Stage Door News
Stage Door News
April 26, 2015. . . Children of all ages are invited to bring their parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts to a special weekend devoted to the magic of puppet theatre.
SpringWorks: indie theatre & arts festival is celebrating their fifth season with a new puppet festival for families. On May 16 and 17, Stratford’s downtown core and the surrounding area will be brimming with puppet shows, hands-on workshops and active and imaginative play. A day pass, priced at $10 for kids and $20 for adults, gives visitors access to all of SpringWorks’ family activities.
Between now and May 1, two-day passes are available for the price of a single-day pass.
“We’re excited to see how much enthusiasm there is for our Puppet Festival Family Weekend,” says Eileen Smith, Artistic Producer of the SpringWorks festival. “Our shows offer a range of stories for the young and the young at heart, including seafaring adventures and creative reinventions of the classics. We’ll even have a puppet kissing booth for the kids—it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Shows and activities run throughout the day, with staggered start times to ensure that visitors always have something to see and do. Performances are indoors and located within an easy walk of each other.
Highlights of the Puppet Festival Family Weekend include
· The Great Red Ball Rescue – In this spellbinding show by Faye Dupras, a boy undertakes a daring adventure to recover his favourite ball, which has been carried out to sea.
· Arbre and Inukshuk – Québécois company le chemin qui marche perform two captivating stories without words, followed by Q&A sessions in French and English.
· Squirrel Stole My Underpants – Bonnie Duncan presents one girl’s hilarious journey to rescue her favourite piece of clothing from the paws of a mischievous squirrel.
· Loki’s Big Dream – Jim Dalling weaves the touching story of a boy and his grandfather, and the lessons imparted by spending precious time together building cabins in the woods.
· The Good Old Fashioned Punch & Judy Show – Created by Fraggle Rock’s Mike Petersen, this classic puppet show is even better than you remember it: the comedy, the violence, the whole darn thing.
· Pandora’s Box – Based on the Greek myth, Jay Wilson’s one-man, five-character play introduces children to theatre, storytelling and more.
· The Sleeping Prince – The Clever Crones’ delightful family show returns to SpringWorks in a new orchestrated version with shadow puppets.
· The Mask Messenger – A series of vignettes by Christel Bartelse and Faustwork Mask Theatre, ranging from the comic to the poignant to the bizarre, using masks that capture the eye and the imagination.
· Tread On It! – Jeff Mann delivers an environmentally themed workshop in which kids use car parts and tires to print their own wearable art.
· The Kissing Booth – Kimberley Howe and Eva Nitsch invite kids to decorate a puppet, kiss a puppet and become an official puppeteer.
Half-price weekend passes are available online at www.springworksfestival.ca.
Ticket Information:
Dates: SpringWorks – May 7 to 17, 2015; Puppet Festival Family Weekend – May 16 to 17, 2015
General Admission: Adults: FREE to $20; Children: FREE to $10.
Puppet Festival Day Pass: Adults: $20; Children: $10.
Early-Bird Puppet Festival Weekend Pass (two days for the price of one): Adults: $20; Children: $10.*
Package rates: Adult tickets: 3+ for $15 each; Family of 4 (max. 2 adults): $40.
Flex passes (3 tickets): Adults: $45; Children: $25.
All purchases add HST and service fees.
*Early-Bird pass is available until May 1, 2015.
Website: www.springworksfestival.ca
Contact: email@springworksfestival.ca
2015-04-26
Stratford: SpringWorks announces half-price weekend passes for Puppet Festival