POLKA THEATRE HAS FUN FOR ALL THE FAMILY THIS MAY HALF TERM

MAY HALF TERM 2025 AT POLKA THEATRE BRINGS FUN FOR ALL THE FAMILY WITH SHOWS AND WORKSHOPS FOR ALL AGES

LET’S BUILD! – AN INTERACTIVE BUILDING EXPERIENCE IN THE ADVENTURE THEATRE 10TH MAY - 29TH JUNE PLUS, A RANGE OF THEMED WORKSHOPS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

THE VANISHING FOREST – ENGLISH TOURING OPERA’S CONTINUATION OF ‘A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM’ IN THE MAIN THEATRE FROM 24TH MAY - 1ST JUNE

Artistic Director Helen Matravers, Executive Director Lynette Shanbury and the whole team at Polka Theatre are pleased to announce details of the variety of activities that are available for families to enjoy during the May Half Term holidays in the Wimbledon venue.

This season at Polka offers a diverse programme of theatre, as it continues its mission to empower, inspire and ensure theatre is accessible for all children, in its 45th year.

What can we build? Where will our imaginations take us? Find out in Let’s Build! a creative building adventure produced by Polka Theatre, recommended for 2 to 5 year olds. Follow two very curious builders who are committed to getting the job done, the only problem is, they’ve never built anything before! Join them as they work together exploring textures, objects and materials and transform them into wonderful creations that come to life. A mermaid, a rocket, a mighty elephant… the possibilities are endless! Let’s Build! will be performed by Kalungi Ssebandeke (Othello, The Watermill; Duchess of Malfi, Almeida) and Stasha Dukic (Soft or Spiky, Polka Theatre; Counting Sheep, The Heard). The show is directed by Trina Haldar, designed by Verity Quinn with lighting design from Rajiv Pattani and sound design and composition from Arun Ghosh. Let’s Build! is turning the Adventure Theatre into a construction site from 10th May - 29th June.

Let's Build!

The English Touring Opera’s The Vanishing Forest is playing in the Main Theatre from 24th May - 1st June. Do you remember what happened in the Forest of Athens? Puck does. It’s been a while since ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ and Athens is changing. The forest is being chopped down, and with each tree felled, more magic disappears from the land! Join Puck, Cassie and Mylas in their quest to find Oberon and Titania, stop the felling and restore the wonder to the beautiful forest. Written by Jonathan Ainscough, composed by Michael Betteridge and directed by Victoria Briggs, The Vanishing Forest is the third and final instalment in English Touring Opera’s climate change trilogy. Recommended for 7 to 12 year olds and written as a continuation of ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’, The Vanishing Forest uses spells, puppetry and mystical flowers to educate and inspire children on the issue of deforestation, through a brand-new Shakespeare infused opera. The Vanishing Forest will be performed by Alys Roberts, Judith Le Breuilly, Harry Grigg and Sam Pantcheff, with Sacha Rattle playing the clarinet, James Heathcote playing the cello and Tom Highnam on percussion.

The Vanishing Forest

Alongside the productions, Polka are also offering a range of creative workshops over the holiday. Inspired by Let’s Build!, Build to the Beat uses movement and music to help children discover the magic of new environments in a fun sensory workshop on 27th May.

Comedy Clowning Workshop is also inspired by the fun-filled Let’s Build! and introduces the art of physical comedy through playful games and activities on 28th May. The magic of the The Vanishing Forest brings you Family Magical Crafts: using natural materials such as flowers and moss, families will craft their own fairy crowns or magic wands to take themselves into the fairy-tale world on 29th May.

Tickets are on sale now via polkatheatre.com or call 020 8543 4888*.

Polka Theatre is one of just a handful of dedicated children’s venues in the UK. Re opening in 2021 after a major renovation, Polka continues to present a year-round programme of shows produced by Polka and from visiting companies. Polka also offers a full programme of creative learning activities for ages 0–12, with over 21,000 children taking part in the last year. Polka enjoys flexible rehearsal and workshop spaces along with two performance spaces: the Main Theatre has a 300-seat capacity, and the Adventure Theatre can seat up to 90 depending on the show format.

Over the past year Polka has worked with 143 schools through creative learning projects and has distributed over 6,000 free tickets to schools through their Curtain Up! scheme, with a further 9,000 free tickets for this academic year. Polka is a community hub and vital resource, open 6 days per week, 50 weeks per year at a challenging time to be a sustainable public venue with step-free access, free-to-access play spaces and a cosy and welcoming café and shop.