Little Angel Theatre Announces Summer Season As The 60th Anniversary Year Continues

Little Angel Theatre has announced its summer season as their 60th anniversary year continues.

Looking forward to a summer of community, creativity and live theatre (both indoors and out) artistic director Samantha Lane and executive director Peta Swindall said:

'We are so excited to announce our summer season of work. Both 'Nature Elly' and 'The Wishing Tree' have been developed in close collaboration with school and community groups which is really important to us. Little Angel Theatre runs a dedicated schools partnership programme and a dedicated community outreach programme in order to break down barriers to engagement and serve the needs of our entire community in a creative way, and we are delighted to be sharing these nature-inspired stories with children and their families. We are especially pleased to be giving away hundreds of tickets for each show to local children and their families who have helped us to develop the work. Alongside these shows, we are also running puppetry projects with partnership organisations including Solace Women's Aid, Age UK and Islington Council, as well as working with local food banks to support their work and provide enrichment activities for their beneficiaries.'

'We are very disheartened to hear about the four week delay to Covid restrictions. As a small charity who relies heavily on box office income, this is a huge blow and will have a big impact, putting increased pressure on our already inflated fundraising targets and future income targets. Not to mention the workload of our staff team. We will continue to be proactive and creative about the many ways in which we can engage with audiences - both digitally and in-person - as we have done throughout the pandemic. The safety of our performers and audiences will always be our top priority, and we very much hope that the new date of 19 July will remain on track.'

THE SUMMER PROGRAMME

Nature Elly

A Barmpot Theatre and Lincolnshire One Venues co-production, in association with Little Angel Theatre

2 - 31 July 2021

Tickets on sale now www.Littleangeltheatre.com

For ages 2-5

Elly runs the best little farm in Lincolnshire, but not everything is going to plan. The corn has been trampled, all the apples have vanished and there's hay everywhere! What could have happened? Come and help Elly and Bob the Pheasant fix the farm in time to save the harvest, and discover the secrets of the mystery animal hiding in the hay-stack.

Nature Elly is full of interactive fun, beautifully written original music and a cast of stunning and adorable animal puppets for little ones to meet. Created by award-winning Barmpot Theatre (creators of the theatre show Penguinpig), in association with Little Angel Theatre, and commissioned by Lincolnshire One Venues and SO Festival.

Nature Elly is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, with further funding from Lincolnshire One Venues, Louth's Riverhead Theatre, Grimsby's Culture House, the Lincolnshire Wolds Countryside Service, the RW Chapman Trust, Little Angel Theatre and SO Festival.

Based on an idea by Jane Crawshaw

Written and directed by John Hewer

Puppets, set and co-design by Ruth Pigott at Curiosity Creators

Puppet and set makers - Ruth Pigott, Nadya Monfrinoli and Lou Jones Music and sound design by Jon McLeod

Illustrations, scenic painting, and co-design by Maxim Peter Griffin Lighting design by Andy Johnson-Smith at Popcorn Media

Stage Manager - Jordan Whitwell

Performer - Jane Crawshaw

Poster illustration by Amberin Huq

LITTLE ANGEL THEATRE'S PUPPET PICNIC:

Following on from the hugely successful event in 2020, the Puppet Picnic returns to Islington Square for three weeks of outdoor puppetry and crafting. Bring a picnic, sit back and be entertained by a brand new show, The Wishing Tree, and some fantastic visiting companies. There will be work on display from Little Angel's brilliant artists, and local children, who fed into the creation of the show.

The Wishing Tree

Islington Square

9-29 August

Weekdays:10.30am & 1pm.

Weekends:10.30am, 1pm & 3.30pm.

Tickets on sale soon

Tickets: £13.50 adults, £11.50 children

For ages 5-11

'I am a green child all wisdom and wild

amongst the trees I play.

Trees that wish to meet you.'

'Trees of the Green Child'. A poem by Joseph Coelho.

Incorporating thoughts and ideas shared by local Islington school children coming out of the pandemic, this brand new play by award-winning poet Joseph Coelho (Werewolf Club Rules, The Girl Who Became a Tree, Overheard in a Tower Block) is a touching tribute to the importance of friendship and helping those in need.

Inspired by a new poem written for Little Angel Theatre by Joseph Coelho, six magical trees - apple, orange, magnolia, conker, mango and oak - have been created by artists Alison Alexander, Maia Kirkman-Richards, Ingrid Hu, Seb Mayer, Emma Tompkins and Sam Wilde.

The trees have been on display in Islington schools and community centres where they became the focus of a series of creative workshops with local children. The children discussed their wishes for the future, how they felt in the aftermath of the pandemic, and their hopes for their local community of Islington. Worries were posted into the trees and wishes were hung on the branches and turned into bunting which will decorate the Puppet Picnic in Islington Square where the magical trees will be situated in August.

The culmination of the project is The Wishing Tree, a new performance inspired by the children's words, written by Joseph Coelho and directed by Oliver Hymans.

Joseph Coelho said:

"Writing a play for Little Angel Theatre has been a long held dream, because there is a certain magic that is created with puppetry. I feel particularly passionate about this project because it gives a voice to children. So often their voices go unheard and it was a real honour to hear their concerns, worries and dreams and to fold them into a play that will be performed in their communities: in earshot of the homes they've spent so much time in recently, in view of the trees that they know, the trees that hear their wishes."

Ben has just moved to a new estate. It's miles away from his old friends, his old school, his Grandma's house, from everything he knows. But when his Mum and Step-Dad send him out to explore, he unwittingly finds himself on a quest to rescue a missing tree of wishes. Along the way Ben discovers the magic in his everyday surroundings, from some fantastical trees and creatures, to the hopes and dreams of the children who live around him.

Written by Joseph Coelho

Directed by Oliver Hymans

Puppets designed by Peter Morton

Sound Design by Patrick Furness

The Puppet Van presents

The Lost Colour

Islington Square

Dates 11 & 12 August 10:30am and 1pm

Tickets £11.50 children, £13.50 adults

For ages 5+

Join Malcolm Brushell, a professional painter and amateur alchemist, on his quest to find the pinky-est pink paint on the planet! Through cracking rocks, mashing every conceivable vegetable, and even bottling and fermenting his own cow's wee, he has created every colour imaginable. Through stunning puppetry and an energy fuelled performance all on top of a van, join this race to create the most potent pigmented pink paint imaginable.

The Lost Colour is the first custom designed show for The Puppet Van. This vibrant joyful explosion of colour is an energy fuelled physical show full of clowning, puppets, and paint. The show has its roots in the history of pigment making and follows a loveable independent artist up against a huge corporate pigment making conglomerate.

Presented by LAStheatre

The Lion Inside

16 - 17 August, 10.30 and 1pm

Islington Square

Tickets £11.50 children, £13.50 adults

For ages 3+

LAStheatre presents The Lion Inside a beautiful, outdoor performance for families 3+ based on the book by Rachel Bright and Jim Field. The performance is accompanied by a creative activity pack with a focus on dealing with change and facing fears.

This story is about confidence, self-esteem, and a shy little mouse who sets out on a journey to find his roar. Mouse lives in a house under a rock. At the top of the rock lives a Lion with the loudest roar of all the pack. Fed up of being ignored by the other animals, Mouse wishes he could roar like Lion. He tries and tries to find his roar, but in the end decides the only thing to do is to overcome his fear and ask Lion for help.

LAStheatre's production creatively and playfully explores; facing fears, building confidence, feeling positive, dealing with change, celebrating our differences and similarities, whilst playfully helping children talk about their feelings post-lockdown. The performance is designed to support children as they digest what has happened during COVID-19 whilst providing a shared vocabulary that encourages conversation about our thoughts and feelings.

The Bag That Went Boo

By Garlic Theatre

Dates 23 - 24 August, 10:30am and 1pm

Islington Square

Tickets £11.50 children, £13.50 adults

For ages 3 - 8

The delightfully comic story of a little red bag that jumps out of a brown paper bag - what in the world is it? and where is it going?

Join us for a fantastical journey of paper bag proportions, dive into the sea and travel to the land of snow. Watch out for a giant paper bag wandering about making strange noises....

Devised and designed by the Company

Performer Mark Pitman

Direction Steve Tiplady

Puppetry direction Liz Walker

Clown consultant Angela de Castro

Music Iklooshar Malara

If Not Here...Where?

A GOSH and Little Angel Theatre production

Digital production

June 2021

Tour of UK hospices and hospitals

Sometimes extraordinary worlds can appear in the most ordinary of places...

Produced in partnership with GOSH Arts and inspired by stories and ideas from young people at Great Ormond Street Hospital, this puppetry and digital hybrid production toured the UK in February 2020, visiting 19 hospitals and hospices from Bath to Edinburgh and beyond.

In a year when so many people have felt isolated, but no more so than young people in long term hospital care, Little Angel have now adapted the production to make it purely digital, enabling it to tour in a COVID-safe way this summer.

If a portal opened up at the end of your bed, would you be brave enough to step through? Join an adventure into a fantasy landscape where you will be transported through mysterious tunnels and emerge into a cacophony of colour. Will you climb an enormous tree, sail away in a boat or lie back and look at the stars?

If Not Here... Where? will visit hospitals throughout the summer including St George's Hospital, London and Darent Valley Hospital, Kent.

Directed by Laura Hunt

Designed by Ellie Mills

Music composed by Dominic Sales

Performed by Joni-Rae Carrack and Aaron Spendelow

Creative technologists: Clarice Hilton and Michael Golembewski

The Smartest Giant in Town

Now running until 15 August

Based on the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

A Little Angel Theatre and Fierylight co-production

Ages 3-8

Tickets on sale at www.littleangeltheatre.com

Due to popular demand performances of The Smartest Giant in Town will extend by a week until 15 August. Tickets for the new booking period are on sale today at 10am at www.littleangeltheatre.com.

This new musical adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's much-loved story, published by Macmillan Children's Books, is a highlight of Little Angel's 60th anniversary season. Co-produced with Fierylight, The Smartest Giant in Town is adapted for the stage by Little Angel artistic director Samantha Lane, who also directs, and award winning musician Barb Jungr, who has also composed new music for the production.

Adapted by Barb Jungr and Samantha Lane

Directed by Samantha Lane

Music composed by Barb Jungr

Set and costumes designed by Kate Bunce

Lighting designed by Sherry Coenen

Puppets designed by Judith Hope

This dramatisation of The Smartest Giant in Town is based on the picture book The Smartest Giant in Town © Text Julia Donaldson 2002 and © Illustrations Axel Scheffler 2002, published by Macmillan Children's Books.

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