‘Homeworld’ opens the door to theater for the youngest audiences

When Sam Tower and Nia Benjamin, co-artistic directors of Ninth Planet, a Philadelphia-based platform self-described as “committed to the development of young artists, particularly women of color,” noticed that a growing number of their audience members were having babies and not able to easily get out to experience theater, they decided to create a performance experience that adults could experience with their little ones.

While the Philadelphia theater community offers lots of opportunities for families with young and elementary-age children, Tower and Benjamin noticed that there was a void in the offerings for babies aged 18 months and younger and their adults. Homeworld, a gentle dance performance created for babies 3 to 18 months old (and their caregivers), inspired by coral and oceanic creatures, opens October 5 and runs through October 14.

Discovery in performance

“There are artists doing this kind of work for babies in the Netherlands, South Africa, and Canada, and to a lesser extent in the United States,” explains Benjamin. “With Homeworld, our hope is that when families enter the experience, babies learn about the world around them and that their caregivers do too . . . that the caregiver and baby surprise each other by interacting with the environment.”

Benjamin and Tower describe the performance space as “inviting discovery and play through gentle dance and soft, sculptural installations that you can explore from all sides. Babies and their caregivers are invited to crawl, explore, and follow their curiosities throughout the installation.”

Starting with play

In order to create a developmentally appropriate experience, Ninth Planet collaborated both with artists from Headlong Dance Theater and with families and educators from the Children’s Community School. “We were very fortunate to partner with the Children’s Community School,” Tower explains. “We were in residency in their common space over the summer and offered weekend sessions where families were welcome to come and hang out at our ‘play sessions.’”

Tower and Benjamin also note that partnering with the Painted Bride, where Homeworld will take place, has been vital to their creation. The performance experience happens in a glowing white tent within the Bride. Free childcare will be available for older siblings in another room during Homeworld, which in total is a 40-minute experience.

Enchantment for everyone

Homeworld is created for ten families to experience at once within the tent, so reservations are necessary. Families meet a facilitator in the lobby and very gently transition to the tent space.

“Our goal is to create something enchanting for adult and baby,” Tower says. “And to explore interactivity for an audience with specific developmental needs.”

Parents are already responding positively to the experience. One parent who was part of the workshop process says, “The space you set up was beautiful, warm, inviting, tempting, clean, exciting, stimulating. The pace and rising action of the piece was gorgeous: organic and intentional . . . I loved how the experience of the performers mimicked the exploratory experience of the little ones.”

Ninth Planet’s Homeworld is coming to the Painted Bride Art Center (230 Vine Street, Philadelphia) October 5 through 14. The event is free, but reservations are required. To confirm your spot and for more information, visit online.