Interstellar Elder
"Equal parts absurd and profoundly human."
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"Equal parts absurd and profoundly human." ~
Show description
In this show’s futuristic scenario, North American Prime Minister Justin Bieber attempts to end world hunger by deforesting the continent to plant thousands of acres of genetically-modified swiss chard. This Superfood grows awry, taking over the entire planet and choking out all other forms of life. The last surviving humans are cryogenically frozen and shot into earth orbit, waiting for Earth to heal so that they may return home and begin a new civilization. On board the spaceship there is only one person left awake: the geriatric custodian and sole caretaker of the ship’s frozen ‘human cargo.’
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A fierce lone geriatric astronaut is adrift in a spaceship carrying cryogenically frozen human cargo. Her mission: protect the last of humankind.
For Adults & Youth Age 10 +
75 minutes, no intermission
~ Object Puppetry
~ Physical Comedy
CONTENT WARNING
Recommended for Audiences age 10+.
PRESS
“Equal parts absurd and profoundly human.
★★★★★”
“You will inevitably ROAR WITH LAUGHTER, but what you might not see coming is the IMMENSE HEART AND POWERFUL IMAGERY behind the performance. Ingrid hits another home run with this brilliant piece of physical theatre. The use of the audience and the way this play is set will forever change the way you see theatre and its possibilities...as each audience member truly feels like an important part of the narrative.”
“If you don’t mind being cryogenically frozen for an hour or so, Interstellar Elder could be the most satisfying, creative, uproarious and surprising experience you have at this year’s festival.”
“Literally just 75 minutes of her being a GENIUS OF PHYSICAL COMEDY (with some poignant moments of vulnerability and heartbreak thrown in because that’s how geniuses roll).”
“Tremendous demonstration of creative genius. While both shows are very funny, they are never dumb and have considerable pathos.”
“An amazingly versatile physical comedian with a knack for bringing inanimate objects to life. She’s also come up with what may well be the best ending in the history of the Fringe.”
Photo by Laura Dittmann
Credits
Directed by
Kathleen Greenfield
Written and performed by
Ingrid Hansen
Choreographed by
Britt small
Dramaturgy by
Emma Zabloski
Puppetry Coach
Mike Petersen
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Kathleen Greenfield
Director
About KathleenKathleen Greenfield is dedicated to collective creation, the development of new work and community involvement. Her interests and experience are in site-specific outdoor performance, puppetry, folk stories, and community activism. She holds a BFA in Theatre from the University of Victoria and studied at the Banff Puppet Theatre Intensive in 2012. In 2013, she joined SNAFU Dance Theatre as Co-Artistic Director. She has directed the premiere productions of many new works including The Hunt Workshop (Impulse), Little Orange Man (SNAFU), Kitt & Jane (SNAFU), I Have Seen Beautiful Jim Key (Intrepid Theatre), The Shoes (Humble Wonder Theatre) and Bullfrog Lullaby (head through painting). In 2015, she co-directed the smash-hit-remount of Lieutenant Nun, a site-specific spectacle where the audience moves through an old battlement, pageant style. Kathleen also teaches play building to kids ranging from 3 to 13 at Kate Rubin Theatre and Drama @ SKAM Studios and George Jay Elementary. In 2013, Kathleen joined the artistic team at William Head Prison as a facilitator, workshop leader, assistant director, projection designer, writer and performer for Time Waits for No One: A Prison Play(2014) and HERE: A Captive Odyssey (2015) alongside a team of residents and fellow artists. In 2016, she directed and devised Sleeping Giants with the men at William Head on Stage (WHoS).
Ingrid Hansen
Writer & Performer
About IngridIngrid co-founded SNAFU in 2006. Raised by gregarious Danish immigrants, Ingrid loves talking to strangers. She likes to push polite Canadian boundaries with great mutual respect and humour. She has co-created and performed the multi-award-winning touring shows Interstellar Elder, Little Orange Man, Kitt & Jane: An Interactive Survival Guide to the Near-Post-Apocalyptic Future, and Snack Music.
Ingrid has created and performed original work with SNAFU at events curated by The Belfry Theatre, the Next Stage Festival, the Gabriola Theatre Festival, the SummerWorks Festival, The Great Canadian Theatre Centre, The Centaur Theatre, the PUSH Festival, and others. Outside of SNAFU, she has performed with Corpus Theatre, Story Theatre, Theatre Direct, The Quickening, Theatre SKAM, Shakespeare in the Ruff, Architect Theatre, Atomic Vaudeville, and Suddenly Dance Theatre.
She spent four summers performing as a lead puppeteer and voice actor on the children’s television series Tiga Talk on APTN. She has toured across the country performing her solo show Little Orange Man at festivals and schools, and worked as a designer on the Dora-Award-Winning Ride the Cyclone with Atomic Vaudeville. For the past seven years, Ingrid has built an ongoing collaboration with the inmates at the prison theatre company William Head on Stage, which operates inside a federal prison near Victoria, BC.
Britt Small
Choreographer
About BrittBritt Small studied at LaMama's Director's Intensive in Italy and has trained in various physical theatre forms. She completed her MFA in Directing at the University of Victoria with a production of Sophocles' Electra. She is the artistic producer of company Atomic Vaudeville.
Nationally and internationally, Britt has directed Janet Munsil's Circus Fire and The Ugly Duchess, Jacob Richmond's The Qualities of Zero, Ride the Cyclone and Legoland, The Fantasticks and True West for Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre, A Midsummer Night's Dreamfor the GVSF, Castle in the Sky for Castlereigh, The Rocky Horror Show, numerous new Fringe Festival plays and Firebugs at the William Head prison. Her work as a director has received several national awards as well as 9 Jessie nominations for My Chernobyl at the Gateway and the Belfry. Britt recently performed as Ben Affleck in Matt and Ben and as Harpo in Animal Crackers.
atomicvaudeville.com
Emma Zabloski
Dramaturge
About EmmaEmma Zabloski is a theatre maker, arts educator, and youth worker. She had the pleasure of working with SNAFU in 2016 on Sleeping Giants, a collaborative creation with inmates at William Head Institution in Victoria, BC. This experience opened Emma's eyes to the power of theatre for personal and community healing, learning, and transformation. She is excited to continue exploring intersections between her creative practice and community work. Emma is the Artistic Director of Zopyra Theatre which specializes in playful, intimate, interactive, and site-specific performance. Her original creations have appeared at the Belfry Theatre, SKAMpede, UnoFest, Gabriola Theatre Festival, and on the Fringe circuit. Emma holds a BA in Theatre from the University of Ottawa and has trained with the Ottawa Stilt Union, One Yellow Rabbit’s Summer Lab, and the Grotowski Work Centre in Poland.
She’s a mean stilt-walker, improvised quilter, and flamenco dancer. Olé!
Mike Petersen
Puppetry Coach
about mikeMike Petersen’s career began on Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock in 1984. Since then he has performed around the world with such companies as Mermaid Theatre, Neptune Theatre, Festival Antigonish, Kaleidoscope Theatre, the Edinburgh Puppet Company, Poland’s Teatr Arlekin, and Theatre Beyond Words. Film and television credits include Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth, Emily of New Moon, and the award-winning pre-school series The Mighty Jungle. Mike created and performed in As You Puppet at YPT, and played host “Papageno” in a series of classical music concerts for children called Music & Truffles. He recently completed 65 episodes of Toopy & Binoo Vroom Vroom Zoom airing now on TreeHouse, and he is a proud member of the Dora Award winning ensemble performing in Old Man and the River with Theatre Direct. As a teacher of puppetry Mike has worked alongside Graham Whitehead at Mermaid Theatre, Allen MacInnis at YPT, Lynda Hill at Theatre Direct, Seanna Kennedy and Bruce Dow at Lower Ossington Theatre, and Christine Brubaker, director of the world premier of Wilde Tales now playing at Shaw Festival.
Sonia Vaillant
About SoniaSonia Vaillant was born in Ottawa and grew up on the road. She comes from a background in community programming, stage management, and technical theatre. Prior to theatre she planned and executed large-scale conferences for high school students and worked as an arts programmer with Easter Seals Canada. Sonia is currently a freelance producer of audio, web, and theatrical content. She is the Artistic Producer of Scapegoat Collective - a Toronto-based indie theatre company specializing in bold original productions that explore what makes us human. Notable credits include Hangman (Scapegoat Collective, Producer); Musical of Musicals: the Musical! (Mirvish, Assistant Stage Manager); Visitations (The Mission Business, Stage Manager), The Baram & Snieckus Podcast (National Theatre of the World/Apollo Studios, Producer); Chasse-Galerie (Soulpepper with Kabin & Storefront Theatre, Production Manager & Associate Producer).