Zingend Schip
After Queen Kato and In the Light of the Moon, Project Paradise is the third project by Zingend Schip.
A typical Zingend Schip project
We write a story and compose songs to go with it. These songs are taught to children in the fifth and sixth year of primary school. An actor or actress narrates and performs the story. They perform together—but without having rehearsed collectively beforehand. This means the sense of surprise (and therefore the most genuine theatrical reaction) is just as strong for the performers on stage as it is for the audience. With Queen Kato, we started on a small scale: the children performed in the school cafeteria or gym, together with actresses Elena Peeters or Sari Veroustraete. (In 2019, however, we created an XL version of Queen Kato at Flagey, once again in collaboration with the Vlaams Radiokoor.)
hand in hand with Vlaams Radiokoor
In In the Light of the Moon, the children shared the stage with actor Reindert Vermeire and a symphony orchestra. For the children, such collaborations with professional musicians are an extraordinary added value. So when the Vlaams Radiokoor approached us with the idea of creating another joint production, we jumped at the chance. We immediately sensed the immense theatrical power in the contrast between the trained tenor and bass voices of the men of the Vlaams Radiokoor and the high voices of the children. What makes our projects unique is that the singing children do not merely form a choir, but are also given a theatrical role within the story. The challenge, then, was to come up with a compelling us-versus-them narrative. This led us to the idea of an uncharted island, where the original islanders (the children), spurred on by Queen Josi Mosi (Kristine Van Pellicom), take on property developers (the singers of the Vlaams Radiokoor) who stumble upon the island by chance: Project Paradise.
Project Paradise
In Project Paradise, the children sing seven songs, which we teach them in the space of six class periods. That is not a lot of time. This is why we have developed didactic material for teachers, so that the project can continue to live on in the classroom. We have also created a visual instruction package—after all, the children craft part of their own costume.
Magic on stage
Creating a performance like Project Paradise requires a great deal of preparation and communication with all partners involved. Time and again, something wondrous happens when we all step onto the stage together. Right before our eyes, it unfolds: children finding their voice. Children who have always been told they are too wild receive compliments for their expressiveness. Children who do not speak Dutch but can sing along to a song. Children who have never set foot in a theatre and are now invited straight onto the stage. Children who feel a little nervous about performing, yet surpass themselves. We at Zingend Schip are incredibly fortunate to witness all of this—right from the front row.
Tom, Sien and Margot of Zingend Schip
