BLACK SHEEP

Black Sheep is a performance from Italy that deals with an important theme. The play is for children, and the target group is 5 years and up. The play is about being different and fitting in. There are two actors in the play. One actor plays a white sheep, and the other plays a black sheep. They try to understand each other, and communicate with each other, but it is difficult since they are quite different.

Although the play has a deeper meaning, and a theme that requires some thought, there is humor mixed in. The humor and comedy came out with the help of clear movements, strong facial expressions and appropriate music. They use all these elements to get across what they're feeling and what's happening. They manage this in a very nice way. There is also no talking in the play, but the children usually understood what was happening on stage.

To convey the message that it's okay to be different, they have small toy figures of different animals. They had a lot of white sheep, which were in a flock. This could represent how you have to be and behave the same way to be accepted. Later, they bring out a sheep that is white and black. This one is not accepted by the sheep flock, but it starts its own flock, with many other different animals.

We asked the actor, who played the black sheep, a question. It was what he wanted the children to think about after they saw the play. He answered that he wanted the children to think about how all these play animals lived together, and how they accepted each other. He wanted the children to do the same, with each other.

"The play was very funny for the children, who were watching. They laughed a lot, but we think that was the only thing they got out of it too. Humor. At the end of the play, it was just barely possible to see all the toy animals together. So we think it was a bit unclear for the children to get the message. It's quite relevant, since you have to behave like a flock of sheep to fit in, we think.