Birds of Paradise , in association with Festival and King’s Theatre Edinburgh, present:
The Tin Soldier
“Once upon a time and far far away there were 25 tin soldiers. Brothers. Because they were all born from one single spoon. One spoon! That must have been one flipping big spoon. Enormous. Have you ever thought?”
This December, Birds of Paradise will present brand new production The Tin Soldier; an accessible and enchanting retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s first ever children’s story, The Steadfast Tin Soldier – ahead of the company’s 25th anniversary in 2018.
Created for 5 – 9 year olds and their companions, the magical winter’s tale surrounds two people who find each other in a rough tough world although, like winter, nothing lasts forever.
Written by the acclaimed Mike Kenny (The Railway Children), The Tin Soldier will be directed by Birds of Paradise’s Artistic Director Garry Robson and will star Robert Softley Gale and Caroline Parker.
Intricate design will be paired with beautiful music as award-winning Russian puppet designer Victor Nikonenko teams up with Lauren Gilmour (Bella and the Bear), who will perform original live music alongside Audrey Tait.
Continuing to lead on accessibility in theatre, each show will make creative use of Audio Description, British Sign Language and Captions, ensuring that Birds of Paradise’s new Christmas show is an integrated production of derring do, devotion and never giving up.
Influenced by a visit to St Petersburg, Director Garry Robson said: “I spent time with young people in an Internat; an orphanage that becomes a home for life. For these young people there was no way of moving on from there so to compensate for this, the children formed family groupings amongst themselves, essentially look after one another.
“As part of this they cultivate a rich imaginative life, dreaming up stories and tales for one another to add colour and hope to their existence. On return I spoke to writer Mike Kenny about these experiences, and the idea of the play was developed.”
The Studio, 22 Potterow, Edinburgh, EH8 9BL
http://www.edtheatres.com/thetinsoldier
Relaxed performances will take place at 2pm on Wednesday 13 and Saturday 16 December 2017
