Episode 2 - Seeing the World Through a Child's Eyes: A Conversation with Emma Boor

Inspired by the TORCH event, 'Reading Choices in Young and SEND Children: A Conversation,' this episode explores how accessible forms of theatre, puppetry and performance can spark children’s interest in reading and storytelling. I’m joined by Emma Boor, Creative Director of Wild Boor Ideas, to discuss the visceral responses that theatre often invites. We explore how interactive, sensory-based approaches can make theatre more accessible and enjoyable for SEND audiences. The immediacy of responses to children’s theatre opens performance up to something that lies beyond the written page as it refuses containment within scripts or rehearsed acts. We consider how this real-time unfolding of children’s theatre turns the stage into a kind of playground where the imagination runs free, as the mind transforms even the most mundane objects into entire worlds that spark wonder. The very act of storytelling becomes a gift, one that can be packaged and repackaged, opened and repurposed. We draw unexpected connections between Old English kennings and the sort of wordplay found in theatre and in children’s language, before turning to the problem of the impact of AI on literacy as we slowly edge towards a ‘postliterate’ age. At its heart, this episode is propelled forward by the spirit of play, brought to life by Emma’s infectious enthusiasm!   For more information about Emma Boor and Wild Boor Ideas, please visit this website: https://www.wildboor.com/. If you enjoyed this episode and want to stick around for the next one, do hit follow and review the show! Music credits go to Isobel (Issi) Marklew.