Let children enjoy a theatre trip – especially when it’s Mary Poppins

We wouldn't look like a cultural city unless we try to make important cultural events more accessible to a range of incomes, writes Hala Khalaf

A scene from the Mary Poppins show at Dubai Opera. Pawan Singh / The National

It was difficult to contain my excitement when I first learnt that Disney’s Broadway musical Mary Poppins was going to be put on at the Dubai Opera. Growing up, I was always an avid fan of the book as well as the movie, and I introduced my story-loving, four-year-old daughter to the magical nanny quite early on.

Preparing to purchase the tickets, however, quickly deflated my elation. To my surprise, children – regardless of age – were expected to pay for full price tickets. There was no children’s rate available, not even for matinées or weekday shows.

Tickets are not cheap; they start at Dh300 and for fear that the cheapest seats may be too far away from the stage for a four-year-old, I paid Dh600 per seat, so Dh1,200 for the two of us.

I wonder what parents of two, three or more children would do. Would they be able to entertain the idea of taking their family and providing their children with such an unforgettable experience that is both educational and downright fun?

What a pity to think that a large segment of society would be excluded from the opportunity of exposing their children to the arts and sharing in the universal appeal of such a beautiful show, solely because ticket prices are so exorbitant and no other option exists. Unlike New York, London, Toronto and elsewhere, there is no way to find discounted rates for children: families in those cities can snag cheap seats by grabbing day-of-show tickets, through annual memberships or by opting for matinée showings, or subscribing to discount sites, or even through student and educator discounts. In New York, the Kids’ Night on Broadway event allows children to see Broadway shows for nothing when they attend with a paying adult.

We want to be seen as rivals to these cultural cities – and we are well on our way – but we will continue to appear lacking if we do not make the effort to make such important, cultural events more accessible to a range of incomes.

There’s something about theatre that enthrals children, even at a young age. My daughter cannot stop squirming for the three minutes it takes me to braid her hair, let alone for a sit down meal, but she has always been enchanted enough to sit through the live shows we have taken her to: a Cinderella pantomime at the Emirates Palace a few Christmases ago, Disney’s production of The Lion King in London’s West End, a rousing theatrical performance of We’re Going On A Bear Hunt put on at Abu Dhabi’s National Theatre not too long ago, and most recently, at the delightful Mary Poppins show we caught this past weekend.

She’s only 4, so she’s certainly not the perfect audience member. There was no stopping her from singing along – at the top of her lungs – to the rambunctious Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious number in the first act. I had to repeatedly remind her to whisper when she would ask me, for the umpteenth time, if what she was seeing was “real or pretend, mummy? Please tell me, was that real or pretend?” And her repeated exclamations of “wow” were irrepressible.

Could she really be blamed, though? The show is captivating. Statues come to life and begin dancing and singing. Bert literally dances upside down on the ceiling. Mary uses her magical umbrella to fly through the theatre, right above our heads. Even I “wow”-ed.

An older couple sitting immediately in front of us, attending without children, had no qualms about showing us how bothered they were by my daughter’s exuberant reactions. I was very uncomfortable with their simmering looks, they were visibly irked at us and there was no question that we were disturbing their theatre experience.

But did a child’s vocal excitement really warrant such hateful glances? I chose to take my daughter to a matinee show, and not an evening performance, to avoid that exact scenario. I picked the child-suitable Mary Poppins as her first introduction to the beautiful Dubai Opera, not Les Miserables. And I didn’t just let her be. I treated the entire experience as a learning opportunity for her, reminding her continuously to sit up straight and not kick the seat in front of her, teaching her to speak in a quiet, calm voice and whisper if she had to tell me something, forcing her to use the bathroom during the interval so we wouldn’t have to disturb those sitting near us by getting up in the middle of the show.

I would have hoped people would be more understanding of our need, as parents, to cultivate our children’s imaginations and expose them to such cultural events at a young age so they grow to appreciate the arts as adults. Our children are not yet perfect audience members, but they can learn how to get there. At the very least, they’ll learn to sit still for an extended period of time and quietly take in a show, without fidgeting with a mobile phone, without holding loud conversations with their friends and without exhibiting rudeness.

I can tell her how to behave until I’m red in the face. Or I could just show her, and hope the experience cements itself in her memory.

My hope is that I’ll be able to continue to do so every time a suitable show comes to town, as long as there’s an affordable option, and as long as audience members realise that children, too, have the right to enjoy a show.

Hala Khalaf is a freelance journalist and music instructor living in Abu Dhabi