Children from primary schools on Merseyside attended the launch of the Magic Lantern at the Picture House, Woolton – and helped lift a terrible curse on the ‘griot’, a traditional African story teller.
The event, held on Wednesday, July 8th, was organised by Lesley Leppard from Evelyn School, Prescott, on behalf of gifted children from 17 Merseyside schools.
They came to see Kirikou, the Sorceress, Michel Ocelot’s fabulous animation based on African tales. The role of the traditional story teller in preserving African oral history was explained and illustrated in a live preamble and prologue, Magic Lantern’s unique method for communicating complex ideas to small children.
The show was presented by Mark Locke, artistic director of the Magic Lantern in the UK, who also appeared in the role of the Scholar. He was supported by Colin Mellinger as the Innocent and Melanie Hendricks as the magnificent African story teller fighting a terrible curse, lifted in the end only by the superior will of enthusiastic children acting in unity
.
[…] Kirikou on Merseyside […]