Autumn 2011: STREET CHILD by Berlie Doherty
Cotton Grass Theatre and Damselfly Arts present the gripping and exciting story of an orphan, surviving the dangerous and lonely streets of Victorian London. The story is brought to life in a visual feast of puppetry, projection and live action.
Based on Berlie Doherty’s novel of the same name, this engaging and heart-breaking family show dramatises the stories and adventures of Jim Jarvis and his meeting with Dr Barnardo, who was inspired to set up his famous children's homes.
Berlie Doherty is an award winning children’s writer and novelist and twice winner of the Carnegie Medal for literature with Granny was a Buffer Girl and Dear Nobody, both of which have been adapted and produced for stage, TV and radio. Her books are much loved in schools and Street Child is enjoyed as a standard text in primary schools across the country, where it supports the Key Stage 2 curriculum.
Street Child at the Barnstaple Festival
This innovative play is quite literally spellbinding. With the use of a few simple props and some very believable puppetry, the cast of three transports us back to the horrors faced by young boys in Victorian England. Jim is faced with life in the workhouse after his mother dies and we are witness to the vicious mistreatment he suffers within - and all in the name of ‘God’. Jim escapes but goes from one bad situation to another. The grim reality is that boys suffered terrible cruelty and ‘Naught gets much better until you’re dead’. A flawless performance from Cotton Grass Theatre and a definite must see! (Fringe Secrets)
Cast: Anni Tosh, Susan Daniel, Lewis Marsh, Stuart Rooker
Directors: Sarah Bradnock and Phil Coggins
Lighting and Sound: Garry Preece
Design: Daisy Frossard
Autumn 2011
Sept 11 Museum of London
Sept 22 Wirksworth Festival
Sept 25 Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax
Sept 28 Palace Theatre, Newark
Oct 1 Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham
Oct 4-5 HMS Warrior, Portsmouth
Oct 6-7 Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford
Oct 12 The Met Arts Centre, Bury
Oct 18 Seven Stories, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Oct 21 Josepth Whitworth Centre, Darley Dale
Oct 22 Edale Village Hall
Oct 26 Woollaton Hall, Nottingham
Oct 28 Off The Shelf Festival, Sheffield
Oct 29-30 Cromford Mill
Nov 9 Thornbridge Hall, Ashford-in-the-Water
Links
www.berliedoherty.com
www.daisyfrossard.com
Based on Berlie Doherty’s novel of the same name, this engaging and heart-breaking family show dramatises the stories and adventures of Jim Jarvis and his meeting with Dr Barnardo, who was inspired to set up his famous children's homes.
Berlie Doherty is an award winning children’s writer and novelist and twice winner of the Carnegie Medal for literature with Granny was a Buffer Girl and Dear Nobody, both of which have been adapted and produced for stage, TV and radio. Her books are much loved in schools and Street Child is enjoyed as a standard text in primary schools across the country, where it supports the Key Stage 2 curriculum.
Street Child at the Barnstaple Festival
This innovative play is quite literally spellbinding. With the use of a few simple props and some very believable puppetry, the cast of three transports us back to the horrors faced by young boys in Victorian England. Jim is faced with life in the workhouse after his mother dies and we are witness to the vicious mistreatment he suffers within - and all in the name of ‘God’. Jim escapes but goes from one bad situation to another. The grim reality is that boys suffered terrible cruelty and ‘Naught gets much better until you’re dead’. A flawless performance from Cotton Grass Theatre and a definite must see! (Fringe Secrets)
Cast: Anni Tosh, Susan Daniel, Lewis Marsh, Stuart Rooker
Directors: Sarah Bradnock and Phil Coggins
Lighting and Sound: Garry Preece
Design: Daisy Frossard
Autumn 2011
Sept 11 Museum of London
Sept 22 Wirksworth Festival
Sept 25 Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax
Sept 28 Palace Theatre, Newark
Oct 1 Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham
Oct 4-5 HMS Warrior, Portsmouth
Oct 6-7 Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford
Oct 12 The Met Arts Centre, Bury
Oct 18 Seven Stories, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Oct 21 Josepth Whitworth Centre, Darley Dale
Oct 22 Edale Village Hall
Oct 26 Woollaton Hall, Nottingham
Oct 28 Off The Shelf Festival, Sheffield
Oct 29-30 Cromford Mill
Nov 9 Thornbridge Hall, Ashford-in-the-Water
Links
www.berliedoherty.com
www.daisyfrossard.com
Spring 2006: Corvus Corax - The Crow in the Know
by Susan Daniel
True happiness comes through wisdom not possessions.
Corvus Corax, our wayward crow, is expelled from the Kingdom of the Birds and sets out to gather many glittering things to appease his king. But, as his journey progresses, he discovers his true history, his place in the world and what is really important in life.
The play is inspired by creation myths from around the world - from Aesop's fables to Inuit mythology. Crow In The Know will transport you with a cornucopia of stories, music and visual delights. Fly with our trickster hero on his magical quest to gather a wingful of stories, whispers and dastardly dares.
The show was created for families and schools (KS1 and 2)
Cast: Helena Coates, Susan Daniel, Bethany Downes, Sarah Hepworth, David Frederickson
Director: Sarah Bradnock
Design and Illustrations: Julian Drake
Tour Schedule
Youlgrave Village Hall
Great Hucklow Primary School
Bradwell Primary School
Bamford Village Hall
Bakewell Medway Centre
Darley Dale Primary School
Ashbrook Primary School
Ashorne Village Hall
Corvus Corax, our wayward crow, is expelled from the Kingdom of the Birds and sets out to gather many glittering things to appease his king. But, as his journey progresses, he discovers his true history, his place in the world and what is really important in life.
The play is inspired by creation myths from around the world - from Aesop's fables to Inuit mythology. Crow In The Know will transport you with a cornucopia of stories, music and visual delights. Fly with our trickster hero on his magical quest to gather a wingful of stories, whispers and dastardly dares.
The show was created for families and schools (KS1 and 2)
Cast: Helena Coates, Susan Daniel, Bethany Downes, Sarah Hepworth, David Frederickson
Director: Sarah Bradnock
Design and Illustrations: Julian Drake
Tour Schedule
Youlgrave Village Hall
Great Hucklow Primary School
Bradwell Primary School
Bamford Village Hall
Bakewell Medway Centre
Darley Dale Primary School
Ashbrook Primary School
Ashorne Village Hall
Helena Coates as Corvus the Crow
Crow in the Know rap: Bethany Downes, Susan Daniel and David Frederickson - oh yes, and Sedna the Sea Goddess, whose voice bore a striking resemblance to a certain woman Prime Minister
Sarah Hepworth as Narrator
Winter 2000: BLACK BREAD AND TIRED FEET
by Caroline Small
'Every day she cleans and polishes - dusts and sweeps and scrubs and washes - the floor which gleams and sparkles and shines in the best-kept cottage in Russia.
She's got the soupiest soup and the tastiest bread and the tidiest house and the warmest beds - and the roastiest, toastiest, cosiest, coaliest, brightiest, lightiest, warm-up-your-toes-iest, firiest fire in the best-kept cottage in Russia.'
A star-burst of story-telling for the whole family inspired by three Russian folk tales - Baboushka, The Little Snow Girl and Ivan Gets it Wrong. A young traveller meets old Baboushka on her everlasting journey in search of the baby king. She tells him magical stories of those whose wishes she has made come true. The stories are dramatised with original music and lively comedy.
Director: Sarah Bradnock
Music: Ben Daglish
Lighting: Garry Preece
Graphics and Photography: Stephen Hepworth
Costumes: Penny Edwards
Cast: Susan Daniel, Caroline Small, Ben Daglish and David Frederickson
Children: Eleanor and Sarah Hepworth, Jake Daglish, Neirin and Lewys Wheeler
Reviews:
The company renowned for pushing back the boundaries has delivered the goods. (Derbyshire Times)
Thank you for putting on the best show I have ever seen. (Sam Brown, Bradwell Junior School)
Gentle and enchanting - what theatrical story-telling is all about. (Berlie Doherty, children's writer)
She's got the soupiest soup and the tastiest bread and the tidiest house and the warmest beds - and the roastiest, toastiest, cosiest, coaliest, brightiest, lightiest, warm-up-your-toes-iest, firiest fire in the best-kept cottage in Russia.'
A star-burst of story-telling for the whole family inspired by three Russian folk tales - Baboushka, The Little Snow Girl and Ivan Gets it Wrong. A young traveller meets old Baboushka on her everlasting journey in search of the baby king. She tells him magical stories of those whose wishes she has made come true. The stories are dramatised with original music and lively comedy.
Director: Sarah Bradnock
Music: Ben Daglish
Lighting: Garry Preece
Graphics and Photography: Stephen Hepworth
Costumes: Penny Edwards
Cast: Susan Daniel, Caroline Small, Ben Daglish and David Frederickson
Children: Eleanor and Sarah Hepworth, Jake Daglish, Neirin and Lewys Wheeler
Reviews:
The company renowned for pushing back the boundaries has delivered the goods. (Derbyshire Times)
Thank you for putting on the best show I have ever seen. (Sam Brown, Bradwell Junior School)
Gentle and enchanting - what theatrical story-telling is all about. (Berlie Doherty, children's writer)
Sarah Hepworth as the Snow Girl
Pavel the peasant in bed wirth his wife
The Wise Men arrive at Baboushka's house
Collage of images from the play
Summer 1999: The Glorious Tale of the Golden Whale
by Caroline Small
I have talked with whales along the way,
But the other whales are black and grey.
They shake their heads, they turn their backs.
"Who painted you gold?
You should be black".
What a tale, what a tale,
From the bottom of the deep blue sea
Of a whale, of a whale,
Of a golden whale and his search for a family.
A beautiful, lonely golden whale is befriended by the princess of the oceans and is rescued by his fellow sea creatures when he falls into the hands of men.
Thirty young people aged six to fifteen took part in a six-week programme of workshops in music, acting, lighting and set design and then performed in a magical family show.
Cast: Anna and Alex Bone, Jo Brown, Jessica Chapman, Ellie Cornford, Sophie Edwards, Mandy Foster, Kerrie Griffiths, Sarah and Eleanor Hepworth, Alex Kinnear, Natalie, Stephen and Emily Mitchell, AmyMount, Catherine Mullan, Eleanor Nash, Emily and Alice Nunn, Anna Rheingans, Collette and Nicole Robinson, Kelly Tricklebank, Louise Wager, David Warren, Lewys Wheeler, Tamsin Wright.
Directors: Susan Daniel and Caroline Small
Original Music: Paul Barker
Lighting Design: Garry Preece
Set Design: Jane Edwards
Costume Design: Penny Edwards
Graphics and Photography: Stephen Hepworth
Links
www.stephenhepworth.com
But the other whales are black and grey.
They shake their heads, they turn their backs.
"Who painted you gold?
You should be black".
What a tale, what a tale,
From the bottom of the deep blue sea
Of a whale, of a whale,
Of a golden whale and his search for a family.
A beautiful, lonely golden whale is befriended by the princess of the oceans and is rescued by his fellow sea creatures when he falls into the hands of men.
Thirty young people aged six to fifteen took part in a six-week programme of workshops in music, acting, lighting and set design and then performed in a magical family show.
Cast: Anna and Alex Bone, Jo Brown, Jessica Chapman, Ellie Cornford, Sophie Edwards, Mandy Foster, Kerrie Griffiths, Sarah and Eleanor Hepworth, Alex Kinnear, Natalie, Stephen and Emily Mitchell, AmyMount, Catherine Mullan, Eleanor Nash, Emily and Alice Nunn, Anna Rheingans, Collette and Nicole Robinson, Kelly Tricklebank, Louise Wager, David Warren, Lewys Wheeler, Tamsin Wright.
Directors: Susan Daniel and Caroline Small
Original Music: Paul Barker
Lighting Design: Garry Preece
Set Design: Jane Edwards
Costume Design: Penny Edwards
Graphics and Photography: Stephen Hepworth
Links
www.stephenhepworth.com
The Mermaid
The Dolphin
