ATTENTION POETRY LOVERS! Come see, hear, and feel the entirety of T.S. Eliot’s poetic masterpiece, Four Quartets, nearly a thousand lines of rapturous (and devilishly hard to memorize) poetry, recited live by FST’s Artistic Director John Farrell.
Presented by Pontine Theatre in collaboration with Newington Historical Society.
Newington Old Town Hall
336 Nimble Hill Road
Newington, NH 03801
NIGHTINGALE
Wednesday, July 26 at 7:00pm
Stonington, Maine
We’re thrilled to bring our performance of Nightingale to Stonington as part of Opera House Arts’ annual Live! for $5 series. Live for $5 consists of 6 hour-long, live performances held on Wednesdays throughout the summer designed so everyone, regardless of age, can enjoy live theatre.
Nightingale is an exotic, musical adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen story of the Emperor who is moved by the song of a plain gray bird, until he receives the gift of a jeweled mechanical bird with which he becomes obsessed. The production gently stresses the importance of connection with Nature, and with the true essences of life.
The Stonington Opera House
1 Opera House Lane
Stonington ME 04681
This winter, our entire team of affiliate puppeteers and designers were called upon when FST was contracted to create puppets and sets for Holly Star, a feature-length film being produced in Maine.
The project was the primary focus of our creative and administrative time for four months, and included the challenge of pioneering the common ground between the film and puppet worlds, ensuring that both FST and the film team could achieve our goals, and integrating the two forms’ strengths and aesthetics. In the end, we were able to bring into the fold three new puppeteers and a new set designer while participating in a creative project that opens us up to a massive new audience.
We have attached some behind-the-scenes photos from the film set in case you’re curious, and will be sure to pass along information about the final film when it is released.
Enjoy!
John Farrell
Artistic Director
John Farrell on the set of Holly Star
Laura Collard puppeteers Santa, watched by Dylan Rohman and Vanessa Romanoff
Puppet Set Designer John Sundling puts the final touches on Santa’s Workshop
FST has been commissioned to create a series of puppets and sets for Holly Star, a feature-length film being produced in Maine this winter. The romantic comedy follows frustrated NYC puppeteer Sloan home to Maine for the holidays for some soul searching and a touch of love.
Pictured above is Santa, one of the eight characters featured in a series of puppet sequences.
Writer/Director Michael Nickles had originally written the role of Sloan as a stop-motion animator, but after seeing a demonstration of our Little Match Girl puppet, he re-worked the screenplay to make Sloan a puppeteer. Her childhood memories will be created in FST’s signature puppet style, with set elements shot separately and added with post-production magic. We can’t wait to start filming!
Videographer Derek Kimball just cut a trailer of the little match girl passion drawing on rehearsal footage from our January premiere at Bates College. Contact us today to inquire about this touring production!
The Maine Arts Commission has awarded Figures of Speech Theatre a Creative Aging Grant in the amount of $1,000 to support an inter-generational celebration of creativity, storytelling, and puppetry.
The project will be a collaboration between Freeport’s Figures of Speech Theatre and The Park Danforth and St. Brigid School in Portland.
From October through May, Figures of Speech Theatre Director of Education, Ian Bannon will facilitate shared storytelling sessions with assisted-living residents at The Park Danforth. Bannon, a certified TimeSlips facilitator, will use the model to create a fun, supportive atmosphere for risk taking.
TimeSlips is a collaborative storytelling format that was originally designed for people with memory impairments and other cognitive disabilities. TimeSlips provides an ideal way for people with cognitive challenges to communicate and share in a collective affirmation as creative individuals. Anne Basting, the founder of Timeslips, was named a 2016 MacArthur Fellow just this week!
In April, Ian will work with four-dozen elementary students from nearby St. Brigid School to devise large-scale shadow puppet adaptations of six stories generated by the residents of The Park Danforth. The students from St. Brigid School will benefit from a positive, cross-generational exchange designed around the issue of memory loss. At the same time, numerous common core objectives (in language arts, performance, visual arts, and speaking and listening) will be addressed as they devise their performances.
In May, the students will perform their adaptations for the original storytellers at The Park Danforth. Local musician and frequent Figures of Speech collaborator Dave Noyes will compose a lush, live score during rehearsals and in the final performance.
TimeSlips facilitators call the culminating event a “celebration” and it is intended to foster pride in the residents. The residents’ families in attendance often gain a newfound appreciation for what the residents are capable of as well as ideas for new ways in which to interact with them. The performances will be followed by an ice cream social…something people of all ages enjoy!
The Maine Arts Commission is an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.
The third and final mainland screening of The Art of Memory will be held at Mayo Street Arts, which has emerged as Southern Maine’s new home for puppetry.
