02 – 16 August 2015
Cass Sculpture Foundation
“This transporting show excels at the wondrous and surprising. It’s also startling beautiful, with astonishing puppetry and fresh, committed performances. Ambitious, imaginative and breathtakingly achieved.”
The Times
“The life-size animal puppets are extraordinarily expressive, especially Oona with her aspect of ancient wisdom and lithely eloquent trunk. It’s not to be missed.”
The Independent
“Magnificent life size puppets. Oona the elephant is so life-like that it is easy to forget she is merely the sum of several parts operated from within. Each movement so carefully choreographed, her character emerges in all its complexity”
Chichester Observer
Based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo
Adapted by Samuel Adamson
“Oona, it was thanks to you. Because you ran, we’ve got this far. You saved my life.”
For Will and his mother, going to Indonesia wasn’t just a holiday, it was a chance to put things behind them. But when Oona, an elephant Will is riding on the beach suddenly bolts for higher ground in the wake of a terrifying tsunami, a whole new adventure begins. Will has to learn to survive deep in the jungle and soon discovers that he’s not as alone as he first thought.
Gyre & Gimble created a menagerie of life-sized animal puppets and worked with the talented company of puppeteers and performers at Chichester Festival Youth Theatre to bring them to life. Set in the magnificent woodland of Cass Sculpture Foundation, against a backdrop of monumental sculptures this thrilling and touching story of self discovery celebrates the power of nature.
Creative Team
| Director | Dale Rooks |
| Puppetry Design & Direction | Finn Caldwell & Toby Olié |
| Set & Costume Design | Andrew D Edwards |
| Music | Rod Patton |
| Movement Director | Lizzi Gee |
| Puppet Fabricators | Nick Barnes, Dulcie Best, Martin Jago, Zosia Stella-Sawicka & Charlie Tymms |
| Assistant Fabricators | Phillipa Bean, Amber Donovan & Hugh Purves |
Puppeteers
| Oona an elephant | Emily Dyble, Liam Wright, Harrison de Bathe, Sami Green & Nicholas Jacobs |
| Mani an orangutan | Romina Hytten & Fred Davis |
| Charlie an orangutan | Freya Peake |
| Tonk an orangutan | Will Browne |
| Tiger | Charlie Daniells, Darcy Collins & Susie Coutts |
| Kingfisher | Luc Gibbons |
| Additional Puppeteers | Esmee Cooper, India Loseby, Jude Loseby & Lucy Pratt |