Beaver Dreams“La Fièvre du Castor”
Directed by: Anne Lalancette
Produced by: Maggie Winston
Creator/Clown/Puppeteer- Maggie Winston & Rae-Anna Maitland
Clown/Puppeteer: Rae-Anna Maitland, Annick Prémontrés, Maryruth (MR) Stine, Mika Laulainen
Sound Design: Kendal Zier
Animation and Media Design: Molly Winston
For all ages/ Bilingual En/Fr
*****
The best dam show! Laissez monsieur castor vous transporter dans une aventure incroyable à travers les forêts du Québec, sous la menace croissante des édifications de l’homme. Get wet witnessing a side of beaver life you’ve never seen. Une production originale de Lost & Found Puppet Co. with puppetry, clowning and animation.
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Beaver Dreams tells a story about a family of beavers and a family of humans living in the heart of the Quebecois forest. The beavers go about their daily life; gnawing on wood and building dams. The humans try to go about their typical summer chalet activities; sun tanning on the dock, dancing in the moon light. But when the dam raises the water level over the dock’s edge there is a perpetual struggle between construction and destruction, between the animal and its adversaries. Both the beavers and the humans experience the same nightmare depicting commercial development that threatens their corner of paradise. What if the beavers thought the same as us?
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La Fièvre du castor raconte dans une mise en scène loufoque l’histoire d’une famille de castors et d’une famille d’humains vivant au cœur de la forêt québécoise. Toutes deux subissent le même cauchemar, le développement commercial qui menace leur coin de paradis. S’engage alors chaque été une lutte perpétuelle entre construction et destruction, entre l’animal et ses adverses. Et si les castors pensaient comme nous?
Photo Credit: Louis-Martin LeBlanc
FRANKIE AWARD WINNER: MainLine Creativity Award (MainLine Theatre). The Montreal le Festival de Clowns Award (The Montreal Clown Festival). Winner of Fringiest Show Award (London Fringe Festival, ON)
FRANKIE AWARD NOMINATIONS: Freestanding Room Award for Making Big Things Happen in Small Places (L’Espace Freestanding Room). Most Promising English Company (Segal Center for Performing Arts). Best English Production (Centaur Theatre).
REVIEWS AND MEDIA:
http://janislacouvee.com/dispatches-from-the-victoria-fringe-2017-day-two/
http://www.timescolonist.com/fringe-fest-reviews-reinvention-of-lear-a-bit-of-a-muddle-1.22191909
“WOLF TEA”
An exploration of the mundane entangled with the fantastical and dreamlike. This piece changes each time it is performed in different venues. Using hand made mask and puppets from natural found materials, digital projection with shadow puppetry, physical theatre, and original soundscapes.
Performed by Maggie Winston, Naomi Moon, Bronwen Moen, and Jesse Grindler.
Created in collaboration with Jesse Grindler, Naomi Moon, and Kaeridwyn Eftelya at the Lookout Arts Quarry in Bellingham, WA, in November 2017.
PREVIOUSLY PERFORMED AT:
The Lookout Arts Quarry- Bellingham, WA, USA- November 2017
Archipelago (part of WildSide Festival, Montréal)- January 2018
OUF Festival des Marionnettes, Montréal- March 2018
Phénomena Festival –October 20th, 2018 at Rialto Theatre-Montréal, QC
La 11ème édition du Micro-Festival des Marionnettes Inachevées- October 23-27, 2018 in Trois-Rivières, QC with Les Sages Fous
Journey
A solo puppet show with rod style puppets about a lost child who is challenged by a world of spirits. Performed by Maggie Winston.
30 minutes
no language
appropriate for adults and children over the age of 7
This show was created during an artist residency with Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust in New Delhi, India, January-February 2013. Project support by BC Arts Council Professional Development Program
Just Enough- a puppet and clown show
Ages 3 and up
40 minutes
Just Enough is based on a traditional Yiddish folktale and has since spread, transformed, and been retold in many cultures around the world. Many might recognize it as being inspired by the popular children’s book “Something from Nothing” by Phoebe Gilman. It gives a whole new spin to the notion of recycling, as beloved objects find new uses. The story involves a grandmother who makes a quilt from the materials she has collected over the years, and gives it to her granddaughter. With each piece of fabric a memory is shared. Although she may not have much, she will always have ‘just enough’ for a great story.
PAST PRODUCTIONS:
Remembering Light
A collection of memories on the theme of light
(2011)
40 minutes
Cantonese dialogue with English Subtitles
This shadow play was created by the Lost & Found Puppet Co. (with puppet artist Maggie Winston) in collaboration with Cantonese speaking seniors from the Arts, Health, and Seniors program at Strathcona Community Centre. The seniors were asked to share some memories from their childhood in China that reminded them of light in some form or another. Out of this sharing came four distinct memories. One of these memories show the difficulties of life in China when not many resources were available to them, while another describes what it is like to see things brighter after having cataract surgery. In the end all the seniors have come to appreciate the electric light bulb for the safety and comfort it brings to their lives today.
Commissioned by BCHydro, performed at Parker Place Mall, Richmond, BC October 22nd, 2011
The Book of Shadows: Ghost Stories from Around the World
Ages 3 and up
30 minutes
A shadow puppetry presentation of three ghost stories from different cultures: Chinese, Coast Salish, and Indonesian. Combining traditional and modern styles of shadow puppetry, Lost & Found Puppet Co. uses an overhead projector and 2-dimensional puppets against a screen to bring these stories to life. Music, storytelling, and audience participation create a thrilling and multicultural Halloween experience for the whole school.
Herban Adventures: A Puppet and Music Fairytale
with Maggie Winston (Vancouver, BC), Maryruth Stine (Tacoma, WA), and Kendal Zier (Montreal, QC)
Created during a residency at Deer Crossing the Art Farm, Summer 2011.
“Lost in the forest, a chance encounter with a Dandelion turns one man’s world upside down. As he tries to find his way back to civilization, a cast of wild herbs changes his outlook on life. Hogweed, Blackberry, and Kinnikinnick all feature in this modern fairytale. While exploring the folklore and flora of the Pacific Coast forests, he learns that magic is real and begins to find himself again.”
The story explores the plant conflict between native and invasive species. A human character who is threatening to develop the forest is thrown into the conflict too.
The Lost Sole
A mor-elastic tale about the search for one’s perfect match….. told by sock puppets.
This half-hour story takes us on a journey from the household dryer to the big, lonely city and beyond. We meet all the mismatched foot sleeves one could imagine, as they seek to demonstrate their own importance by snubbing the newly “singled” Al, and making his life a living hell. The wooly protagonist must search for his own meaning, having lost “purpose” when witnessing the death of his life mate Gary. Employing all the funky socks you wish you had, along with some great shadow play cut-outs, L&FPCo bring over 20 characters to life, including “weird” bird and some great “professional footwear.” Some themes may be adult, but the language is clean and the kids would love it.
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