February
When Wendell discovers that his wife Tilda and their beloved tree have vanished from the backyard, he must venture into the nearby forest to bring them home. Confronted with shifting landscapes, unusual creatures, and a mysterious lurking presence, Wendell soon learns that the key to finding Tilda is to first unlock the mystery of The Wilds. Charming and profoundly touching, this wordless award-winning show features WONDERHEADS’ signature masks, whimsical puppetry, and enchanting music, and moves its audiences to both laughter and tears.
WONDERHEADS’ work has been described as living animation, and the improbably astonishing way in which their masks come to life must be seen to be believed. Through their expert use of mask performance and puppetry, they weave stories that are equal parts funny and heartwarming, and they have been delighting audiences around the globe since 2009 with their unique theatrical stories. Don’t miss this spellbinding show that the CBC describes as “Captivating and magical” and the Winnipeg Free Press as “Nothing short of exceptional.”
Content advisory: This production touches on themes of grief, loss, and love. Recommended for a general audience (ages 8+).
The Wilds runs approximately 60 minutes with no intermission.
Theatrical fog/haze and flashing lights are occasionally used in this production.
WONDERHEADS gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the CRD Arts and Culture Support Service in the development of this production, as well as the following donors: Bruce Cassem, Christine and Michael Bloomfield, Ian Case, & Sammie Gough.
Pedro M. Siqueira - Wendell
Loreto Espinoza – Tilda, The Creatures of The Wilds
Andrew Phoenix – Co-Creator, Director, Set Designer, Puppet Designer, Lighting Designer, Stop Motion Animated Projection Designer, Stage Management
Kate Braidwood – Co-Creator, Assistant Director, Mask Designer, Sound Designer, Stop Motion Animated Projection Designer and Animator, Stage Management
The Singer and The Songwriter (Rachel Garcia and Thu Tran) –Composers
Jessica Hickman – Puppet Designer
Christache Ross – Illustrator and 2D Animator
Parker Feenstra – Costume Designer (The Bear, The Forest Spirit)
If you enjoyed the music in today’s performance...
The Wilds features music by The Singer and The Songwriter, from their albums Ballads for Trying Times, Directions, and What a Difference a Day Makes.
Find these albums and more on Spotify and www.thesingerandthesongwriter.com
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Scan this QR code to explore an up-to-date list of our upcoming concerts, events, exhibitions, free public programs, and seasonal camps.
WONDERHEADS is a physical theatre company specializing in mask performance, puppetry, and visual storytelling. Their work is performed in full-face mask, a wordless, whimsical form which has been described as “Utter magic” (CBC) and “Powerful, surprising and moving” (The Globe and Mail). The co-founding ‘heads’ of WONDERHEADS are Kate Braidwood and Andrew Phoenix, who came together in 2009 resolved to conjure a little magic and wonder into the world.
Armed with their respective careers in the professional theatre and a shared background in the most curious of MFA degrees (Ensemble Based Physical Theatre, Dell’Arte International) they set out to create their first show, Grim and Fischer, the story of a feisty grandmother who battles it out with the Grim Reaper himself. This show served as a launchpad for the company and over the past fourteen years they have developed five original productions: Grim and Fischer, LOON, The Middle of Everywhere, The Wilds, and A WONDERHEADS Christmas Carol, which have toured extensively to festivals and performing arts centres throughout Canada and the United States.
The company has been honoured with multiple accolades including six Critics’ Choice Awards, twelve Best of Fest awards, and the Scion Motivate award for entrepreneurship in the creative arts. The WONDERHEADS also frequently engage in a variety of outreach and teaching activities including workshops, in-depth residencies, lecture demonstrations and master classes. When not the road, they call beautiful Victoria, BC home.
Find out more about the WONDERHEADS at:
Instagram: @thewonderheads | Facebook: @wonderheads
www.wonderheads.com
KATE BRAIDWOOD, Co-Creator, Assistant-Director, Mask Designer, Sound Designer, Stop Motion Animated Projection Designer and Stop Motion Animator, Stage Management
Kate is a theatre deviser, director, performer, mask maker, sound designer, teacher, producer, and CoFounding Artistic Director of WONDERHEADS Theatre. Kate holds an MFA in Ensemble-Based Physical Theatre from the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre and a BFA in Acting from the University of Victoria. In 2009 she co-founded WONDERHEADS and she is a lead contributor to the company’s devising process, as well as a principal performer and the company’s mask maker and sound designer. Kate was named a 2015 Oregon Arts Commission Fellow, and she is a featured artist in ‘Who’s the Puppet Now,’ a “collection of photographic portraits of the brightest lights in the world of puppetry, mask, and animated objects” by Xstine Cook and Sean Dennie. Kate lives in Victoria, BC – the traditional and unceded territory of the Lekwungen People, now known as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.
ANDREW PHOENIX, Co-Creator, Co-Director, Set Designer, Puppet Designer, Lighting Designer, Stop Motion Animated Projection Designer, Stage Management
Andrew (he/him) is a theatre creator, actor, director, teacher, producer, builder, designer, and Co-Founding Artistic Director of WONDERHEADS Theatre. Motivated by a passion for collaborative theatre-making, he completed his BFA at Texas State University before relocating to Northern California to attend the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre. At Dell’Arte, he earned his MFA in Ensemble Based Theatre and discovered his love for mask performance. He worked across a range of roles in acting and set carpentry until 2009 when he teamed up with Kate Braidwood to create Grim and Fischer, marking the inception of WONDERHEADS. The company has since produced five awardwinning productions that tour to performing arts centres and festivals throughout Canada, the US, and beyond. When not on the road with WONDERHEADS, Andrew can often be seen walking his dog Charlie through the streets of Victoria.
Loreto is a Chilean actor, clown, craft maniac and cat lover who has enjoyed working with several companies in Canada and Chile, such as SNAFU, Atomic Vaudeville, Theatre SKAM, Story Theatre, Impulse Theatre, Teatro Educativo and Teatro Municipal de Santiago among others. She strongly believes in the importance of playfulness in all stages of life, for this will save us all. Loreto thrives on movement, objects, surreal worlds and using her hands. She has developed a short puppetry show called Oscar inside the Spiral. Loreto graduated from Club de Teatro Fernando Gonzalez Mardones and recently spent two months studying at École Phillipe Gaulier. Working with the WONDERHEADS is a dream come true!
Pedro M. Siqueira is a Brazilian actor, musician, dancer, and producer currently based in Victoria, BC. He has been working on and off camera as an actor, and he feels very honoured to be able to work with the WONDERHEADS again. Latest artistic theatre credits include A WONDERHEADS Christmas Carol (WONDERHEADS), New Earth Bandits (SNAFU), Rebel Rhythm (Theatre SKAM), Good Night Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet (Blue Bridge Theatre) and Fado, The Saddest Music in the World (Puente Theatre and Fire Hall).
The Singer and The Songwriter is the musical duo of queer-mixed-race-Mexican-American vocalist/ songwriter/poet Rachel Garcia, and VietnameseAmerican guitarist/songwriter Thu Tran. Their multicultural backgrounds bring depth and diversity to the rich tradition of American folk music. Since 2009, they’ve released 3 critically-acclaimed albums, performed hundreds of shows across the US, and had their music placed in television and commercials. In 2022, they were named finalists at the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk Song Competition, as well as the 21st Annual NewSong Competition in Asheville, NC.
JESSICA HICKMAN, Puppet Designer (The Bird, The Bargainer, The Bear)
Jessica lives in Esquimalt, BC on the traditional territory of the Esquimalt Nation, and works as director, choreographer, teacher, puppeteer, puppet maker, and theatre creator. Her first dip into puppetry was with Ramshackle Theatre in 2017, when she co-created, directed and toured Tombstone: A Cardboard Western.
In 2021, Jessica was commissioned by Puente Theatre to build a 16-foot tall glowing puppet for the National Art Centre’s Grand Acts of Theatre and is continuing to create puppets and creatures for local companies. In 2019, she joined forces with the WONDERHEADS to collaborate, perform and tour with A WONDERHEADS Christmas Carol as well as develop a brand new Yukon-based mask and puppetry show called Radio Silence.
CHRISTACHE ROSS, Illustrator and 2D Animator (Wendell’s Forest Journey)
Christache is an artist, an actor and a teacher. With a background in theatre, he has a special love for collaborating on creative projects that combine visual art with highly aesthetic performing artists like the WONDERHEADS. He lives in Vancouver with his partner and 3 cats.
PARKER FEENSTRA, Costume Designer (The Forest Spirit, The Bear)
Parker Feenstra is a graduate of the BFA program at the University of Victoria’s Phoenix Theatre in the design faculty. Originally from Calgary, Alberta she has made a home on the West Coast. They have had work featured in the Prague Quadrennial Canada + Quebec Student Exhibit (2023) World Stage Design Scenofest Common Design Project (2022) and the Prague Quadrennial Common Design Project (2020). Credits for the Phoenix include; Dead Man’s Cellphone - Costume Designer, The Waste Land - Associate Set Designer, Love and Information - Assistant Costume Designer. Additional; Classic Country Roads - Assistant Costume Designer and Wardrobe Assistant (Chemainus Theatre Festival), When Was the Last Time You Said Hello?Production Designer (SATCo).
