Sara Keating on theatre: Magically inventive music piece lets children make some noise

Brian Irvine’s interactive music-theatre piece for children is a sophisticated and charming exploration of listening and playing with sound

Wires, Strings and Other Things is on tour until February 25 and at the Ark from 8 March 8 to April 3. Picture: Ros Kavanagh

At the beginning of Brian Irvine’s new interactive music piece for children, the audience is brought to a hush by the subtlest of gestures. As the performers take to the stage, they encourage us to open our ears and get ready to listen, while the electronic hum of Irvine’s score provides an aural backdrop that we manipulate ourselves by copying the performers, cupping their auricles from either side, moving their hands closer and further away ...