‘Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ revisited by Alberta Theatre Projects, Old Trout Puppet Workshop

Alberta Theatre Projects and the Old Trout Puppet Workshop are working on a new, rewritten production of ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’.

Alberta Theatre Projects has joined forces with the Old Trout Puppet Workshop to create an adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

The classic story has been rewritten and produced in association with the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

“It’s a chance to take a very familiar story and perhaps give it a different interpretation,” said Haysam Kadri, Alberta Theatre Projects’ artistic director.

“It’s exciting to be able to take something familiar and flip it on its head and make it new, fresh and exciting.”

The Old Trouts are famous around the world for building custom puppets of all shapes and sizes at their Calgary shop and bringing stories to life in a unique way.

This story comes just in time for Halloween.

“The imagination, the framing piece of this play, has the Old Trouts’ DNA all over it,” said Kadri.

“This play lends itself to such imagination, creativity and the perfect partnership on this is with the creative genius of the Old Trouts; there’s obviously going to be a very prominent puppet. You can probably guess which one it is. But also the use of shadow play.”

Kadri says a cast of seven Calgary actors brings The Legend of Sleepy Hollow to life, creating the perfect way for audiences to immerse themselves in the spirit of Halloween, and they will also experience firsthand the exciting work that can stem from this kind of multi-organization artistic collaboration.

It’s the first time he’s partnered with the Old Trouts.

“I’ve only admired them from close and from afar,” he said.

“So it’s been really, really exciting to dig deep and dive into their minds and their world, and yeah, it’s such a rich palette of storytelling that we get to play with.”

Alberta Theatre Projects describes the Canadian adaptation as taking place 10 years after the American Revolutionary War, in a country still haunted by the violence that created it.

The main character, Ichabod Crane, is a country schoolmaster who finds himself dispatched to a remote village called Sleepy Hollow, where he tries to bring the inhabitants of this deeply superstitious hamlet into the 18th century, but secrets run deep, and not all is as it appears in this place still haunted by its past.

“There’s a remarkable relationship of early Canadians, colonial Canadians, settler-based Canadians to the results of the American Revolution,” said Peter Balkwill, with the Old Trout Puppet Workshop and also playwright.

“They weren’t significantly good, and many folks had to exit that part of the world and retreat as refugees up into Canada.”

Balkwill and the team from Old Touts have worked closely with the actors, who are also controlling the puppets on stage, including the star of the show, the Headless Horseman.

“You can imagine The Legend of Sleepy Hollow carries the implication of one significant puppet,” Balkwill said.

“And it was fun drafting the script for actors, knowing that what we wanted to build up to was the moment of suspense that is going to be the reveal of that star of the show, which comes in towards the very end.”

Matthew Mooney plays Crane on stage and says while he’s seen many of the other productions of the story, this one is something different.

“The story itself is a completely new version,” he said.

“It’s nothing like Tim Burton’s; it’s not quite like the cartoon of Walt Disney in the 40s that was made, so it’s a new take on it and represents what’s happening in the world just now.”

Mooney says this is his first time working with puppets, and he’s received a lot of help from the puppet masters.

“This is a completely new endeavour for me, and there’s certainly been times where it’s been stressful,” he said.

“But I’ve got a good team that has supported me throughout the entirety, from the cast to the directors to the stage managers, so it’s been excellent.”

Balkwill says this production could become an annual event.

“I’ve felt that this show has powerful legs,” he said.

“I think in some respect, we may have hit upon the autumnal Christmas Carol—that thing that theatres would be after. I expect every theatre in Canada is going to want to run this show, and I think there’s going to be some interest for folks down in the States, too.”

The show runs Oct. 22 through Nov. 9 at the Martha Cohen Theatre at the Werklund Centre (formerly Arts Commons), at 215 8th Ave. S.E.

You can learn more about the production at albertatheatreprojects.com.