Grumbling Gryphons schedule workshop, performance

NEW MILFORD — TheatreWorks New Milford TW Kids program presents “Anansi — the Trickster Spider: A West African Folktale,” performed by Grumbling Gryphons Traveling Children's Theater, at 11 a.m. Feb. 29, at TheatreWorks in New Milford. The performance will be preceded by a special drama, music, movement workshop at 9 a.m.

Leslie Elias, director of Grumbling Gryphons Traveling Children's Theater, adapted a popular West African folktale into this interactive show for children. Audience participation is an essential ingredient in the telling of the story. Elias is an experienced teacher as well as performer and will lead the pre-performance workshops in drama. Original mask patterns made by Ellen Moon will provide templates for children to make their own mask during a brief morning workshop in combination with engaging in drama, singing and dance. During the show, children wear the masks they made and take part by acting, singing, chanting and playing such roles as lions, crocodiles, lions, monkeys, bees and various jungle animals.

Anansi- the Trickster Spider is a well-known, comical character who originated in Western Africa. The tale, "How Anansi Brought the Stories Down", tells how Anansi, with the aid of the children in the audience, tricks the various animals of the jungle and retrieves the stolen stories of the world from Nyame, the Sky God.

Grumbling Gryphons has been performing in schools, museums, libraries and festivals throughout the United States since 1980. In recent years, they have performed at Bushnell Park in Hartford, CT; the American Museum of Natural History and Lincoln Center in N.Y.C; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Miami Book Fair International; the Maine State Music Theater in Brunswick, Maine; the Stockton Children's Museum in California, and at various international festivals. In 2003 they won the Connecticut Governor’s Arts Award. They are now celebrating 40 years of touring and teaching. Registration for the workshop is $50 per person, $25 for each additional sibling; four free show tickets included. Show tickets are $10 per person, and will be available starting Feb. 14. For tickets, workshop registration and information go to theatreworks.us/kids.php or call 860-350-6863.