Mump and Smoot, Ronnie Burkett, Green Fools, The Old Trout Puppet Workshop… Calgary is a bonafide hotspot of mime, puppetry, and physical theatre weirdness.
That’s why Victoria’s WONDERHEADS are returning to the city this December to present an inventive, mask-and-puppet re-imagining of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, presented by the International Festival of Animated Objects Society.
“It was literally in the basement of the Lantern Church in Calgary [that we did] our first-ever performance in Canada.” says co-founding artistic director Andrew Phoenix. “Not to be too on-the-nose with it, but coming back to Calgary … is a homecoming for us in some way, because that was the first time we realized we had this home in the puppet world.”
That first show was Grim and Fischer at the 2011 International Festival of Animated Objects, a production WONDERHEADS brought back to Calgary Fringe later that year to win Best of the Fest. The piece served as a launchpad for Phoenix and fellow co-founding artistic director (and partner) Kate Braidwood. The two met while studying at Dell’Arte International in Northern California, bonding over a shared fascination with animated movement and existential questions before coming together in 2009 to create this story about a granny duking it out with the Grim Reaper.
“There’s something magic about [mask work],” says Braidwood. “It’s a style that has a lot of whimsy and a lot of heart and a lot of vulnerability, and it invites an audience into a state of wonder, which is where the name WONDERHEADS comes from! People are willing to lean in and open their hearts in a bit of a different way, I think, than with more traditional theater.”
Since then, WONDERHEADS has created five original productions over more than a decade of touring and development: Grim and Fischer, The Middle of Everywhere, The Wilds, LOON (which was presented at the 2018 International Festival of Animated Objects) and now, A WONDERHEADS Christmas Carol. And while this story is familiar to many, the WONDERHEADS take presents an alternate way to connect with Scrooge and the gang.
“Our shows have no dialogue because we use these full-face masks,” says Braidwood. “Can we challenge ourselves to tell this story by one of the world’s most renowned wordsmiths with no words? Is that possible? Is it cheeky? We wanted to get to the heart of the story, and we thought we could do that through the story itself, the characters, and the beautiful imagery.” Braidwood is also the sound designer — a considerable undertaking in a show without words — and the show features extensive original music from California folk duo The Singer & The Songwriter.
On top of being influenced by the “classic weird takes on Christmas Carol” like The Muppet Christmas Carol (this writer’s personal favourite), WONDERHEAD’s are also heavily inspired by the work of Pixar and Hayao Miyazaki. “Those kinds of animated movies have a darkness; [there’s] joy and lightness, but [they] also aren’t afraid of dipping their toe in sort of a darkness as well, which is what Christmas Carol is all about,” says Phoenix.
WONDERHEADS initially conceived their Christmas Carol in 2019 with input from Calgary’s Peter Balkwill, co-founding artistic director of the Old Trout Puppet Workshop. Since then, WONDERHEADS has toured the show through Lower Mainland B.C., growing the production to eight people and a cast of four, including Braidwood and Phoenix. It earned six Critics’ Choice Awards, 12 Best of Fest honours, and was described by CBC as “pure magic.” The Calgary run of dates later this month will be the first time they take it out of B.C., and they think the whole family should see it.
“Our shows are good for kids, but they’re really good for all ages,” says Braidwood. “[Puppetry] invites a sense of childlike wonder in adults.”
“Even though it’s a fun ghost story with puppets and all that, ultimately, the point [of Christmas Carol] is to see somebody learning to be a better human being,” says Phoenix. “If he can be redeemed, then hopefully we can, too.”
Catch A WONDERHEADS Christmas Carol from December 4 to 7 at Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. For more information and tickets, visit puppetfestival.ca.
