For presenters

Old Man and the River

Created by Lynda Hill and Thomas Morgan Jones
For Children 3 years +
Puppetry

This beautifully designed puppetry work performed without words to an enchanting musical score, reveals a storybook world where rivers sing, trees laugh, and curious dragonflies come to visit.

A grumpy little old man lives in his little house in the woods by the river. Every day is the same and he likes it this way-until one day, a magical creature leaps into his world and everything changes!
With its themes of friendship, communication, play, adjusting to change, Old Man and the River is perfect for the youngest theatregoer. This show features interactive pre-show and post-show
audience engagement created especially for this age group.

RP (Relaxed Performance) | Sensory Friendly: The gentle, welcoming atmosphere, an interactive pre-show and post-show audience engagement as well as an on-line Social Story makes Old Man and the River suitable for children of all abilities and sensibilities.

Old Man and the River has toured throughout Canada and has received unanimous praise from children, parents, grandparents, and teachers for its artistry and engaging story.

Recommended Age
3+ Years or Kindergarten – Grade 2

Duration:
50 minutes (with 10 minutes pre-show interactive segment & 10 minutes post-show demonstration)

Audience Capacity :
150 Maximum

Minimum Space Requirement:
25’ Wide, minimum 20’ Deep, 12’ High

DIGITAL TOUR 2020-2021
Alliance Theatre, Atlanta | VOX Theatre’s Festival Tout Petit | Alliance Francaise de Toronto | Bridges Festival, Mississauga | Ottawa Children Festival

Requested access

Archival video link
Downloadable pictures
Technical rider

Available for touring

Credits

Created by Lynda Hill and Thomas Morgan Jones
Inspired by the story by Thomas Morgan Jones
Concept, Dramaturgy and Direction by Lynda Hill
Original Design by Kelly Wolf
Original Music by Nicky Phillips
Lighting Design by Jennifer Lennon
Puppetry by Mike Petersen and Eric Woolfe

Old Man and the River was developed and premiered by Theatre Direct as part of the 2014 WeeFestival of Arts & Culture for Early Years. Since then, it has performed for thousands of children and their families in Toronto, throughout Ontario and across Canada.

“A gentle yet powerful example of how theatre can entrance and
entertain. Want to introduce your kids to the magical world of theatre? I can’t think of a better way than Old Man And The River.” NOW Magazine

Photos by Naz Afsahi

Access Information

Relaxed Performance Format– Our performance welcomes all responses from audience members. WE encourage presenters to prepare ushers accordingly and have FOH at exits to allow audiences to come and go if they need to take a break.
WeeFestival will provide a Social Story for those who require additional preparation
We will have a Sensory Box for children who would benefit from accessing this.
We are happy to accommodate an early entry for children experiencing anxiety associated with their first theatre experience.
We are happy to provide a Touch Tour for persons who are Blind or Low Vision

What Educators have said

The play brings the children into a world where actions and gestures tell a story. The ensemble of story tellers not only weave a lyrical tale, but they employ so many strategies that support early learning.

The show was fantastic!! The staff and students loved it and during lunch, the students kept talking about their favourite parts (i.e. the sweeping of the leaves, the fairy in the water). The content was age-appropriate and the students responded positively to the play.

That performance has given me new insight as to how I can present storytelling materials for my students to use. My experience with this show has given me the inspiration to take out the traditional puppet theatre and hand puppets and replace it with a long table with stable props (e.g. – the river, a house) as well as, to offer objects that can more easily be moved about for creative storytelling (e.g. – Lego people, toy vehicles). Let the imagination begin!!

What children say about Old Man and the River

The old man kept saying “shoo” to the bugs and the leaves, he was so funny
The best part was when the old man was saying “sweep sweep”
The flying fish did such a cool flip, it looked like magic
I liked it when the old man saw a flying mermaid
I laughed then the old man said “uee uee” to the sun
The trees were funny when they dropped leaves on the man’s head
The sun went into the man’s house when he was sleeping and I laughed so hard.
That was the best play in my whole life

Credits

Creative Team

Created by Lynda Hill and Thomas Morgan Jones
Inspired by the story by Thomas Morgan Jones
Concept, Dramaturgy and Direction by Lynda Hill
Original Design by Kelly Wolf
Original Music by Nicky Phillips
Lighting Design by Jennifer Lennon
Puppetry by Mike Peterson and Eric Woolfe

2022-23 Company

Puppeteers: Derek Kwan, Alexandra Montagnese, Afsaneh Zamani, and Andrew Young
Stage Management by Ariane Burtin
Lighting Direction by Sarah Mansikka
Production Assistance by Carlyn Rahaussar Routledge

For The WeeFestival of Arts and Culture

Artistic Director: Lynda Hill
Company manager: Ariane Burtin

Meet the Puppeteers

Meet the Creative team

Lynda Hill – Director and Co-Creator

Lynda is a director, dramaturg, arts educator, curator, and creative producer with a passionate belief in the transformative power of arts in the lives of young people and the right of every child to experience and participate in, arts and culture. Read her full bio here.

Thomas Morgan Jones – Co-Creator

Thomas is an award-winning artist who has worked across Canada and internationally as a director, playwright, dramaturg, instructor, and movement coach. He is currently the artistic director of Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Nicky Phillips – Original Music

Nicky is an award-winning composer and lyricist. She is currently a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop where she was awarded the Jean Banks Award for outstanding achievement in Musical Theatre. An alumna of the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, Nicky was mentored by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Craig Carnelia. Her work has been showcased at Lincoln Center, 54 Below, Don’t Tell Mama, The Laurie Beechman Theatre and The New York Theatre Barn. Musicals include: The Journey That Saved Curious George (ASCAP/Stephen Schwartz Workshop, Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals, Canadian Music Theatre Project); The Last Party (Toronto Fringe Festival); Stagefright (Prospect Theater’s Musical Theatre Lab); In Between (Bravo Academy); BecomingTussaud (In Development); In Flanders Fields (Smile Theatre, Lunchbox Theatre, Betty Mitchell nomination). Original Music for plays include: The Snow Queen (Theatre New Brunswick); Buyer and Cellar (Alberta Theatre Projects); Old Man and The River (Theatre Direct, Dora nomination for Outstanding Production); Jane Eyre, The Penelopiad and The 39 Steps (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre). Nicky is a proud member of ASCAP where she was awarded an ASCAP Plus Award.

Kelly Wolf – Set and Costume Design

Kelly Wolf is a Theatre Maker, a Set and Costume designer and an Artist Educator who is interested in exploring the ways that design can augment the theatrical experience. She has created designs for many theatres across Canada ranging from small independent companies to the major festivals. Recent work has taken her into the realm of site-specific theatre creation. Kelly has worked in collaboration to create four new pieces of site specific theatre with her company Open Heart. One Small Drop, inspired by the textile workers of the Imperial Cotton Company. In Sight investigated the effects of a stroke and perception at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. HERE, took Kelly to Barton St in Hamilton to explore gentrification and change in that neighbourhood. Most recently, Conversations around the Table, and I Really Wish You Knew Me, challenging our views of people who are experiencing homelessness in Hamilton.

Jennifer Lennon – Original Lighting Design

Jennifer Lennon is a Toronto-based lighting designer for live performance. Recent design credits include: Walk Me To the Corner: An Evening with Brent Carver (Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company), GAIA (The Dance Migration), The Container (Theatre Fix), Die Fledermaus (Opera 5), Bombay Black (Factory Theatre, Dora Award), Banana Boys (Factory Theatre), The Twelve-Pound Look (Shaw Festival), and Stupidhead! A Mucisal Cmoedy (Disorganized Productions). She also acted as lighting coordinator for Theatre Direct’s 2016 WeeFestival of Theatre and Culture for Early Years. She is delighted to be back helping to make magic with Old Man and the River.

Mike Peterson – Puppetry and Performer

Mike’s career began on Fraggle Rock in 1984. He has since performed
around the world with such companies as Mermaid Theatre, Neptune Theatre, Kaleidoscope, the Edinburgh Puppet Company, Poland’s Teatr Arlekin, and Theatre Beyond Words. Film and television credits include Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth, Emily of New Moon, The Mighty Jungle, Toopy & Binoo Vroom Vroom Zoom, and the Emmy nominated pre-school series Miss
Persona. Mike created and performed in As You Puppet at YPT, and he frequently teaches the performers at TAP: Teaching Awareness Though Puppetry – a charity organization that uses puppetry to promote kindness.
As a teacher and puppetry consultant Mike has worked alongside Graham
Whitehead at Mermaid Theatre, Allen MacInnis at YPT, Lynda Hill at Theatre Direct, and Seanna Kennedy, director of the first Canadian production of Avenue Q at Lower Ossington Theatre. Most recently, Mike
directed The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show for Joseph Patrick Presents. He is currently developing a tabletop puppet show for Shaw Festival, in
collaboration with Alexandra Montegnese.

Eric Wolfe – Puppetry and Performer

Eric Woolfe is an actor, playwright, puppeteer and magician, and the Artistic Director of Eldritch Theatre, a Toronto Company specializing in horror plays using puppetry, live actors, and parlour magic. His work for Eldritch Theatre includes Space Opera Zero!, The Harrowing of Brimstone McReedy, House at Poe Corner, Frankenstein’s Boy, The Haunted Medicine Show, Madhouse Variations, The Babysitter , The Strange & Eerie Memoirs of Billy Wuthergloom, Dear, Grendelmaus, and Sideshow of the Damned. Some of his other credits include Old Man and the River (Theatre Direct), The Comedy of Errors (Humber River Shakespeare), The Glass Menagerie, Ghosts (Touchmark Theatre) Rocket & the Queen of Dreams, (Roseneath Theatre). Little Shop of Horrors (Canstage),and Timon in Disney’s The Lion King;

His film and TV acting credits include Fatman, American Gods, Heroes Reborn, Defiance, Murdoch Mysteries, Haven, Hemlock Grove, The Listener, Transporter, Certain Prey, and most notably, George Romero’s modern zombie western masterpiece, Survival of the Dead.