Somewhere Over the Rainbow

There’s a secret little world of fantasy and fairy tale, which unfolds every Saturday morn­ing in Constantia, Cape Town. And if you have not treated your chil­dren to a visit to the Rainbow Puppet Theatre, at the Michael Oak Waldorf school, then you are miss­ing out!

There are few options these days for young chil­dren that do not involve a whole load of viol­ence, foul lan­guage and adult under­stand­ing. In fact many of the so-called children’s shows and movies these days seem to cater more for adult humour? The Puppet Theatre makes a wel­come depar­ture from that, and shows run every Saturday morn­ing at 10h00 and 11h15.

To date we have watched The Frog Prince, Prince George and the Dragon, the Easter Rabbit, Rumplestiltskin, Hansel and Gretel and prob­ably a host of oth­ers that I have for­got­ten, since shows change on a monthly basis. The stor­ies are never longer than 45 minutes and are beau­ti­fully told by a nar­rator, while the pup­pet char­ac­ters per­form the story, with accom­pa­ny­ing sounds effects, behind her.

The atmo­sphere is cre­ated at the out­set in a lovely little room, pan­elled with stars and flowers and dimly lit with candles. Each show com­mences with the singing of “Somewhere over the rain­bow”, pre­sum­ably the theatre’s ‘brand song’. Oggi, the res­id­ent hedge­hog, begins each show by telling a little of what is to come and warn­ing of any poten­tially scary parts, such as the witch in Hansel and Gretel. The theatre is recom­men­ded for four-year-olds and up, but my three-year-old has always enjoyed it, bar the odd scary part spent on my lap!

The stor­ies are punc­tu­ated by songs and rhymes, and the pup­pets them­selves are clev­erly handled to do everything from car­ry­ing items to smack­ing each other – none of the old Punch and Judy slap­stick is found here! I am always amazed by the scene changes, com­plete with wings and back­drops, which make it feel like a ‘real’ theatre, only in bon­sai form.

Entry is R15 for all, which will increase to R20 from January 2010, their first price increase in ten years! Tea, cof­fee, fruit juice and the odd home baked bis­cuit are on sale before the show. I must  con­fess that most shows we have atten­ded have all begun late, but that is prob­ably to allow for  late­comers, and always fin­ishes on time. Birthday parties can also be hos­ted at the pup­pet Theatre, with the garden of the Waldorf school provid­ing a lovely out­door area in which to play.

Contact & Address:
Address: Constantia Waldorf School, Spaanschemat Rd, Constantia, Cape Town.
Telephone: +27 (0)21 783‑2063 or +27 (0)21 794‑2103
Times: Saturday morn­ings at 10h00 and 11h15. Please call to con­firm show.

Useful Links:
Constantia Attractions
Things to Do in Constantia
Constantia Events
Constantia Accommodation
Constantia Family-friendly Accommodation