Wood and Strings Theatre returning
Published 6:00 am Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Although the Missoula Children’s Theatre will not be returningto Brookhaven this January, the Brookhaven Trust’s Arts Councilbelieves it has filled the early-year void with a unique showcasethat will expose even more local youth to the arts in 2009.
Tennessee-based Wood and Strings Theatre, a national touringcompany that performs puppet shows with high-quality marionettes,will return to Brookhaven for the first time in years for a puppetshow and a subsequent workshop on Jan. 14 and 15.
“This will be something different,” said Arts Council PresidentCeleste Lowery. “About 1,600 kids are going to see something reallycool they normally wouldn’t have access to.”
Lowery said the company would perform three shows on Jan. 14 forelementary students throughout the city and county school systems.The performances will be held in the Brookhaven Elementary Schoolauditorium, and second- and third-graders throughout both schoolsystems are invited to attend.
The show, entitled “Backwoods Ramblin’,” features a puppetgrandpa on the front porch of his cabin, telling tall tales to allwho wander by. Wood and Theatre has adapted the show from RichardCase’s “The Jack Tales,” a collection of stories gathered fromthroughout the southern Appalachians and meant to show earlyAmerican heritage. The company has been performing “BackwoodsRamblin'” since 1982.
Lowery hopes as many children as possible attend theperformance, especially from county schools, where she said theTrust believes opportunities are often missed.
“We felt like they get left out a lot,” she said of the county’selementary students. “We could have just done the first, second andthird grade of the Brookhaven schools, but we chose one gradeacross the board so we could invite the Lincoln Countystudents.”
The following day, Wood and Strings Theatre will perform asecond show at BES at 9 a.m. for older elementary students. Fifth-and sixth-graders throughout the county are invited.
The older children will be treated to “Out of the Mist … ADragon,” a soul-searching performance about a Japanese fishermanwho, as a dragon, flies around the world to break a magic spell.The show is meant to teach life lessons, and has been on Wood andStrings’ lineup since 1988.
The hands-on activities begin later that day. Beginning at 4p.m. on Jan. 15, the theatre will host a more than two-hour,puppet-making workshop at the Haven.
The workshop is for older children and their families, Lowerysaid, and registration is $10. Interested people may call PatrickLowery’s office at 601-833-1456 to register for the workshop.
Wood and Strings lists its workshops as serving to engagestudents with the arts, allow students to take “ownership” in theproject and build character. No materials are necessary, and pizzawill be served.
The workshop will be followed by another performance onstage atthe Haven at 6:30 p.m. Admission to this last show is $1.
“They’re really impressive,” Lowery said. “They were here aboutfive years ago. They were coming this way in January and called meto ask if we were interested. We’ve been working to get ittogether.”
Getting it together has been an expensive undertaking for thecouncil. Lowery said the Trust is covering the remainder of Woodand Strings’ fee not covered by a recently acquired $2,000 grantfrom the Southern Arts Federation based in Atlanta.
“We hope this inspires our kids to be creative,” Lowery said. “Alot of kids haven’t been exposed to any arts, and we want t showthem the arts can be fun and creative.”