Victoria Makes The News
   Program has kids say ‘Hooray for Bugs’ by Laurie Perini, The Phoenixville News, August 22, 2007
They participated in an interactive play called “Hooray for Bugs” that was hosted by Victoria O’Neill and was part of the Colonial Theatre’s Children’s Summer Series. The show, designed for a small audience so all children could participate, sold out 120 tickets. The show was put on for children ages 2 to 6. “We’re going to try to make it rain together,” O’Neill told the children at the beginning of the play. She then explained all the different bugs they could be, including fire ants who had firefighter hats, butterflies with wings, stink bugs that sprayed water, and fireflies who held flashlights. There were also drums and tambourines for children who wanted to make music. Each child was allowed to decide which creature they wanted to be and got to put on the handmade costumes. They then took the stage in groups and attempted to make it rain by stomping, dancing, or shining lights. In the end, when all the children were on stage, they were able to make it “rain.” “See what happened when everyone worked together? We made it rain!” exclaimed O’Neill. O’Neill also hosted “Mermaid Tales,” targeted at an older audience, at the Colonial Theatre earlier in the summer. She mostly goes to different schools to perform with the students where they act and then also create their own crafts. “I try to have stories that have meaning,” said O’Neill. She said she created stories that dealt with virtues and taught children a lesson. “I love to work with kids. They really are fantastic,” she said. She was an art teacher, and still teaches art at a summer camp. Kirsten Van Vlandren, assistant director at Colonial Theatre said that the theatre got the idea for their children’s summer series from the success of the library children’s summer series. “There’s obviously a need here,” said Van Vlandren, explaining that the series is geared towards families whose children may not be ready for summer camps or who have an off-week from camps. “We’ve been getting larger audiences than we hoped for,” she said. “Hers (O’Neill’s play) is great because it’s interactive,” she, explaining that this is why ticket sales were limited. Fran Crotty, from Paoli, met up with two friends and they brought their three children to the show. “I thought the costumes and props were very creative,” she said. “The excitement builds as you wait for your child to go up (on stage). It’s great to have an interactive show. Even the children in the audience have something to do like play drums.” |
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From Section 2 of the Sandpaper Aug. 9, 2006 Firefly Gallery Presents “Mermaid Tales” In two weeks, professional artist Victoria O’Neill of Philadelphia will make her debut appearance on Long Beach Island to deliver an interactive, theatrical puppet show of her own design at the Firefly Gallery in Surf City. “I’m excited about coming down there because I have always wanted to come work in New Jersey.” She will get the chance she has been waiting for not once but thrice: on Tuesday, Aug. 22 and Thursday Aug. 24 at 10:00 a.m. and Friday, Aug. 25 at 7:00 when she presents “Mermaid Tales” Admission is $8 at the door, but space is limited to 40 participants per show. To reserve a part in the fun contact the gallery at 361-7700. O’Neill explains the premise of her act: “Instead of people just sitting and watching a show, they come in, and I have all these beautiful handmade puppets and props and costumes. And what I do is, I tell them, “We’re going to tell a story together, and everyone’s going to be in it!”. Then every audience member chooses his or her own role and corresponding get-up. They can be giant, medium sized, or baby sharks, they can wear mermaid tails, tied like aprons and made of fabrics from around the world, with beaded necklaces and hold baby mermaid dolls, they can be seahorses, they can command fish puppets, they can be an octopus, a starfish, etc., or even the most exotic creatures of all - humans. The volunteers to play the parts of the humans read a “very simple, really funny, easy to understand script and they kind of guide the story along with their dialogue. “I have things for all different ages and abilities so that, you know, somebody who can’t do this can do that.” she said “Then I also have tons of drums and percussion instruments which is the whole band section and they all wear pirate hats.” Because everyone in the audience can participate in the performance, the same basic story unfolds each time - a story of virtue, a story of generosity overcoming greed for example - but with slight modifications based on the given “cast”. What keeps the show fresh and makes it fun for O’Neill is, she said, is how it takes on a dramatically different form each time it is performed, and the overall dynamic changes depending upon the people at each show. |
“For instance, she said “ sometimes maybe only five people want to be a mermaid and everyone’s a shark, and I have no fish and only one drummer.”
The really sweet thing that sometimes happens, she said, is a child who lacks confidence or who is a struggling reader is met with a loving supporting audience of their parents and newfound friends. The show not only exposes young children to the performing arts at a very young age but also makes a more lasting impression by drawing them right into the center of the action. It also gives more introverted kids the opportunity to open up in a setting that is comfortable for them. “And there is no stage involved, so everybody’s on the same wavelength, pardon the pun -but nobody feels like everybody is looking at them,” she said “Everybody’s looking at everybody!” A performance typically lasts 45 to 60 minutes, followed by about 30 minutes of puppet making for everyone. O’Neill provides the patterns, and the participants color and cut out the designs, join them together, attach them to sticks, and the result is a cute mer-creature with a tail that moves back and forth. The most appropriate age group is 4 and up, she said, but older kids, parents and grandparents are welcome to come and take part. “It’s really playful”, she said “There’s really no place for people to play outside their own living rooms. And just to play, and just be silly - it’s ridiculous!” O’Neill estimated that she has performed the show 100-200 times since she first dreamed it up and began doing it in 2003, in her parent’s community in Cape Cod. “Mermaid Tales” grew out of her experience in conducting multi-generational art activities at local libraries - “creative ways of bringing people together who normally might not function well together.” Little by little, she developed these ideas related to mermaids and undersea adventures. Then she rented a space in Cape Cod in the summers to hold the events, and eventually began to work in her own part of the country, the Greater Philadelphia area, where she maintains a consistent following and demand for her shows. O’Neill is a professional painter, illustrator, writer and multimedia artist. Examples of her work and information about her ongoing projects can be found on her website www.ArtyPantz.com -Victoria Ford |
Fish Scales And "Mermaid Tales"
From Section Two of the Sandpaper August 30, 2006
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