AANIKA'S ELEPHANTS to be Presented at the Tryon Fine Arts Center & Puppeteers of America Festival

Feisty Elephant, Little Shadow Productions, and Pam Arciero Productions are presenting Aanika's Elephants at the Tryon Fine Arts Center, Tryon, NC, July 14th and 15th and opening the Puppeteers of America Festival at the University of Maryland, College Park on July 18th.

Written by Emmy Award winning writer Annie Evans, directed by Sesame Street performer Pam Arciero and production designed by Martin P. Robinson (Mr. Snuffleupagus and other Sesame characters), Aanika's Elephants takes you to the African Savannah where a Kenyan girl befriends a baby elephant. Their bond of sisterhood shows that a family can be anything - an animal orphanage, a widowed father and daughter, a herd of hunted elephants. With music by Paul Rudolph, a variety of puppets and gentle humor, the stirring story of Aanika entertains and educates about the present-day plight of Africa's elephants.

From Maryland, Aanika's Elephants will be produced at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta the August 18-Sept 3, and at the New Victory Theatre on 42nd Street in New York City from March 25-April 7, 2024.

Aanika's Elephants was workshopped at The Ridgefield Theatre Barn in Connecticut and has received workshop and production grants from The Jim Henson Foundation.

About AANIKA'S ELEPHANTS

Aanika's Elephants is the story of a young African girl who meets a baby elephant (Little) at the orphanage where her father works. They grow together the way only two young girls can, even if one has a trunk. When Aanika's father dies, she becomes the ward of an abusive uncle. She flees into the African Savannah making one final farewell to Little. Camping that night in the bush the way her father taught her, she is frightened by crashing branches and discovers Little has followed her. They become a herd of two, working together to survive and steer clear of humanity. Adopted by a small herd of elephants, Aanika learns their very beautiful, civil ways. She is finally tested when she must save her new family from poachers.

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