Social Issues in a Poetic Language

Fair Play has been one of Denmark’s foremost children's theatre companies for over 30 years. Based in their own theatre in the town of Holbæk (one hour’s drive from Copenhagen). The company tours extensively over the whole of Denmark, producing work for children and young people of all ages.

The joys and difficulties of childhood are not hidden mysteries from some magical world. They arise from the here and now. Fair Play aims to help the child in the struggle to understand the world in which we live: as an individual and as a member of a social group. Fair Play performances do not deal in answers; they raise questions and aim to create debate around moments and matters of universal truth.

The basis of their work is always a good story – a story that must be told and told well. Fair Play's work is script-based and may be a new interpretation of a classic text or well-known story or the commission of a new play.

The written word is fundamental in the process of creation. The work of the director and designer should aim at realising the intentions of the writer. They want the audience to engage with the content of the plays and to take a standpoint. They want them to be moved and to go home with something to think about. The emphasis in the productions is on the relationship between actor and audience. It is this encounter that bears the hallmark of its work.

Current Productions

All Fair Play productions are available in English.
Though some are created around a particular Danish event or story, they have a universal meaning and relevance to children around the world.

Et ord er et ord / A Word Is a Word – a play about language.
Lotte and Henrik own a shop: a shop selling words. If you are in need of a word, not any old word, but a word that’s maybe just on the tip of your tongue, then this is the shop for you. Some words are expensive, and some words are cheap... A performance full of subtlety and charm. Its poetry and humour appeals directly to the fantasy of children at an age in which language forms a vital and integral part of their exploration of the world.
Age group: 3- 5 years
Max audience number: 100 (pref. 60)

“…And just as I thought my stock of superlatives was about to run out, Denmark’s Teatret Fair Play arrived with A Word Is a Word…He is bored. She suggests they open a shop. What will they sell? Words. The layers of meaning – the value of words, finding the right word and so forth – might escape some of the under-sixes, but the comic interaction, body language and beautifully judged make-believe had them squealing and giggling with delight…”
The Herald, Edinburgh

Skiftingen / The Changeling
A family performance based on a new dramatisation of Selma Lagerlöf’s beautiful story about a changeling – a human child switched with a troll! The troll-baby is brought up amongst humans and, as might be expected, its unwelcome presence is met with loathing, hatred and contempt. But in spite of all this, the farmer’s wife, who has taken the child in as if he were her own, will not be parted from him.
Age group: 7 years and up
Max audience number: 150

“The performance’s musical heart beats in an epic-dramatic form, where four-part harmony folk songs are an integral part of the story-telling. This could easily be boring, but it isn’t. The four actors’ beautiful a capella singing fits superbly into the timeless tale… and, with few effects, manages to create a trembling uneasiness, a restless soul-searching amongst the audience… a wry humour completes the magic in the midst of the dramatic stillness……in spite of the very simple design, The Changeling is a really spectacular piece of theatre.”
Venstrebladet (DK)

Butleren / The Butler
A story of a 9-year old, about being “big” - as you are, when you’re a big brother - and “small” - because there are always some other boys bigger and stronger than you. 
Into this dilemma steps a real, live English butler, with the finest references from English homes. He’s now going to be the butler for a typical, ordinary Danish boy. This creates the setting for a touching and comic meeting of the two worlds, a dangerous and fantastic voyage into space and, for them, an opportunity to travel right to the very heart of their soul.
Age group: 7 years and up
Max audience number: 100

“The Butler has a fine sense of stillness and calm; while, at the same time, there is a lot happening, and there are moments of dramatic high-tempo on the stage…here, you must keep your eyes and ears open… it is a universe in which the two very different characters and opposite worlds collude to show that they are each capable of helping the other.”
Børneteateravisen (DR)

Ved siden af / Next Door  – an opera for the young
They live next door to each other, her and him, and they both think each other a little, “odd…” A comic, chamber-opera about two lonely people: the ageing spinster and the old seaman. Their doors stand side by side on the same landing, where they share the same toilet. Their mutual irritation for the whims and quirky habits of the other one, and their longings and dreams for something better, release the same feelings we know from classical opera. But the shared toilet, which proves to be the catalyst for the dramatic highpoint, creates a setting which works on a much more prosaic level.
A co-production with GRUPPE 38
Age group: from 8 years and up
Max audience number: 120

“…there’s not a dry eye in the house: recognition and emotion; acting and singing, tragedy and comedy, all combine to achieve a greater sense of whole.”
Politiken (DK)

International Tours

2008
May/June: Next Door, Scotland
Jan.: The Changeling, The Faroe Islands

2007
Oct.: A Word Is Word, London
May: A Word Is Word, Northern Ireland

2006
The Changeling, Nordens Hus, The Faroe Islands
A Word Is a Word,Cleveland, Ohio & Irvine (California/ USA)

2005
The Changeling, 1st Vedogon International Children’s Theatre Festival (Moscow/RU).
A Word Is a Word, Showcase 2005 (Cleveland, Ohio/USA)