Icarus, Falling of Birds is an experience of poetry on an epic scale in a beautiful outdoor setting.
This month, Gale Force Theatre brings a magical landscape performance piece to two sites around Nova Scotia. Inspired by the book of poetry and photography by acclaimed Maritime artists, Harry Thurston and Thaddeus Holownia, the 70-minute outdoor performance features large-scale puppetry designed by Laura Stinson and Ian McFarlane of North Barn Theatre, a string trio composed by Dartmouth-based Blue Lobelia, a reading by the poet and a youth ensemble of performers.
In September of 2013, thousands of migratory songbirds perished after being lured like moths to a flame to a hundred-foot-high flare at the Canaport Liquefied Natural Gas plant in Saint John, New Brunswick. This unique outdoor performance, adapted from the book of poetry and photography of the same name by Harry Thurston and Thaddeus Holownia, features a reading by the poet, large-scale puppetry, a string trio, and a youth ensemble of performers. As an audience member, you'll walk from scene to scene, taking in each striking element of this performance situated in the landscape where these same birds may have made their homes.
Performance dates:
Friday August 22 & Saturday August 23rd, 6pm, York Redoubt, Fergusons Cove, NS
Sunday August 24, 6pm, Ross Creek Centre for the Arts, Canning NS
Past Events
Sappyfest and North Barn Theatre present the
Swamp Life Parade
Saturday August 2nd at 3:30pm
Parade starts at the Sappyfest Mainstage
SIGN UP to learn how to animate North Barn’s larger-than-life puppets and to be a parade puppeteer!
Puppeteering workshops are on July 29th, 30th and 31st from 6pm- 8pm.
SIGN UP for our cardboard construction workshop series on July 19th and 20th from 2pm - 5pm and make your own parade puppet!
People's Parade for Life on Earth
Saturday, April 22nd
Halifax Waterfront
North Barn is partaking in this grassroots community parade hosted by the Ecology Action Centre, Mi'kmaw Grassroots Grandmothers, School Strike 4 Climate and others. The vision is for a joyful celebration of Mother Earth, of Water, of our communities and of our beautiful resistance for love, justice and all our relations. This events aims to be something everyone can see a place for themselves in, from the Water Walkers to the Girl Guides to choirs and drummers and drag queens and beyond.
Free
Solstice Walk
December 21st, 2022, 6 - 8pm
Gardens of Hope, New Glasgow, PEI
Join North Barn Theatre’s Ian McFarlane and Laura Stinson for the River Clyde Pageant’s Solstice Walk.
“The Winter Solstice reminds us of the cycles of renewal and the potential for change as we emerge from the darkness. In the midst of an ongoing pandemic and the climate crisis, The Solstice Walk shines a light on our capacity for transformation through attention to and presence with our community and the natural world.”
-from the River Clyde Pageant Website
Cardboard Construction: An introduction to puppet building
King's Theatre
209 St. George Street Annapolis Royal NS
Sat. Nov. 26 & Sun. Nov. 27
10am-12:30pm
North Barn Theatre’s Laura Stinson and Ian McFarlane will facilitate this workshop that involves sculpting, weaving, wiring, cutting, and stapling cardboard to make puppets and masks. These techniques are used to make small and large scale puppet structures that are finished with cardboard mache. In two x 2.5 hour sessions participants will be led through puppet building techniques from design to use.
Free
Lantern Making Workshop
Fire and Ice Festival, Kentville
Kentville Recreation Centre
354 Main St, Kentville
February 11th & 12th, 2pm - 5pm
Join Ian McFarlane from North Barn Theatre for a two day, hands-on workshop in how to design and construct an illuminated sculpture. Discover how to shape red osier dogwood and old bedsheets into a creation of your very own. Participants will be led through a step by step process that culminates in a lantern procession through Miners March on February 12th at 5pm.
Multiplier Performance Festival
2136 Black River Road, Lumsden Dam
September 17th & 18th
North Barn Theatre is thrilled to be presenting their new work, Weather Pattern Atlantic, at MULTIPLIER, an immersive daytime performance event for all ages.
Small groups of audience will be led on a 1.5 hour journey and invited to take in performances along this (short) walk.
Each artist will be presenting a new site-specific piece that invites the audience to engage in art outdoors.
This experience takes place on unceded mi’kmaq land.
Earth Day Celebration and Parade
People’s Place Library
283 Main Street, Antigonish, NS
Friday, April 22nd
2:30-4:00 pm
Join us for an Earth Day Celebration and Parade at the People’s Place Library in Antigonish, NS.
There will be snacks, costumes, and information on climate justice and environmental issues. North Barn will have a table with information on how to make protest puppets and will join the sidewalk parade.
Free
Willow Pageantry:
An introduction to sustainable large-scale puppet construction
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop
3640 15A Street SE, Calgary, AB
March 19th-20th, 12pm – 3pm
This two-day workshop will introduce a collection of ecologically-conscious building techniques through a hands-on process of constructing a parade-styled puppet. Exploring a branch of ecoscenography, this workshop explores the life of materials and endeavors to reach beyond the presentation of a performing material to the ecosystems in which they are entwined.
Presented by:
The Festival of Animated Objects & The Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry