I Am Baba

I AM BABA is a theatre adventure for babies created by internationally renowned theatre director Anna Newell (www.annanewell.ie) and composer David Goodall.  Their shows for early years have been seen on six continents, off-Broadway and in every single Sure Start in Belfast.

 

I AM BABA – a magical adventure of song, lights and textures for babies aged 0-12 months.  It’s a show about identity, agency and personhood.  For babies.

 

I AM BABA is full of gorgeous live harmony singing and playful objects – jellyfish-like scarves dance and tiny lights fly in this intimate immersive performance which happens inside a specially designed tent that holds just 6 babies – each with their adult guest.

 

I AM BABA was the International Early Childhood Arts Commission funded by the 4 Dublin Local Authorities in 2017 through Arts Council Ireland’s Invitation to Collaboration Fund. This national tour was funded by the Arts Council. 

 

I AM BABA has been touring since 2017 and has been performed more than 500 times in Ireland  and toured to Canada in 2022.

 

This 2023 tour is more than 14 weeks long, tours to 20 counties and more than 1000 babies! It is funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and is in partnership with venues across Ireland and with the National Network of Children & Young People’s Services Committees (www.cypsc.ie).  

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F.A.Q's:

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CAN I HAVE TWO ADULT TICKETS WITH MY BABY?

 Because of space restrictions, we have to limit it to one adult per baby for everyone’s safety and comfort.  However, you could bring your baby more than once with different adult guest accompanying them!  We find babies really enjoy seeing it more than once.  We are, of course, flexible so if there are special circumstances (eg a parent who needs support for whatever reason), we’re happy to look at making exceptions.  This rule is primarily about comfort (but also about safety) – the tent can get very hot and the more people, the hotter it gets!

 

HOW LONG DOES IT LAST?

 The official ‘show’ lasts 20 minutes and babies and their adults are welcome to stay for more informal free play after the show for up to another 20 minutes – some do and some don’t – it’s completely up to them!

 

DO I HAVE TO JOIN IN?

 Don’t worry, you won’t be asked to sing or clap along or even introduce yourself! – you can just relax and share the experience with your baby.

 

HOW DOES EVERYONE SIT?

 We sit in a circle inside our specially designed tent with the performers in amongst the babies and parents.  Some babies sit in their parent’s arms, some in front of their parent, some lie down – whatever’s comfortable for them.  Within safety limits, babies can move around during the show and if any baby needs a bit of time out, you’re welcome to head out of the tent and come back in when you’re both ready.  If you need to feed your baby during the show, you’re very welcome to do that.

 

We do have a couple of ‘seatbacks’ that we can put into the tent for any adult who is unable to sit unsupported.  Should there be a parent/caregiver in a wheelchair who is unable to get into the tent, we can leave the doors a little open so that they can sit in their chair in the doorway and be as close to the action as possible.

 

IS MY BABY TOO YOUNG?

Our youngest audience member was 4 days old!  We find that even the tiniest of babies react – whether that’s tracking with their eyes, moving their hands or just relaxing more.

 

MY BABY IS JUST OVER THE AGE LIMIT – IS THAT OK?

The show is very specifically designed for babies under 12 months – we’ve toured it for more than 10 weeks in total now and have found that babies over 12 months (even just 13 months) want to move around more than is possible in the tent.  We’re also found that it’s very unusual for babies under 12 months to get scared going into the tent – but once babies are 12 months old, this happens fairly regularly.  So we ask that people strictly follow the age-range – for the comfort and safety of the babies.

 

CAN I BRING ANOTHER SIBLING?

For the same reasons listed above, we would heavily discourage bringing a sibling – as with the additional adult question, it also means there are too many people in the tent!