X Close Icon

Soft or Spiky?

for babies aged 6-18 months

A Half Moon and Polka Theatre production for babies aged 6-18 months

LIVE IN VENUE TOUR – A playful discovery of shapes, sounds and textures. Discover a wonderful world of soft or spiky with your baby.

Available for booking for performances between 29 October – 3 November 2024 and 27 January – 16 March 2025 .

Soft or Spiky?

Discover a wonderful world of soft or spiky with your baby.

This playful and interactive new show is full of shapes, sounds, textures and words exploring different ways to connect and understand each other. Inspired by heartfelt conversations with new parents, this humorous production explores the multiple ways we communicate, ensuring that no one is left out.

What question would you want your baby to answer? What would you like them to ask you? In a world full of astonishing unknowns and surprising possibilities, how do you find the right answers or questions?

At the end of the performance there is a stay and play session where audiences can enter the sensory landscape of the production.

Devised and directed by Daryl Beeton, Soft or Spiky? is a Polka and Half Moon co-production: an exciting collaboration by two of the UK’s leading children’s venues and touring companies.

Soft or Spiky? tours in 2024/2025 across the UK following its opening at Polka Theatre in October 2024.

This show has very limited language. This makes it accessible to a range of people, including d/Deaf, hard of hearing and non-English speakers.

Very much inspired by the work of the director for this project, Daryl Beeton, Soft or Spiky?, like with all our productions, aims not to educate, as such, but to advocate instead that there are not always correct answers or solutions when talking about or addressing prejudice, social injustices, equality and social inclusion. Like any good story, we ask audiences to join up their own dots, think creatively and ask questions so they can discover their own answers to complex issues even at a very early age through experiencing a high-quality theatre adventure.

Images and assets

Promotional images and a title treatment are available for the show at the Dropbox link below. Production photos will be released in October 2024.

Download images and PR assets

Show information

    • Performances last 30 mins, no interval, followed by a 15 mins play and stay experience.
    • Capacity 40 – 20 babies/20 adults
    • Up to 3 shows per day. (N.B. a minimum of 45 mins between the start and end of performance/play session is required: .g. 10.30am, 12noon and 1.30pm).
    • Gigs across 3 or more days is anticipated, although one-off days will be considered.
    • Get-in: 2.5 hours before half with pre-rig and performance space configuration completed prior to get in.
    • Get-out: 90 mins following close of final show/play session.
    • Venue Configuration: Flat floor / In the Round. Performing area 6m (wide) by 6m (depth) with minimum 3.5m (height). Audiences sit within and can move around the performance area.
    • Lighting: A full lighting plan will be supplied. We will require the use of the venues lighting desk.
    • Sound: We tour a Mac with QLAB but will need to plug this into the venues P.A. system.
    • Staffing: On tour, there is 1 performer plus a company technical stage manager who will operate lighting and sound, but we do require 1 in-house technician to assist with get-in, focus, plot and the get-out.
    • Parking: For a sprinter size van.
    • Facilities: Dressing room/s for 1 performer.

    Technical Requirements (non-traditional spaces inc rural touring spaces):

    • Note that the piece can perform self-sufficiently without blackout as we can tour our own sound. All we need is 1 contact to help with get-ins. Set-up times are 90 mins, exit within 60 mins. This flexibility allows families/children to access the work where they live, go to school or spend their free time.
    • Dedicated support from the marketing/PR and technical team at Half Moon including accessible formats and touring riders.
    • Up to 500 A5 colour flyers and 20 A3 colour posters.
      (NB: overprinting will be at an additional cost, please enquire), plus high quality images, production photos and other digital assets.
    • We can provide assets for venues/partners to make their own print etc. if that is preferred.
    • £900 + VAT per day
    • Up to 3 shows per day. (N.B. a minimum of 45 mins between the start and end of performance/play session is required: e.g. 10.30am, 12Noon and 1.30pm).
    • Gigs across 3 or more days is anticipated, although one-off days will be considered.
    • Note for venues at very long distances from London, an additional supplement of £100 per day may apply.
    • Venues that require a get-in the day before may be subject to a fee supplement. Please enquire.
    • Please note that these fees are subject to a small additional supplement if your venue makes a compulsory contra to us for your costs at the contracting stage (e.g. credit card/box office; get-in/out; marketing/brochure contributions).
  • On request at additional cost, bespoke workshops for groups on the themes of the performance and/or on the creation of original theatre, plus CPD workshops for teachers.

For more details on Soft or Spiky?, or if you would like to see the piece on tour, please contact:

Chris Elwell  | 020 7709 8902 or chris@halfmoon.org.uk

More from Half Moon