The Big Waddle! Exeter and Devon dates for children's show this summer

The Ugly Duckling & Other Tales on Tour this Summer and Beyond

Following a recent sell out residency at the Brighton Fringe, Devon-based theatre company Above Bounds have announced a tour of their hugely popular children’s theatre show - The Ugly Duckling & Other Tales - which tackles issues around body-image in a fun and engaging way through song, puppets and music.

The Ugly Duckling & Other Tales is a theatrical re-telling of Hans Christian Anderson fairy-tales recreated for children aged between 3-7 and their families. This new adaptation tackles important issues yet skilfully entertains and inspires along the way.

Over a year in development, Above Bounds, performed the show at Exeter's Bike Shed earlier this year to critical acclaim. The show can trace its roots back to when the Above Bounds team were selected to create a brand new children's show as part of prestigious Worboys Productions Theatre Farm Retreat. Starting only with a book of stories and an idea to use shadow puppetry, the team collaborated with illustrators, musicians and a range of industry practitioners to arrive at the fully formed version, which is now to do on tour.

The tour runs from the end of July until the start of October and is mostly across Devon venues but there are also performances in Somerset and Suffolk to look forward to. The tour is as follows: Dartington Hall Estate (23 July), Exeter Phoenix (3 August), Exeter Central Library (4 August), The Seagull Lowestoft (11 & 12 August), Kingsteignton Town Hall (18 August), The Plough Arts Centre Great Torrington (19 August), The Poly Falmouth (30 & 31 August), Tacchi-Morris Taunton (16 September), Crediton Arts Centre (23 September), TCAT Tiverton (30 September), Victoria Hall Radstock Bath (8 October).

There are also some workshop tour dates, which are free to attend- Exeter Central Library (14 August), St Thomas Library Exeter (16 August), Pinhoe Library Exeter (22 August), The Passmore Centre Newton Abbot (1 September).

Creative Homecoming

The play is performed by Helen Bovey and George Boundy, who operate puppets and shadow puppets to tell the story visually alongside narration and diverse characters. The production features original music by Emily Snee, the company and their puppets, which have all been hand-crafted by the team.

Above Bounds Theatre Collective was co-founded are Helen, who returned to Devon in 2015 to create her own work, co-founding the company with writer George. The pair met whilst training at the prestigious East 15 Acting School in Essex and quickly recognised their shared passion for visual theatre.

Talking about the production, Helen Bovey said: ‘We are so looking forward to touring this summer, which we like to refer to as 'The Big Waddle'! We have had a wonderful response over the first part of this year to the show, firstly in Exeter, Torbay and then in Brighton.

The driving force behind the work we create is to use theatre as a medium for social change. Especially when performing to young audiences, one must be aware of the impression a performance can leave. The Ugly Duckling explores strong topics around identity and body-image which are effecting younger and younger people in our society. The good news is that our audience, both young and old, are telling us that we have struck the right balance between education and entertainment – which is what we set out to achieve.

Young audiences are invited to paddle off to one of the venues in Devon, Somerset or Suffolk this summer. For more information or to book tickets visit https://abovebounds.wordpress.com/ or @abovebounds on Twitter or Facebook: abovebounds.
Or you can watch a trailer on YouTube: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=emupload_owner&v=Iygme_apw3E&app=desktop

The project is supported using public funding by The National Lottery through Arts Council England, Exeter City Council and Kingsteignton Town Council. Project partnership from Worboys Productions and the Bike Shed Theatre.