When we decided to open The Trike, we knew that we'd have to build slowly and start with the Academy classes and events for the first year. During this first year, we hope to earn the trust of our families, the community and raise the money to produce professional Theatre for Youth in our Trike Playhouse season. We expect to open the Trike Playhouse in the Fall of 2009.
IN THE MEANTIME...
I want to tell you about a few shows that are coming to Walton Arts Center this year about which I am very excited! I'm going to use this blog to tell you about Jason and the Argonauts coming Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 7pm. Tickets are $8.
The show is produced by Visible Fictions, a wonderful Theatre for Youth company out of Scotland. While at Seattle Children's Theatre, I had an opportunity to spend some time with the Artistic Director and director of "Jason" - Dougie Irvine - while Visible Fictions collaborated with us on their production of The Red Balloon. I admire this company a lot. I love the way this the productions respect the audience (young and old alike), transports through well crafted acting and simple stage storytelling (sometimes with puppets or media). Each play is different. Yet all seem to bring bring a sense of humor to the stage and a depth that touches the heart. When we are creating our touring shows for Trike - I will be modeling much of what I do after Dougie's work with his company.
Click on the Blog Title above to go directly to Walton Art Center's website for show and ticket information.
Visible Fictions is one of the United Kingdom’s leading theatre companies. Working with only the finest artistic talent, they create professional performances that are innovative, memorable and relevant to its audience.
In Scotland, they have collaborated with BBC Panorama and co-produced with BBC Scotland for BBC Radio 4. In the United States, Visible Fictions was the first Scottish theatre company to perform on Broadway. They have collaborated with The Seattle Children’s Theatre and The Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles and are delighted to be co-producing with Minneapolis Children’s Theatre Company.
The play unfolds through two actors, a handful of action hero dolls and a set that transforms into multiple locations. Douglas Irvine loves a good adventure and Jason and the Argonauts has been one of his favorites since he was young. In order to tell the story using only two actors, Douglas enlisted the help of playwright Robert Forest. Along with the two actors and a set designer, the team improvised moments in the story, wrote a script, improvised some more, re-wrote the script, created a model of the set, improvised again, finalized the script, built the large set, rehearsed for four weeks and the went into performance. You can learn more about the development process and see photos at:
http://www.webplay.org/story_board.php
In Scotland, they have collaborated with BBC Panorama and co-produced with BBC Scotland for BBC Radio 4. In the United States, Visible Fictions was the first Scottish theatre company to perform on Broadway. They have collaborated with The Seattle Children’s Theatre and The Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles and are delighted to be co-producing with Minneapolis Children’s Theatre Company.
The play unfolds through two actors, a handful of action hero dolls and a set that transforms into multiple locations. Douglas Irvine loves a good adventure and Jason and the Argonauts has been one of his favorites since he was young. In order to tell the story using only two actors, Douglas enlisted the help of playwright Robert Forest. Along with the two actors and a set designer, the team improvised moments in the story, wrote a script, improvised some more, re-wrote the script, created a model of the set, improvised again, finalized the script, built the large set, rehearsed for four weeks and the went into performance. You can learn more about the development process and see photos at:
http://www.webplay.org/story_board.php
I will be leading a Family Workshop at Walton Arts Center from 5:30-6:30pm before the show. If you'd like to meet the actors, see back stage, play in the story of Jason and the Argonauts and learn more about the Visible Fiction play development process - please join me. Click on this link to buy a ticket:
Every chance we get - The Trike is connecting our Academy curriculum to shows that are coming to Walton Arts Center. In Story Drama this Fall, I took one class to focus on The Gruffalo (which came to Walton Arts Center earlier in October) and Virginia has been teaching acting principles to our 3rd-5th graders through the Jason and the Argonauts story. We will be doing the same in the Winter/Spring for Walton Art Center's productions of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Stellaluna & Magic Tree House - The Musical.
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