A lazy Spider learns a lesson, the savvy Turtle tricks a hippo and elephant, and the entire Sky skips town. These three plots come to life in Wild Swan Theater’s Under the African Sky, playing Feb. 20-22, 2020.
Ann Arbor’s professional theater for families presents its annual trio of folktales from Africa at Towsley Auditorium, located on the Washtenaw Community College campus – also in Ann Arbor.
Blending puppetry with live action and plenty of audience participation, Wild Swan’s take on these stories promises to be an engaging – and even educational – experience. (Hint: Before you go, boost your learning quotient with the show’s study guide for background information on the plays and African culture.)
Masks and music, drums and dance help tell the stories in this hour-long production. Kids will enjoy watching as Spider learns a lesson about the value of hard work in The Talking Vegetables, Turtle challenges two bigger animals to a contest of strength in Tug-of-Vine, and a Nigerian tribe realizes they were foolish to waste the food the Sky had given them in Why the Sky is Far Away.
Shows are at 10 a.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. on Saturday You can buy tickets – $12 for adults and $10 for kids – over the phone or on Wild Swan’s website.
For more information on this performance, and details on other family-friendly fun things to do this weekend in metro Detroit and Ann Arbor, visit the Metro Parent calendar.
This post was originally published in 2012 and is updated regularly.
