March On is Esplanade’s annual Children Festival that showcases a variety of performances, workshops and exhibitions. In 2023’s festival, an interactive outdoor performance called Rattle King 2, written and directed by Danny Yeo, was featured. The show touches on noise-pollution in the contemporary society, and is performed at 6.45pm every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday over a course of 2 weeks, from 10-19 March.
Before every performance, there was a 30-minute-long pre-show workshop which is targeted towards children and families and allows them to make their own “rattle-things”. Their finished product will be included in the show, and they are encouraged to make noises as the Rattle King arrives. This workshop was organised and conducted by our very own year 3 seniors, Aileen and Razin. I volunteered and supported them as part of their front-of-house team.
Throughout the workshop, I was responsible for assisting the participants with cutting, pasting, and supplying extra materials they require to bring their imagination to life. Giving prompts that will enhance their ideas, was also part of my job. Picking up leftover materials after the workshop was a given but fortunately, many parents were kind enough to clean up after themselves, so cleaning up was not a huge hassle for me.
It was an interesting experience working with children. For instance, some kids have trouble expressing themselves to strangers so engaging them in the workshop was a challenge. I figured out the hard way that engaging the children was not impossible — it just required a lot more patience and less awkwardness on my part. To get the children comfortable with me, I must first be comfortable with them!
Most of the children were more comfortable with expressing themselves, which is honestly such a joy to work with. They had imaginative ideas and were clear about what they liked or disliked. One child wanted her rattle to look like a bunny but struggled with making the bottle look like one, so she asked me for help. I gave ideas that she could try, and it worked out beautifully.
Through this experience, I learnt the importance of people skills. Having them proves to be a huge asset in the real world. Knowing how to communicate with both children and adults alike, is a useful skill that is often overlooked. I also gained a better understanding of arts management through a front-of-house perspective—how audience engagement plays an important role in a festival.
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