A new, magic-realist gem of storytelling is coming to the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre (VDPAC), via Ireland.
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings will be gracing the VDPAC stage on Wednesday, April 10, as a part of the 2023-24 Spotlight Season’s Kids Series.
Blending storytelling puppetry, music, and live video projection, this 45-minute show is directed by the Irishman, Dan Colley.
Colley is a creative director, producer, and writer for theatre and film. He specializes in ensemble-devised theatre, theatre for young audiences, comedy, community participation, puppetry, and outdoor spectacle.
On his new show, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, Colley is excited to showcase it to a Vernon crowd.
“I’m delighted that this piece will get to be shared with audiences in Vernon,” he said. “Whenever it meets people in a new place, I’m always fascinated to see how they read its strange, ambiguous characters. Everyone sees something different in it and it’s often about something close to home.”
The highly inventive show is inspired by acclaimed Columbian novelist and short story author Gabriel García Márquez’s, Un Señor Muy Viejo Con Unas Alas Enormes. The show will take the audience to a kitchen in a theatre where two storytellers find an injured old man with enormous wings, who may be an angel. After consulting with the neighbour, an expert on all things magic, the couple decides to shelter him in a chicken coop, leading to a story of encountering a wise woman, a skeptical priest and hopeful pilgrims seeking healing.
This highly inventive show, combining music, puppetry and live video, taps into both the best and worst of humanity. The show has previously toured extensively in Ireland, visiting renowned venues like Riverbank Arts Centre, The Abbey Theatre, Everyman Theatre and the Project Arts Centre.
Tickets can be purchased at vdpac.ca.
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