Barking Gecko Theatre Company's Hansel & Gretel "In A Dark Dark Wood" (Perth, Australia)

West Australian Children's Theatre Company, Barking Gecko, continues its mission of bringing quality theatre to the children of Perth and surrounding areas, with their new fairy tale show In A Dark Dark Wood. The show, a retelling of Hansel and Gretel, uses a modern take, combining live action, shadow puppets and object theater to tell the spooky-yet-magical story.

Hansel and Gretel is one of those tales that makes a huge impression on children and one of the fairy tales children generally remember almost the entire plot of (though often excluding the duck which helps the kids escape, which most modern tellers seem to omit, of not be aware of).

It's pretty neat that the playwright who worked with the creator had traveled the famous Fairy Tale Road in Germany, already aware and immersing himself in the environment out of which grew many of the Grimm's collected tales.

Barking Gecko artistic director Matt Edgerton, who is directing the production, collaborated with award-winning Australian playwright Caleb Lewis on this modern take on the Brothers Grimm fairy taleHansel and Gretel. 

“I was really excited about sort of attacking a Grimms’ fairy tale,” Edgerton said. 

“They’re wonderful stories that have lasted for hundreds of years because they have deep things to say about who we are as humans, but I wanted to do it in a contemporary way. 

“I thought Caleb would be a perfect partner with that because he’s a wonderful lyrical writer, but really playful, and is obsessed with Grimms’ fairy tales; he’s walked the Grimms’ fairy tale route in Germany, reading nothing but their fairy tales as he went.” 

Edgerton said he was drawn to Hansel and Gretel because of its universal themes. 

“There’s something about the central idea around the fear of abandonment which every child knows,” he said. 

“And most adults have repressed it in some way, but it’s still in us. 

“It’s a beautiful story because it explores that in a really full way and finishes with the message that all of us have the power to find our way home. 

“There’s hopefulness at the end and the idea that theatre is a safe place to explore dangerous ideas is true for something like Hansel and Gretel.” 

Barking Gecko admits to having a lot of fun with their version, aimed at children aged 6 and up. There's "fun, magic and an excess of junk food" - what wouldn't a kid love about that?

Here's their description:

In a Dark Dark Wood is a magical fantasy that brings Hansel and Gretel to a new generation in a strikingly original retelling of the Grimms’ classic fairy tale. 

Pippa and her little brother Mo live in a caravan at the edge of the woods. Since Dad hurt his back cutting wood, the family has struggled to make ends meet. Even though they may be poor, the children are gifted with a rich imagination.After Pippa gets the worst birthday present ever and overhears her worried parents talking, she decides the way to help, is to leave. Pippa packs her belongings and takes off into the woods, with little brother Mo hot on her heels.Hopelessly lost in the dark, dark woods, the pair stumble onto a lonely beach and discover a world with no rules and endless ice cream! But all is not what it seems. Pippa and Mo will have to call on all of their imaginative powers to escape! 

With spooky puppets, magical animals and fast paced storytelling, this theatre production will take audiences aged 6 and over through the dark, dark woods and safely home again. 

Recommended for ages 6 and up – Contains spooky bits that may make your knees wobble! 

Running time approximately 60 minutes

Where and when: 

• UWA’s Dolphin Theatre (September 23-24)
• Prendiville Performing Arts Centre, Ocean Reef (September 27),
• Kalamunda Performing Arts Centre (September 29)
• Don Russell Performing Arts Centre, Thornlie (October 4)
• Mandurah Performing Arts Centre (October 6-8)

Theater: Oscar Wilde's "The Fisherman And His Soul" Playing Now Through April 25 (Idaho)

The Fisherman and His Soul by Simone Rein

Boise Contemporary Theater are bringing to life an Oscar Wilde fairy tale that used to be much better known when I was a girl. The Fisherman and His Soul was one of those stories teachers interested in the classics, used to use in education, but it's been many, many years since I've seen any reference to it anywhere, apart from the odd art work here and there.

One of the great things about contemporary theater is the ability to try unconventional staging, mix up the media and, be bold in trying new approaches to old stories.

Artist unknown

The pictures you generally see for this fairy tale tend to focus on the man and the mermaid, the romance, and a somewhat sad and dark atmosphere (I've added a variety of atypical illustrations for the post on purpose). Boise Theater's adaptation appears to mix that right up. 

But before I show you their promo video, let me bring you up to speed if you're not familiar with the tale.

I'll start with the press introduction by the troupe, which seems to either expect you to know the story, or to completely surprise you by what's coming:

The Fisherman and His Soul  

Music/Shadows/Magic  (FTNH edit: take note! Shadows! Magic! This should be quite interesting...)

by Michael Baltzell and Michael Hartwell adapted from Oscar Wilde
“Every evening the young Fisherman went out upon the sea, and threw his nets into the water.” So begins the 1891 fairy tale by Oscar Wilde that will come to life on the BCT stage in the spring of 2015. What the fisherman finds in his net will get your imagination whirling: “But no fish at all was in it, nor any monster or thing of horror, but only a little Mermaid lying fast asleep.”

So, very briefly: Fisherman catches mermaid. Fisherman proposes. Mermaid says "No. You have a soul. Get rid of it. Then, I can love you." (Fisherfolk have no souls.) Fisherman learns shadows are really Souls. Fisherman cuts off his shadow. Mermaid says "yes". Soul sent away, into the world. Soul has no heart. Soul scours world; looks for ways to lure Fisherman back out of the sea... 

(You can read the whole fascinating tale HERE. Just be prepared to take a few minutes - it's not a super-quick read.)

Now that the scene is set, take a look at the promo video. It may not be quite what you expect:

To pick up from there I'll switch to a review from BoiseWeekly:

The play is visually marvelous. In the first act, the mermaid is bedecked in LED lights and crashing waves are simulated with a lightweight sheet and a high-powered fan. However, the practical effects are a sorbet for the lighting effects dominating the second act when the fisherman's soul recounts adventures of strong-arming kings, dueling imperial guards and stealing precious treasure in elaborate shadow plays that make his tall tales larger than life. 

Based on a story by Oscar Wilde, Fisherman maintains a firm grasp on weighty ideas. Wilde, who studied Greek and Roman antiquity at Oxford, was familiar with divisions of the soul and hierarchy of desires: Without a heart to guide him, the fisherman's soul appeases its basest appetites with terrible consequences. "Love," the fisherman tells his soul, "is better" than all the wisdom and riches in the world. 

... Fisherman turns a simple story into a visually and audibly vibrant spectacle sure to lure in audiences. 

(You can read the full BoiseWeekly review of the show HERE.)

The Fisherman and His Soul IV by Germano Ovani (part of a narrative series of 4)

And an additional quick summary, to include some insight into the presentation from IdahoStatesman:

"The Fisherman and His Soul" will offer a bounty of Victorian theatrical devices and storytelling motifs, such as shadow puppetry, physical theater, burlesque arts and live musical performance. They based the play on Oscar Wilde's short story about a fisherman who catches a mermaid in his net, then must choose between his love for her and his own soul.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/03/27/3719483/the-fisherman-and-his-soul.html#storylink=cpy

Oh yes! I was extremely happy to find (with a little extra digging) that they were using shadow play inspired by Wayang, traditional Indonesian shadow puppetry. I grew up regularly exposed to Balinese shadow puppetry, which is very similar, and close to my heart, so was very glad to see this! It's the perfect medium for this fairy tale.

If you'd like to go, here are the details:

The Fisherman and His Soul @ Boise Contemporary Theater

• Wednesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m. and Saturdays, 2 & 8 p.m. Continues through April 25 $26-$32

"The Ice Book" by Davy & Kristin McGuire

If you're a regular reader of this blog you probably know I love multimedia productions in which a number of artistic disciplines come together to "perform" or present the story or art. This is my favorite kind of theater and the ability to tell stories like this is one of the things I miss most in giving up theater to pursue animation and development.

The Ice Book, created by Davy & Kristin McGuire, is a multimedia production of a different kind, almost like a human-sized pop-up book that comes to life. In presenting scenes and story this way it becomes clear how much of life really is in fairy tales, if only we choose to see it.

From the description:

The Ice Book is a miniature theatre show made of paper and light. An exquisite experience of fragile paper cutouts and video projections that sweep you right into the heart of a fantasy world. It is an intimate and immersive experience of animation, book art and performance.

It's simply beautiful. Take a look:

The Ice Book (HD) from Davy and Kristin McGuire on Vimeo.

Their website HERE has lots of information about the project and how they went about it. Here are a couple of excerpts:

Davy always had the dream of creating a theatre performance that opened up like a pop-up book. A show that would mix video projections with live actors to create a totally immersive experience. We wanted to create a full scale, life-size theatre production. 

The idea for the Icebook was to create a miniature maquette for this dream – a demonstration model to show to producers and other funders in the hope that they would give us some money to make the full scale show. (And we still hope that this will come true one day!) The Icebook has since however, grown its own legs and turned into a miniature show all by itself. An intimate performance for small audiences. 

We love the old pre-cinematic optical illusions, such as zeotropes and magic lanterns, and the magical way in which they can mesmerise audiences through basic mechanics. Rather than simply projecting images onto a screen, we wanted to create an object with a life of its own – a tangible and magical “thing” for an audience to experience. 

...Aesthetically, we were also inspired by early 20th century Russian fairytales as well as the work of Jan Svankmajer, Flatworld, the Judder Man from the Metz advert, Georges Méliès and the genre of German expressionism.

The couple spent much of last year touring with the art show to many enthusiastic and rave reviews. I hope they've had much continuing success and will produce more in this vein. For instance, I'd love to see them create their version of a fairy tale for the ongoing Re-Enchantment project or find another avenue/collaborator that can help expose their artistry to an even larger audience. 


Davy and Kristin McGuire can be followed and contacted on Twitter HERE.

Fairies in Lampshades & A Forest of Forks - Meet Compagnie Akselere's Sleeping Beauty

This would have to be the most unusual theatrical retelling of The Sleeping Beauty I've seen in some time. Perrault is credited as the source author while Liverpool-born, French artist and puppeteer Colette Garriger is the creator & main performer. The show is just arriving in the US now after an lengthy international tour, with performances scheduled from September 2010 on.
Here's the official blurb:

At her birth they call her "Princess." Her fate is sealed. Left to her own devices and brilliant imagination, this modern day Princess pays off her debts and takes her skeletons out of the cupboard once and for all. Now arriving in the United States after an international tour comes a creative retelling of the Briar Rose tale joining shadow puppetry, object theater, and passionate monologue into a hard-hitting story filled with dark humor.Created by Liverpool-born, French-transplant artist and puppeteer Colette Garrigan.

* Funded in part by a Jim Henson Foundation Presenter's Grant (2010)

And excerpted from a review on Australian Stage:

This version of Sleeping Beauty is closer to a nightmare than a fairytale. A girl grows up in a poor family in Liverpool, England. She is the youngest of seven. Her father dies. She gets farmed out to her grandmother who locks her in the cupboard under the stairs. She steals and thinks it is so exciting to be going in a police car that she waves to all the people she knows. She meets boys who lead her astray. And she knows she is a princess and that prince charming will arrive - even if it is in the form of a medical miracle.From the mind of creator and puppeteer Colette Garrigan comes a passionate monologue with shadow puppets about the loss of innocence and reality versus fairytale.... Garrigan is very much centre stage, and creates the shadow puppets primarily from herself and various unusual objects on the table in the centre of the stage. Forks become a forest, a toaster rack a shopping centre, all projected onto the white semi transparent screen hung at the back. This is not puppetry as most would know it, with only one brief scene using small hand operated puppets that are ingeniously fitted into a lampshade.

You can read the whole article HERE and see more performance photos from the company site HERE.

"Dark Fairy Tales" Poetry & Light Illumination Show/ "Diamond Tears" Exhibition (both UK)

Coming to Brentford (UK) for one performance on November 28th, 2009 is "Dark Fairy Tales" by the Theatre of Continuous Performance. I haven't been able to find much additional information about this show so I'll just copy the press release here for you:

Writer and director, Anjan Saha teams up with projectionist, Al Livingstone to present a magical enchanted world of Dark Fairytales at Waterman's Art Centre in London Road, Brentford.

Pioneering their self -styled, Theatre of Continuous Performance, where spoken word merges with light illuminations to create mesmerizing images, fairytales of Indian, African and European origin will be presented with a dark twist.

Featuring some of the best literary talents including poets and acclaimed performers Dzifa Benson, El Crisis, Philip Lawder, storyteller, Bhavit Mehta and Blues music guitarist and singer, Robert Hokum, Dark Fairy Tales, gives us a whole new interpretation of the dangers that might befall the unwary this Xmas!

"...Fairytales speak through beasts to explore common experiences - fear of sexual intimacy, terror and violence, injustice, and struggles for survival. The fairytales themselves, growing out of the spoken word, become part of legislating fabric, and by issuing warnings about what happens to kings and princesses, sharks and other beasts who don't keep their promises, reminds us to keep ours." (Marina Warner, writing for The Guardian)

You can book through HERE.

The images in this post are by Verena Paloma Jabs.

From her website:

"Verena creates child-like and seemingly innocent silhouettes of animals and figures, morphed with a digitally created background of imaginary landscapes, naïve wonderlands, and dark dreamscapes. Verena says, "I am fascinated by the innocent imagery of the pictorial illustrations which often accompany fairy-tales, while the narrative itself is often dark and uncanny. Being of English and Russian ancestry, and growing up in Germany before attending school and university in England, I have a keen interest in how different cultures mirror each other's stories and heritage. Living in an era in which advertising and visual media are overpowering our imagination for commercial purposes, fairy-tales as told to children still harbour a sense of humankind's most ancient fantasies, fears, and desires."

Verena has a new exhibition called "Diamond Tears", featuring the artwork shown in this post and more. It opened on November 13, 2009 at the Tatty Devine Brick Lane Gallery space in London. You can find more information about Verena and see more of her lovely work, which covers a wide range of media HERE.

"The Nightingale" Opera. With Puppets. In Water.

There's a new opera about to debut on October 17th in Toronto called "The Nightingale and Other Short Fables". The creator is Robert Lepage (a well known and honored 'theater artist' in Canada) and while an opera based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Nightingale" is no great surprise (the story was,after all, inspired by opera singer Jenny Lind), this production is a little different.

From The Canadian Press:

...Lepage plans to fill a partially raised orchestra pit at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts with roughly 30 tonnes of water. His singers will wade in, waist-deep, to manipulate puppets while they perform. The orchestra will play onstage behind them. (Ed. FTNH: Michael Curry, the Puppet Master for the production explains in the video shown near the end of the post, that while the majority of the puppets will be operated by the completely visible singers themselves there will also be black costumed puppeteers manipulating other pieces throughout too.)

...Its unconventional features include acrobats, shadow play and Asian puppetry, all woven into a program of pieces by composer Igor Stravinsky.

Lepage says he has been interested in the idea of combining opera and puppetry since he saw a production of "Oedipus Rex" by JulieTaymor (Creator of Disney's award winning Broadway production of "The Lion King") who's well known for her use of puppets, and the puppeteer Michael Curry who helped him execute his vision for a puppetry-opera meld, and believes he's found the right subject in Hans Christian Andersen's "Nightingale". He's using a libretto written by Stepan Mitussov in 1914 and, because the tale is a short one, is including other small 'animal subject' pieces by composer Stravinsky to round out the program.

Lepage said he especially enjoys working with puppets, which he says is drawing a totally different sort of performance out of his singers.

"It's a pity we can't do all operas like this," he said.

You can see a video of Lepage talking about his inspiration and the making of "The Nightingale and Other Short Fables" below. It's very interesting as he discusses HCA's story construction and storytelling, specifically with regard to puppetry, around the world:


You can see a demonstration of Michael Curry's puppetry for the opera below (this video is a little longer - almost 10 minutes):


The opera sounds very ambitious for both the performers and from a technical standpoint, not to mention quite intriguing. I'm curious to see if it's a success and is staged elsewhere. You can read the rest of the article on the opera and Lepage's philosophy and thoughts on creating the multimedia production HERE.

"The Nightingale & Other Short Fables" will play at Toronto's Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts from October 17 to November 5, 2009.

The lovely paintings in this post are by multi-faceted Canadian artist and illustrator Deborah Morriss (who also, incidentally, is involved in opera, though not at all related to this production. You can find more of her work, which includes other fairy tale illustrations HERE.)

"The Brave Tin Soldier" Multimedia Shadow Theater Production

This German production from Meininger Puppentheater has been touring festivals for a few years now, most recently playing in Korea and Taiwan in July and August, but it's so unusual- both in the tale it uses and in the manner of the production - that I have to mention it.

"The Brave Tin Soldier", based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of the same name (a.k.a. "The Steadfast Tin Soldier") is a multimedia shadow play for children six years and older and asks an important question: "How much strength do people who don’t come up to our standards require to stand up to society?" (source)The Germans are known for their love and respect for fairy tales and puppet and/or theatrical productions of a wide variety of tales take place around the country (and outside it) every year. This 45 minute production appears to still be going strong at close to the ten year mark.Here's a description and review from livingscotsman.com a few years ago:

The Brave Tin Soldier, from the German Puppentheater am Meininger, also deals with the big themes of love and death and - given the intense, sad sentimentality of Hans Christian Andersen's original story - the performer Stefan Wey, a lonely-looking giant in ghostly white frock coat and top hat, is slightly less successful in avoiding mawkish self-pity and Victorian schmaltz.That doesn't, though, prevent this show from scoring a fantastic coup de théâtre by first inflating a giant tent in the middle of the floor, and then inviting the audience inside to witness a most amazing shadow-play, with all the images radiating from a giant pop-up book on a lectern in the middle of the tent. The effect is dazzling: Wey varies the scale of the images from miniature to giant by simply shifting his light-source a few inches; evokes a sea-storm by making the whole structure of the tent creak and heave around us; and signals the end of the story by making our tent-world world disappear with a twitch of a few zips. It's a slightly messy show, emotionally and physically, but the experience is unforgettable.

This sounds like something not to be missed! While you're waiting for the production to tour near you, why not try casting your own characters from the tale? Click HERE to find out more.