive delivery of this project across Scotland.
Lets do it again!..well do the same as we did to get up the mountain, through the bog, Oogly Boogly Lady and Fishy Lady Come on! Lets do it all over again! -3 year old, Drumchapel 2010.
(c) Licketyspit 2011
LicketyLeap was funded by Creative Scotland, Brunton Theatre, Glasgow Life and EIS for which we are very glad! Special thanks to Lesley Smith, Brunton Theatre and Maggie Singleton, Glasgow Life.
Great News!
We are delighted to announce that Licketyspit has now joined the Inspiring Scotland, Early Years Action Portfolio to deliver our immersive theatre project, LicketyLeap initially in North Edinburgh, East Lothian and Glasgow for a year from October 1st. This is a great endorsement of the company's work and we are enormously grateful to all the people who have supported the company and this wonderful project.
Licketyspit creates its work through practical artistic research with early years children. This project incapsulates all I have learned since this work started as the Wee Stories Early Years Project in 2001! It is a project that children have shown us how to create and it has been selected by Inspiring Scotland because it is an experience that has shown to have a profound effect on the children who participate in it.
We have moved into a new sunny office in our base at North Edinburgh Arts and started working with local nurseries.
"Lets do it again!...We'll do the same as we did to get up the mountain, through the bog, Oogly Boogly Lady and Fishy Lady - Come on! Let's do it all over again!" - 3 year old, LicketyLeap
Licketyspit is a child-centred theatre company, dedicated to creating meaningful theatre to engage the imaginations of early years children, to empower them and to inspire their play.
Licketyspit - firing children's imaginations!
