SPARE PARTS Puppet Theatre has employed a group of kids to tell it how to runs its business.

SPPT is using Lance Holt primary students to interview other young audience members about their theatre experience, with the results being presented to the company’s board of directors to help with business planning.

The year 6/7 students have been learning creative research techniques with educational consultant Mathilda Joubert which they’ll try out on the audience at the company’s July school holiday season of The Little Prince.

Year 6er Ginger Cain says the experience has been fun, although she is a little frustrated practice interviews have been with younger kids who fiddle around and get their friends to answer.

She is hoping when the proper interviews take place kids will be closer to her age.

• Rory Martin practices his interview technique on Skeat Frankham, Ginger Cain and Megan Roberts.

Ginger says when they first tried out the questions which had been provided by Spare Parts, they found some confused the kids. So they went back to their class, rewrote the questions and sent them back to the puppeteers.

Spare Parts business manager Megan Roberts says the company is excited to be working with the children.

“The Little Prince with its highly imaginative idea and profound curiosity is the perfect opportunity to undertake this very exciting new style of research, which is proving to have incredible results for the children involved, the organisations who are commissioning the research and the teachers and staff at the school involved,” she said.

“It will have significant results for us and we are very eager to learn these exciting ‘first hand’ views of children which have been gathered by their peers and to incorporate what we learn into our planning for the future.”

by RANI GEORGE