Comedy Games With Coach Mon is now on at the Ivanhoe Library & Cultural Hub’s Yarra-me Djila Theatrette as part of the Melbourne Fringe. Aimed at children age 4 and up, the show is a really fun way to introduce your junior primary and pre-school kids to interactive live theatre. It’s a great antidote to the effects of too much screen time – it’s upbeat, inclusive, funny and interactive. It stimulates the imagination and reminds us how to play. The age appropriate humour is infectious, and a lot of it is supplied organically by the children themselves. I highly recommend it.
The theatrette is cosy, clean and family-friendly. Coach Mon makes your child feel at home by introducing herself to each child and learning their names before the show starts, so I recommend getting there a little early to settle into the space. There is ample parking at the Ivanhoe venue which also has a lovely café and a library on the same level.
The theme of the show is sports. Coach Mon’s dream is to be a sports coach and she is looking for athletes who are Powerful, Passionate, and Fantastic. There’s a good dose of the ridiculous, which kids love, so we’ll be starting with eyebrow push-ups and weight-lifting with marshmallows on a skewer, for starters. Sometimes Coach Mon might need some coaching herself. Does she really know what hurdles are? Why is she asking for child hurdles – “churdles”? Will she jump over them or fly?
Adults – you will not be bored! Coach Mon knows how to keep the kids’ attention with singing, acrobatics, jokes, miming and clowning-skills, all with a warm connected personality. She knows how to keep them quietly in their seat, if needed, and, conversely, how to get them up and noisy depending on the scene of the show. You’ll be able to relax and enjoy the antics with your child, and possibly even take part in some synchronised swimming!
The fast pace of the show is underscored by well-chosen classical and pop-rock songs. For example, who doesn’t like a slow-mo running race with Chariots of Fire as the soundtrack? I loved that this show was exposing the young ones to really good music from Peer Gynt Suite’s Hall of the Mountain King to Eye of the Tiger. We might know these songs, but it might just be the first time the little ones get to hear it.
After the show, Coach Mon stayed to chat to kids and adults as they were leaving. I had a chat to her too and discovered that Coach Mon is the multi-talented Monique Warren who is an actor, musician, educator, choir director and clown. She grew up singing in the Australian Girls Choir and then stayed on as a choir teacher for 12 years. Her inspiration for the show came out of blue one day while she was teaching an online co-curricular drama class online during COVID lockdown in 2021. Worn out by the sheer boredom she had had enough and walked away from the faces on the computer screen. A minute later, she was back with sports cap on and tennis ball in hand and announced “I’m Coach Mon. Let’s play!”.
Monique Warren’s dream is to build her kids show to be a regular school holiday gig. The joy she gets from doing the show is from bringing people together and that is her passion. It’s a Passion that is Powerful and her show is Fantastic! Go see it before it closes. Let’s play!
To book tickets to The Comedy Games with Coach Mon, please visit https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/whats-on/events/the-comedy-games-with-coach-mon.
