The Wallis Theater has once again culled the very best of children’s theater from around the world to present this multi-sensory theatrical adaptation of Jean Giono’s environmental classic, recommended for ages 7+.
The Man Who Planted Trees tells the inspiring story of a shepherd who plants a forest, acorn by acorn, transforming a barren wasteland. As much a touching tale as it is a hilarious puppet show, the piece shows us the difference one man (and his dog!) can make to the world.
Richard Medrington, who plays the narrator, tells an engrossing tale of hiking in the south of France and meeting with a hospitable shepherd who, every morning, carefully planted 100 acorns and every afternoon planted another hundred until, over the years, he transformed a barren part of the country to a 16-kilometer forest. With the aid of puppeteer Rick Conte (the voice of the dog puppet, called Dog) Richard tells how over the years the forest had made the land more arable, had changed the neighboring village from depressed and poverty-stricken to thriving and flourishing
The Narrator also told of the years of WWI and WWII and how even politicians and the enemy cutting down trees for fuel could not destroy the shepherd’s labor of love. The play starts with a slow easy pacing but by the end of the hour, important issues have been covered: friendship, humor, love and respect of the land, the importance of a sustainable future.
The Narrator leavens his message with delightfully funny interludes with the dog, and it’s clear the children in the audience and the adults they bring with them revel in the proceedings.
Narrator Medrington is the founder of Edinburgh-based Puppet State Theater Company. After performing his one-man puppet shows for 20 years, he joined forces in 2006 with puppeteer Rick Conte and puppet maker Ailie Cohen. Medrington and Conte have performed this piece at theaters all over the world including New York’s Lincoln Center and the Sydney Opera House, as well as in tents, village Halls and festivals large and small.
