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SEATTLE CHILDREN'S THEATRE
PRESENTS THE AMERICAN PREMIERE
OF SPEELTHEATER HOLLAND'S GLITTRA'S
MISSION
(Seattle, WA)- Seattle Children's
Theatre's cultural partnership with Speeltheater Holland (Stellaluna, Nicky
Somewhere Else) continues with the production of Glittra's Mission
February 11 through March 26. Speeltheater, a traveling theatre company
based in Edam, The Netherlands, is led by husband and wife team Onny Huisink and
Saskia Janse, who will bring this story, written by Swedish author Peter Pohl,
to the stage for its American premiere.
Speeltheater Holland is renowned for
its clever and unconventional use of puppets, and this play will be no
exception. In Glittra's Mission, six-year-old Martin has a
fascination with keys and is not afraid of danger-good thing he has a guardian
angel, Glittra, to watch over and guide him as his adventures lead him to doors
that are better kept shut.
"It's normal for kids to be
curious, even though it might get them in trouble, but this sweet story, with
engaging puppetry and upbeat music, reminds us that not only do we have to look
after ourselves, we have to look after each other too," said SCT Artistic
Director Linda Hartzell.
Public performances of Glittra's
Mission run Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 and 5:30 p.m.
in the Eve Alvord Theatre, located at 201 Thomas Street at Seattle Center.
Tickets range in price from $14 to $28 and may be purchased by calling the SCT
Ticket Office at (206) 441-3322 or by visiting SCT's website at www.sct.org.
Glittra's Mission is recommended for ages seven and older.
Glittra's Mission is adapted
and translated by Janse and directed by Huisink, who also designed the sets,
costumes and puppets. Huisink and Janse founded Speeltheater Holland, one
of many European theatre companies that integrate puppets with live performers,
in 1976. Speeltheater is a prestigious company whose productions are
presented around the world.
As participants of the National
Theatre Artist Residency Program (NTARP), Huisink and Janse are frequent
visitors to SCT. The NTARP, supporting new and extended relationships
between theatres and individual artists by augmenting the resources available
for long-term artist residencies, is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and
administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the
American theatre.
Through the NTARP and with other
support, SCT will produce Glittra's Mission--its fourth Speeltheater
play. SCT also produced the world premiere of Stellaluna in 1997,
the American premiere of Apple to Grandma in 2000 and Nicky
Somewhere Else in 2003.
Billy Seago, program director of
SCT's Deaf Youth Drama Program, who performed in both Stellaluna and Nicky
Somewhere Else, says of Huisink and Janse: "They are such creative
people; an artistically-minded team with great idea exchange. They avoid
being trapped in conventional theatre-they live, eat and breathe the world of
art, exploring it in every way as a medium."
"We are looking forward to
working again in Seattle," said Janse. "This exchange with SCT
tells us that Europe and America can overcome all the differences and that
working together and listening to each other enriches us both."
SYNOPSIS
Our world is watched over by angels.
Each of us has different angels-Responsibility, Guardian, Watching and
Conscience-working for us in different ways. Martin is a little boy who is
quite a handful for his angels. Glittra, his guardian, must work very hard
to keep him safe because little boys are naturally curious and Martin is no
exception. Martin's curiosity is focused on keys. Keys are wondrous
things because they can open all sorts of secret and hidden places.
One day while his mother is busy with
the dishes, Martin decides to open the medicine cabinet with his key.
Luckily, Glittra arrives just in time to alert his mother to the danger.
But with Martin there is no time to rest, the next adventure, the next key, is
just around the corner. Glittra's work is made much more difficult because
Martin's Conscience is lazy, so Martin doesn't realize that what he's doing
might not be okay. He just loves his keys.
Martin and his mother go for a visit
with Lotta, a family friend, and Lotta's daughter Linda. While the mothers
drink their tea and chat away the children go outside to play. When it
begins to rain Martin remembers that he has the keys to Lotta's garage, so he
and Linda can play inside and out of the rain. With the thunder
booming the mothers don't hear when Martin starts the car in the closed
garage-they also can't get inside to stop them. At a loss for how to
rescue the children from the impending disaster, Glittra realizes she must
sacrifice herself to do her duty and save Martin.
CAST AND DESIGN TEAM
The Glittra's Mission cast
features Jason Collins and Megan Hill. Cleopatra
Bertelsen and Basil Harris are the understudies.
The artistic team includes Onny
Huisink as set, costume and puppet designer, Donald Byrd
as choreographer, Michael Wellborn as lighting designer, and Chris
Walker as sound designer.
A limited amount of $10 rush tickets
will be available Friday nights at the ticket office, located at 201 Thomas
Street in Seattle. There will be an American Sign Language interpreted
performance of Glittra's Mission for deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons
on Saturday, March 12, at 2 p.m. For more information, call (206)
441-3322, voice, or (206) 443-6938, TTY.
Seattle Children's Theatre would like
to thank season sponsor Microsoft, season education sponsor Washington Mutual,
and show sponsor the Consulate General of The Netherlands.
Now celebrating its 30th Anniversary
Season, Seattle Children's Theatre performs September through June in the
Charlotte Martin and Eve Alvord Theatres at Seattle Center. The second
largest children's theatre in the nation, Seattle Children's Theatre is a
leading producer of theatre, education programs and new scripts for young
people. Since its inception, SCT has presented 167 plays, 83 of which have
been world premieres, and entertained over 4 million children.
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