As You Puppet is a critic’s pick from NOW, and got 5 stars from EYE. Definitely a lot of positive buzz on this one. And, I suspect that it’ll be sold out, but lucky for you, there are a couple of tickets set aside for some lucky Mooney on Theatre reader.
To be entered to win a pair of free tickets to Saturday’s 12:25pm showing of As You Puppet at the Palmerston Library Theatre all you need to do is leave a comment* sometime before 10:30am Saturday.
More information about As You Puppet:
SHAKESPEARE FOR KIDS AGED 5-105!
THE CHALLENGE: to present William Shakespeare’s As You Like It with ONLY TWO talented performers playing 20+ CHARACTERS, bringing them to life using stuffed animals PLUS making the story accessible and entertaining to children!
AS YOU PUPPET is the inaugural production of Hank’s Toy Box Theatre, named after McClelland’s one-year-old son, whose actual toy box (on loan) hides the cast of characters until they spring to life as ―table top puppets. In this style of puppetry the performers are fully visible, while the puppets – in this case, ordinary plush toys – are made to flex, flop and frolic on table-high settings. Add a few pieces of simple scenery and voila! Instant classical theatre with a bit of a cartoon twist. The villain is a crocodile, the courtly servant is a tropical bird, the love-struck heroine is a teddy bear, and the bumbling clown Touchstone is a bunny who wears a polka-dot bowtie.
“As You Like It is my favourite Shakespeare,” says Petersen, who’s been entertaining kids for most of his adult life. “It’s funny, and the characters are so great, but the language can be daunting, so we’re populating the show with familiar animals.”
The idea is simple: the good guys are cuddly while the bad guys are not, and as they spout the lines that Shakespeare wrote over 400 years ago, these instantly recognizable characters will pose or swoon and sometimes even fly, so that what they’re saying will be clear. In other words: you could remove the words and still understand this timeless tale of love and disguises.
“We’ve shortened the play, but we haven’t changed the remaining text,” says McClelland. “We want the kids to have a positive first experience with Shakespeare, so they know it can be fun!”
“Petersen’s storytelling and puppetry are magical.” – The Coast, Halifax
AS YOU PUPPET opens on Thursday, July 2nd and plays till Sunday, July 12th at the Palmerston Library Theatre –
560 Palmerston Avenue (2 blks W of Bathurst/Bloor). Adults $10 / Kids $5. Fringe Hotline: 416-966-1062
Running Time: 60 minutes
NO LATECOMERS WILL BE ADMITTED
*be sure to include your email address in the email address field so I can reach you – it won’t show up to people coming to the site. If you won’t be near your email, please send me an email at info@mooneyontheatre.com to let me know an alternative way to reach you – please include “As You Puppet Contest” in the subject line.