Calling all little critics, big dreamers and curious minds…
We invite you to join us for our first ever Children’s Scratch event – a new way for young audiences to help shape the shows and performances dreamt up just for them… After all, who better to ask what makes a story exciting or a song catchy that the very people it’s being made for?
You’ll get a taster of brand-new work-in-progress; bits of performance, music and ideas that aren’t finished yet. And, afterwards, we want to know what you thought. What tickled you? What didn’t make sense? What do you want to see more of?
This will be a relaxed event with lots of opportunities to move around, speak up and indulge in our pop up café.
Bring your ears, your imagination, and your honest opinions. We can’t wait to hear them.
Time: 11am
Date: 28 November
Suitable for: 7-11, but younger siblings are very welcome
Tickets: £5 + booking fee
Location: Alibi, Main Hall
Scratch performers
Micha Colombo: moss and the giant
Experience a fantasy adventure into a microscopic realm! A magical tale for young audiences aged 6-10, Moss and the Giant explores climate change in a gentle, playful way, placing value on the power and pleasure of imagination.
Incorporating puppetry, song, poetry and humour, we hope this play will ultimately develop into a feast for the eyes and ears, reminding audiences both of the wonder of nature and how possible it is for us to build the future we want.
This scratch performance is the script’s very first public sharing, so we’re looking for lots of feedback to help shape the story as it develops!
Micha Colombo is an Exeter-based actor and writer, working in theatre, film and poetry and is a mum of three. She is a slam-winning poet, and co-director of Wild Thyme Theatre, exploring classical theatre for our times. You can follow her on Instagram @michachloe.
india stewart-williams: Unbearable
‘unBEARable’ is a physical theatre/dance performance of a day in the life of two bear characters exploring the confusing human world. Using props and puppetry alongside movement, this will be a playful, humorous work with high energy, lifts and fun visual elements. We play with the idea of learning through culture, growing together and community with a keen sense of hope overarching in the work.
India Stewart-Williams is a contemporary dance and physical theatre artist born in New Zealand, growing up in Malaysia and now based in Devon. She has been working internationally as a freelance artist for the last two years. In 2025, she performed in CoExist’s GMAM program in Miki Rolton’s work ‘.OPPY’ and received a City of Melbourne Arts grant to support her choreographic debut of ‘Echoes of Descent’ presented as part of Melbourne Fringe Festival. In early 2026, she performed and choreographed in Sydney’s Where We Are Triple Bill and led the research development ‘Corpus’ under Inner West Council. Since moving to Devon in May, she has performed in: Millie Parker’s ‘On Girlhood’ at the Queen’s Theatre, Barnstaple as part of TheatreFest, Swift Dance Company’s ‘Threads’ at Exeter Phoenix and Claudia Jefferies’ ‘WORK’ at the Barnfield Theatre, Exeter as part of Elevate Festival. India’s unique choreographic style is influenced by travel, multidisciplinary performing arts background and a deep interest in research and academics.
GIORGIA CIAMPI TSOLAKI: the first shell
What comes first: the shell or the mollusc? Millions of years ago, in the depths of the ocean, an ancient creature floats about in the primordial soup. It is a mollusc. It discovers the other creatures of the sea with wonder, joy, excitement and, at times, fear and disgust. One day, it hears a beautiful sound through the water. It cannot see where it comes from but falls immediately in love! Excited to meet them, the mollusc decides to put on its best dress…or rather creates it in the form of the first shell.
Giorgia Ciampi Tsolaki is an Italo-Greek theatre-maker and researcher based in the UK with 15 years of experience living, studying and working in Italy, Singapore, France and now the UK. Her work spans across performative genres and cultural forms to tell stories through physical language, song and larger-than-life characters. She trained at the Intercultural Theatre Institute of Singapore and later pursued deepening training in traditional theatre in India and Japan. She holds a PhD from the University of Exeter on the cultural expression of emotions in theatre. Her latest piece – The Spiral – was presented at Theatre Royal Plymouth, Reclaim Festival and Chowk Studios (Singapore). She is currently developing her script-writing skills and community-engaged theatre practice, supported through Arts Council funding (DYCP)
