Sister Grimm and the one-man puppet show

Two of the puppets in the production “Little Sister Grimm”, which will be performed Aug. 24 at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery. It features the little sister of Brothers Grimm who helps provide an ending to a fairy tale in progress. Photo submitted

Kris Fleerackers is pleased to present “Little Sister Grimm,” a puppet production for all ages, at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery on Aug. 24. In a fun, poetic production that changes the way we see the classic fairy tales, the brothers Grimm and their little sister come to life as puppets to tackle the problem of a story with no ending.

Three years ago, Kris Fleerackers left a long career as a television producer and editor to return to the old-school magic of live theatre and puppetry. His first major production was a puppet version of Henry Purcell’s baroque opera Dido and Aeneas. Creating his own puppets, sets and scripts, he likes to explore the ways fiction and reality intersect, as well as the unique power of puppets and other performing objects. “More than any other form of entertainment,” he says, “they can mirror back to us both what is very private and what is universal.”

“Little Sister Grimm” is a solo performance inspired by books, illustrations, paper toy theatres, as well as Flemish and Czech puppetry traditions. The story takes us back to about 200 years ago, when the brothers Grimm have only just begun collecting fairy tales. While they are out, their sister Lotte sneaks a peak at a new but incomplete story in their notebook, Snow White. Originally, this story was very different from how we know it today: there was no stepmother, no huntsman and, more importantly, no Prince Charming to kiss the princess awake. Without a proper ending, Little Lotte will have to come up with her own way to enter the story and save the heroine from her mother’s jealous rage…

General admission tickets are $10 each or $25 per family, available at the art gallery door only. Door opens at 6:30 pm and the show starts at 7pm. 

Submitted