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lune 25. 2008
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Puppetry Captures Collective Spirit
Exciting lineup Coming
photo by
Brian Keith gives life to the tears o f Joy Theatre production o f Hare's House.
N ancy A ldrich
Tears o f Joy Theatre's nationally recognized commitment to excellence
and innovation in puppetry will open next year's season with ‘‘Jungle
Book" by Reg Bradley.
Inspired by a 1 9 9 6 juvenile-justice theatrical project, Tears o f Joy Theatre created the Higher Stages after school
program to work with at-risk youth.
continued
fro m Front
grade schools in north and northeast Port­
land.
Even when students aren’t them selves
making puppets, TOJ perform ances inte­
grate study guides and seek scripts with
intellectual value that also make kids shout
with excitem ent. Edutainm ent becam e the
word used by puppeteers to describe how
students enjoyed and learned from the
presentations.
“ It's not didactic education— it's about
trying to give them experiences." says
Kris Bluett-W oolen. TOJ com munity-out-
reach director. “ Kids who are involved in
the arts becom e creative thinkers."
T he theatre has struggled with cash
flow over the years, but the staff sees the
trouble as worth the respect and enrap­
the Spider from West Africa and Stellaluna
the Bat from American children’s author
Jannell Cannon makes work less grueling
for TOJ. These tales speak to the most
basic aspects of identity and trickery to
capitalize on hum anity's com m on under­
standings.
"The best stories appeal to all people
because we all struggle with the same
problem s," says Nancy Aldrich. TOJ artis­
tic director.
Aldrich sees TOJ as particularly suited
for building tolerance and cultural bridges
with puppets that have a sense o f charac­
ter to cross over any biases. She gets help
from bilingual storytellers with expertise in
w hichevercultural foray the rehearsal team
is tackling.
“We want to respect the culture and
bring to it everything we can," she says.
tured looks on students’ faces. Even with
one o f the few living-w age jo b s in the
Portland theatre scene, TOJ perform ers
m ust really love the work (hat they do.
A fter spending a m onth in rehearsals,
T O J’s traveling staff often spends six
m onths on the road perform ing the same
show more than 200 tim es. By necessity,
puppeteers strive to think o f ways to keep
the perform ances fresh, as touring per­
formers play for 225,(XX) people annually in
theatres, com m unity centers, festivals and
schools throughout the U.S. and abroad.
“O ne o f the great things about working
with kids is you alw ays know if y o u 're
doing w ell,” says P uppeteer Jonathan
Owicki. “ If ajoke is falling Hat, they start to
fidget, and it's tim e to com e up with a way
to do it better."
The adaptation o f legends like Anansi
Tears o f Joy T heatre’s national ly rec­
ognized com m itm ent to excellence and
innovation in puppetry will open its next
season with “Jungle Book" by Reg B ra­
dley.
The story is bused on the book by
Rudyard Kipling and contem plates the
m eaning o f family. Explore the Indian
jungle with M owgli as he tries to dis­
cover to w hich family he belongs. M on­
key? W olf? Man? The audience partici­
pates as m em bers o f the w olf pack as the
powerful play unfolds.
N ext up in the th e a tre ’s new w orks
is “T he R elu ctan t D rag o n " by N ancy
A ldrich, b ased on the book by K en­
n eth G ra h am . T O J ’s m a g n ific e n t
d rag o n m ay look large and scary, but
he, like the boy w ho b efrien d s him , is
m uch m ore in terested in songs and
poetry. The villagerscall fo rS irG eo rg e
to p ro tec t them , and ev ery o n e gets a
great show .
"W hen Animals W ere People" by
Aldrich and O m ar Vargus follows. Mexi­
can and South A m erican tales will be
brought to life in this dynam ic new pro­
duction.
“Fabulous Bear!" by Jan W ilkowski
features a small bear named Timothy who
brings hom e a lost puppy. W ill his daddy
let him keep it? The suspense is thrilling
as the story unfolds revealing a burglar
in the house! This play from Poland be­
cam e a favorite with children throughout
Eastern Europe.
Season ticket subscriptions, includ­
ing “Jungle Book” Nov. 14-30, “Puppetz
Vs. P eo p le" N ov. 28-9, “ R elu ctan t
Dragon" Dec. 19-28, "W hen A nim als
W ere People” Feb. 6-22 and “Fabulous
Bear!" April 3 -19, are on sale for $60 this
month.
The shows at the W inningstad T he­
atre, 1111 S.W. Broadw ay, norm ally run
$ 14 children, $ 17 adults. For more infor­
mation or for group rates, call 503-248-
0 557or360-695-3 0 5 0 .o rv isitT o jt.o rg.
503-652-0006
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