Further details have been released of Little Angel theatre’s 50th anniversary Christmas production, which will see the company’s founding family join forces with celebrated theatre company Kneehigh.
A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings, which runs from 19 November to 29 January, is inspired by a short story for children by novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez. When a very old man with enormous wings crashes to Earth in a flurry of feathers, the villagers who find him behind the chicken coop soon come to realise that nothing will ever be the same again.
The show will employ the talents of Lyndie Wright, who established the Little Angel theatre with husband John in 1961, along with daughter Sarah and son Joe, the acclaimed director of films including Atonement and Pride And Prejudice. The family will team up with Mike Shepherd, the joint Artistic Director of Cornish theatre company Kneehigh, whose innovative productions include recent West End shows The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg and Brief Encounter.
Little Angel’s autumn season kicks off from 9 to 11 September with a revival of the theatre’s first ever show, The Wild Night Of The Witches, which uses the original string marionettes carved by John Wright.
The theatre then welcomes several visiting companies, including Indefinite Articles with two shows – The Chalk Giant and Pinocchio – Noisy Oyster’s DaSilva Marionette Circus, Banyan Tree’s popular show The Steadfast Tin Soldier and Indigo Moon Theatre’s shadow puppetry version of Aladdin.
For half term (25 to 28 October), the venue presents The Gingerbread Man, by visiting company The Rainbow Collectors. Using puppetry and live cooking, the production re-tells the popular story of a mischievous pair of children who, left to their own devices in the kitchen, accidentally create a Gingerbread Man who leads them on an adventure.
In addition to A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings, which is suitable for ages 6 and older, Little Angel’s Christmas season will include its own version of classic fairytale Goldilocks for younger children aged 2 to 5, running from 7 December to 29 January.
CB