This half term children can be transported to the mythical island of Joya in a new audio drama, The Girl of Ink and Stars, launching on Monday 19 October.
Aimed at children aged 7+ and their families, the story – presented over three podcasts – follows the adventures of a young girl called Isabella and her lifelong friend Pablo.
Forbidden to leave her island, Isabella dreams of the faraway lands her father once mapped. When a girl from the village disappears into the island’s Forgotten Territories, Isabella and Pablo go in search of her. Following Isabella’s map and an ancient myth they discover that deep beneath the dry rivers and smoky mountains, a fiery legend is stirring from its sleep…
Written by Satinder Chohan, based on the award-winning novel by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, The Girl of Ink and Stars has been specially commissioned by Inspire libraries and created by The Spark Arts for Children with funding from Arts Council England.
Carol Newman, director of Culture at Inspire, said: “This year, due to the disruption caused by the Covid 19 pandemic, we’ve been prevented from hosting the usual live theatre tours that take place in our library venues. We wanted to ensure we continued to bring exciting and imaginative theatrical stories to families, and so we commissioned The Spark Arts for Children to work with the original creative team to transform the play into an audio drama accessible by children at home or in school.”
Adel Al-Salloum, director at The Spark Arts for Children, said: “We were thrilled to be given the opportunity to re-visit this wonderful adventure story and re-imagine how we might re live the drama through sound. The binaural soundscape designed by Craig (Vear) transports the listener to these far-off lands. Each part of the Island reveals different environments, the landscapes are so vivid, and the drama is so real – you really will hold your breath when our wolf dogs appear so frighteningly close. We have loved telling this adventure story, immersing ourselves into this mythical land full of sound and colourful imagery delivered straight into your ears, and imaginations.”
The rich dialogue and captivating soundscape (created by composer Craig Vear) of the theatrical production has been reimagined to produce this gripping audio drama. With crashing waves, cascading waterfalls, twinkling crystal caves and the snarling of fire demons, children (and adults) will be immersed in the story of Isabella and Pablo’s quest.
The Girl of Ink and Stars is a story of myth, magic and the power of friendship – the podcasts can be viewed online from Monday 19 October 2020 at www.inspireculture.org.uk/inkandstars and the YouTube playlist containing all three episodes is here.