New Calgary puppet show encourages kids to find ‘magic moments’ in nature

Some talented Calgarians are serving up a real treat for local families this weekend. They’re hoping their new show will get kids off their screens and into the great outdoors.

Green Fools Puppet Theatre has teamed up with Calgary Pro Musica to present a production called “Rocky Mountain Fairy Tales.”

It features puppets depicting people, trout and dragonflies exploring the wonders of Alberta wilderness locations like Heart Mountain, Crandell Lake and Castle Mountain.

The action is accompanied by live music and narration spoken by Samantha Whelan Kotkas, who also wrote the script.

“In our digital age, where everything’s fed to us, I say to kids, ‘Look for those magic moments,’” Kotkas said. “Look at a mountain lake when it’s shimmering.”

The show will be projected live on a big screen set up behind the puppeteers.

“We create this world where kids can just watch the movie, they can watch all the cool technical stuff,” Green Fools artistic director Dean Bareham said. “We’re not hiding anything, they’re going to see all this happen.”

The story was inspired by the real-life adventures Kotkas enjoyed while growing up in Calgary.

“As a little kid, I would spend hours hiking in the Rocky Mountains,” Kotkas said. “It’s the children we perform this for that I hope get that same experience, that joy and that love of the outdoors.”

The show features interactions with fairies representing water, fire, wind and forests.

“It’s so important for kids to get out in nature and experience these things,” Bareham said. “We’re so connected to our iPads and to technology that I don’t think we get outside enough. So we’re trying to encourage kids to get out, go explore the special magical places that are just outside of our city.”

There will be two performances of “Rocky Mountain Fairy Tales”: at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 28 at the University of Calgary’s Rosza Theatre. Ticket information can be found on Calgary Pro Musica’s website.

People involved in the show are hoping the family-friendly hikes featured in the production will lead audience members to head out exploring the foothills and mountains near Calgary.

“We live in such a beautiful place,” Kotkas said, “and I think it’s really important that we love it, so that we keep it.”

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