Photo: Margo Ellen Gesser
Mark Saturday, Nov. 25 in your calendar for a relaxing family day at Shenkman Arts Centre. Start your day with a bit of holiday shopping at Baz’Art, a holiday arts market full of unique and local artists. Then snuggle up with your little ones and take in a performance of a childhood literary favourite, followed by pizza in the lobby.
Mermaid Theatre’s production of Guess How Much I Love You and I Love My Little Storybook will be a highlight of the year for Ottawa families. Parents and children have enjoyed these delightful and touching books for years. And now, they’re being brought to life by the acclaimed Mermaid Theatre.
Ottawa families may be familiar with Mermaid Theatre, who have delighted audiences across Canada, the United States and around the world. For many children in Ottawa, attending a Mermaid Theatre performance is their first exposure to live theatre.
And as artistic director Jim Morrow says, it’s special. “It’s a very special feeling to witness a young child clutching his or her favourite book as they enter the theatre to see their favorite characters come to life on stage for the very first time.”
Music, says Morrow, is essential to a Mermaid Theatre performance. “The music provides beat and rhythm that complement the action, but also adds a layer of emotional texturing.”
Although puppets play a large role in every performance, the Mermaid Theatre is not a puppet company in the traditional sense. Rather, they use objects to incorporate the story. They refer to the ones that have eyes, mouths, hands and feet as “puppets.”
“Design decisions are almost always based more on the unique challenges associated with adapting well-known storybook characters into fully realized objects, rather than on a particular puppet tradition,” says Morrow.
For more information, visit www.shenkmanarts.ca to order tickets (and pizza dinner) before Nov. 22 or call 613-580-2700.