- 2023-10-08
Marin Theatre Company Announces its 2016-17 Family Series
MARIN THEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES ITS
2016/2017 FAMILY SERIES OF TYA PRODUCTIONS
Production Dates: September 17, 2016 – March 5, 2017
MILL VALLEY, CA—This fall, Marin Theatre Company unleashes their 2016-17 Family Series season with tales of growing up, friendship, and self discovery. Kicking off its second Family Series Season of Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) plays is writer and performer Jim Napolitano with his original shadow puppet story, Father Goose’s Tales. Next up are three fully self-produced TYA productions: an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s engrossing The Jungle Book by Greg Banks, Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale, The Snow Queen, adapted by Mike Kenny, and Brendan Murray’s endearing rendition of Hare and Tortoise.
From MTC’s Director of Education and Engagement, Courtney Helen Grile
“It was of the utmost importance to Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis and I to put together a season that is engaging, intelligent, and will spark the imaginations of the young audiences in attendance. I was really interested in exploring newer plays by contemporary TYA Playwrights who are adapting classic stories in a fresh and compelling manner. We are thrilled to launch into our second year of self-producing the bulk of our Family Series and will continuously aim to raise the bar for quality entertainment for young people in the Bay Area.”
More about the Plays
Father Goose’s Tales
Recommended for ages 4-8 | run time 30 minutes
There’s Trouble in the nursery.... Mother Goose has taken the day off and Father Goose must do all her chores, including the storytelling! Try as he might, Father Goose just can't get the stories right....
Father Goose's Tales is a modern retelling of nursery rhymes, stories and children's songs that will entertain the whole family.
The Jungle Book
Recommended for ages 6+ | run time 30 minutes
When Shere Khan the Tiger wants to make a defenseless young boy Mowgli his next meal, a family of wolves steps in to save him and raises him as their own. As he grows into becoming a young man, it's up to Balou the Bear and Bagheera the Panther to teach Mowgli how to survive in the jungle and protect him from the vengeful tiger who still hunts him. In this adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's classic story, Mowgli must learn on his own, however, who he truly is and discover in his heart where it is he belongs.
The Snow Queen
Recommended for ages 9+ | run time 30 minutes
The enchanting story of Gerda and Kai, best friends with an unshakeable bond and their adventure with an evil mirror that turns beauty to ugly, and good to bad--and the Snow Queen, who is indifferent to all she freezes in her path. A group of intrepid narrators bring all these and more to life. Adapted by Mike Kenny (The Little Mermaid), MTC's production of Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale teaches young audiences how people learn to do good in an often-wicked world.
Hare and Tortoise
Recommended for ages 4+ | run time 30 minutes
Young, excitable Hare wants nothing more in this world than to race his friend--the older, slower Tortoise. While Hare speeds through daily life and does everything he can to make the time pass, Tortoise like to slow down and take each moment, whether doing chores or having fun. Hare and Tortoise is a both fun, fast (and slow) whimsical production about the importance friendship, being in the moment, and the excitement of growing up.
More about the authors and playwrights
Jim Napolitano, a.k.a. “Uncle Nappy,” is a Connecticut native and one of America’s most-loved shadow puppeteers. He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut’s Puppet Arts program, and has taught puppetry to students of all ages throughout New England. For over 20 years Nappy’s Puppets has toured nationally to theatres, festivals, libraries, and museums, delighting audiences of all ages with quality shadow theatre productions.
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English author, journalist and poet born in Bombay, India. There, he worked with a much renowned newspaper The Pioneer, Allahabad before taking up writing as a profession. Best known for his works such as The Jungle Book , Kim and Just So—Stories for Little Children, Kipling ranks among the greatest English novelists and authors and regarded as the leader of the art of the short stories. The author has written a number of other stories, including the famous The Man Who Would Be King, and several poems and short stories that contributed greatly to English literature during the 19th and 20th century. The author received the honorary Nobel Peace Prize in Literature in 1907 and became the first English writer and the youngest recipient to have received the award till this day.
Greg Banks’ work as an actor, writer and director has taken him all over the world from Singapore to Seattle via the Arctic Circle. Greg’s plays include Tir Na N’og (Travelling Light/West End, Broadway,Touring/ Winner of Samuel Beckett Award/TMA nominee for best play for young people 1998), Why The Whales Came (Plymouth Theatre Royal/ Theatre Alibi/West End) Dorian Grey (American Drama Group/International touring) Too Many Cooks( Travelling Light) Huck Finn, Pinnochio, Robin Hood, Antigone (Minneapolis Children's Theatre) Me and My Shadow (Theatre Alibi) Snow Queen (Norden farm) Arabian Nights, Hansel and Gretel, Keep on Moving, (Fair Game Theatre). He has directed for many companies including The Bristol Old Vic (Endgame), The Unicorn Children's Theatre London (The Wizard of Oz), Minneapolis Children's Theatre (Romeo and Juliet. Winner of the 2009 Ivey award for Direction and voted best play of 2009 by Twin Cities.com, Antigone, Huck Finn, Pinnochio, Robin Hood) Vedogon Theatre, Moscow (Comedy Of Errors) American Drama Group (The Great Gatsby)The Birmingham Stage Company (Kensukes Kingdom; nominated for a 2006 T.M.A. award, Treasure Island, Why The Whales Came),Polka Children's Theatre, (Just So by Jamila Gavin) New Perspectives,Travelling Light (Stones, Tir Na N’og, Too Many Cooks), M6 Theatre Company (Forever, Peacemaker, Trouble), 1157 Performance Company, Seattle Children's Theatre and The New York State Theatre (Tempest, King of Shadows by Adrian Mitchell). Most recently, he wrote an adaptation of The Jungle Book for the The Minneapolis Children's Theatre.
Hans Christian Andersen is famous for writing over 160 fairy tales, including The Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen, The Little Match Girl, The Princess and the Pea, and The Little Mermaid, have become literary classics enjoyed by children and adults the world over. Andersen was born on April 2, 1805, in Odense, Denmark to a very poor family. His father, who died when Andersen was only 11, would entertain him with old Danish legends and stories from The Arabian Nights, which influenced his writings as an adult. In 1867 he returned to Odense to be honored by his country. He published his last fairy tales in 1872, and after a long illness, he died in Copenhagen on August 4, 1875.
Mike Kenny is one of the England's leading writers, specializing in young people's theatre. He is the recipient of numerous awards, was named in the Independent's list of Top Ten Living UK Playwrights, and his plays are performed regularly throughout the UK and all over the world. In 2013 he was given an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by Nottingham University, England. AWARDS & NOMINATIONS: Arts Council of England - first ever recipient of The Children's Award for playwriting for children (2000). Cinderella: 2013 Dora Mavor Award for Outstanding Musical Theatre Production and 6 other awards by Young People’s Theatre. Diary of an Action Man: Best Children's Play (Time Out Critics Choice). Electric Darkness: Writer's Guild of Great Britain Best Children's Play Award, Winner of the 2012 Kindertearpreis, Moliere Award (nominee). Flags and Bandages: Best Children's Play (British Theatre Institute). The Gardener: shortlisted for Deutschen Kindertheaterpreis. The Last Freak Show: Edinburgh Festival Pick of the Fringe, and Manchester Evening News nom. For Best Fringe Show. Mind the Gap: Barclays TMA Award for Special Achievement in Regional Theatre (2002). The Railway Children: Olivier Award for Best Entertainment 2012, Dora Mavor Audience Award 2012. Scarecrow: Writer's Guild of Great Britain Best Children's Play Award (short list). Sink or Swim: Best Children's Play (Time Out London). Stepping Stones: Best Children's Play (Writers' Guild of Great Britain). Stuck: short listed for Writer's Guild Best Children's Play. Walking the Tightrope: 2009 Dora Mavor Award for Theatre Direct’s Outstanding Production and Outstanding Performance for Theatre for Young Audiences.
Brendan Murray is an actor, teacher and writer of plays for young audiences. He was Writer-in-Residence at The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield (1989/90), under the ACGB Resident Dramatist Attachment Scheme and has since undertaken commissions for tutti frutti Productions, Proteus, Eastern Angles, New Perspectives, Glyndebourne Education, The Crucible Studio, Solent Peoples Theatre, Greenwich and Lewisham Young Peoples Theatre, Theatre Centre, The Sherman Theatre Cardiff, Hijinx , The Albany Theatre, The Unicorn Theatre For Children, SNAP, The Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester, The Grand Theatre Blackpool, Polka, Red Ladder, Jersey Arts Centre, Oxfordshire (Touring) Theatre Company and BBC Network radio. His work has been produced throughout the UK and in Ireland, Holland, Japan, Australia, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Israel, Switzerland, Mexico and the USA. In 1997 he was awarded an Arts Council Bursary and nominated for a Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Best Children's Play and was runner-up for the John Whiting Award in 2000. In 2001 he won The Brian Way Award and in 2009 and again in 2012 The Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Best Play: Children & Young People. He was the Visiting Gulbenkian Fellow at King's College Hospital (2002-03) and Artistic Director of Oxfordshire (Touring) Theatre Company from 2003 to 2008.
CALENDAR INFORMATION
Performing Arts | Theater
WHAT
Father Goose’s Tales
September 17-18, 2016
September 24-25, 2016
The Jungle Book
October 29-30,2016
November 5-6, 2016
The Snow Queen
November 26-27, 2016
December 3-4, 2016
Hare & Tortoise
February 25-26, 2017
March 4-5, 2017
WHO
Marin Theatre Company
Performance Days
Saturdays 10:30am, 12:30pm, 3:00pm
Sundays, 10:30am, 12:30pm
WHERE
Marin Theatre Company | 397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941
TICKETS
$18-$22
Discounts for groups are available. Contact the Box Office for more details.
For visually impaired patrons, Large Print playbills are available with one week’s advance notice. To request a Large Print playbill, call MTC’s Box Office, (415) 388-5208, or use the California Telecommunications Relay Service by dialing “711.” For hearing impaired patrons, amplified sound Listening Devices are available.
marintheatre.org | (415) 388-5208 | boxoffice@marintheatre.org
Sara Waugh, Marketing Director
(415) 322-6022 | saraw@marintheatre.org
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