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Actors Leslie Elias, Daniel Saed, MayaRose Spoken Word and pianist Jeff Guzinski of Grumbling Gryphons Traveling Children’s Theater will perform Anansi- the Trickster Spider: A West African Folktale on Saturday, July 13th at 10:30 am, outdoors at Grover's Corner Gazebo in Great Barrington as a featured family event for the Town of Great Barrington Summer Concert Series 2024. During the performance, children will engage in this interactive performance where they will learn songs, chants and enact dramatic characters such as busy bees, monkeys, lions and more! For more information on the event, please Contact- Leslie Elias-Artistic Director- grumblinggryphons@gmail.com & check the website
www.grumblinggryphons.org for rain date in case of inclement weather.
Leslie Elias, Connecticut Arts Hero, co-founder and long- time artistic director of Grumbling Gryphons Traveling Children's Theater, adapted this well-known West African folktale into a highly interactive show for children of all ages! Audience participation is an essential ingredient.
Three actors portray a variety of dramatic characters. Daniel Saed plays the starring role of Anansi-The Trickster Spider, the infamous trickster of the Ashanti People of West Africa. Leslie Elias, in addition to writing and directing, plays numerous roles in the production, including the comical characters of Crocodile, Monkey, Lion and Queen Bee. Ms. Elias from West Cornwall has served as Artistic Director and co-founder of Grumbling Gryphons for forty-four years. She is the recent winner of the 2023 Connecticut Artist Fellowship Award, the FY2024 Artist Respond Grant and winner of the 2018 Connecticut Arts Hero Award. In 2018 she won the Culture Max Award given by Northwest Connecticut Arts Council for Arts Educator. MayaRoseSpoken Word, actress, teaching artist , author and TV Host will play the roles of Storyteller and Zebra.
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.
The theater company is renowned for its fantastic masks and captivating costumes, made by Ellen Moon of Cornwall, CT., and for its innovative interaction with children. Grumbling Gryphons has been performing in schools, museums, libraries and festivals throughout the United States since 1980. In 2003 they won the Connecticut Governor’s Arts Award. They are now celebrating 44 years of touring.
Who
All ages and abilities
