05 Sep Blog: An Aesop Project Preview!
Coming soon: The Aesop Project
This November, Les Délices will create a fabulous new program for children and families, The Aesop Project. Best suited to grades 2-8, The Aesop Project is part of our strategic expansion of educational programming for Northeast Ohio students – and it represents an opportunity for us to reanimate the fabulous puppets originally created for 2022 fairytale opera The White Cat.
Les Délices will give two free public performances of The Aesop Project on November 22nd. This puppet-filled adaptation of the Grimm fairytale “The Bremen Town Musicians” follows four animal friends on a whimsical pilgrimage, sharing stories of their fellow creatures’ triumphs and sorrows through some of the most beloved Aesop’s Fables.
The production features puppets designed by local artist Ian Petroni, a Baroque score assembled by Les Délices director Debra Nagy, and a new narrative by Ohio poet laureate Dave Lucas performed by actor Mariah Burks.
The Aesop Project is the perfect Saturday activity for Cleveland and Akron families on November 22nd. The first performance will be at 11:30 am at the Community Arts Center at CMA, with arts and crafts (including mask-making!) available starting at 10:30 am. A second performance will take place at 3:30 p.m. at the Akron Public Library Main Branch. Blending music, puppetry, and storytelling, The Aesop Project promises to be an unforgettable experience that will delight and inspire audiences of all ages.
What is the Aesop Project?
From cats’ meows to barking dogs and birdsong, The Aesop Project explores animal sounds that have been depicted in Baroque music and features musical settings of some of Aesop’s most famous Fables, which themselves offer lessons about human nature and our places in the world. The Ant and the Grasshopper rewards those who plan ahead; The Hare & the Tortoise teaches us to avoid boasting and not to underestimate persistence; The Lion and the Rat considers potential power imbalances and how we can all help each other; and The Tortoise & the Eagle contains a lesson about accepting limitations.
With puppets designed by Ian Petroni, an animal-inspired score of Baroque music by Heinrich Biber and Georg Philip Telemann, and a poetic narrative by Ohio poet laureate Dave Lucas, The Aesop Project will delight, inspire, and offer food for thought. Narrator Mariah Burks (pictured left) and puppeteers Ian Petroni and Kenya Woods will join soprano Elena Mullins Bailey and Les Délices’ core ensemble of baroque violin, viola da gamba, oboe, recorder, and harpsichord.
FIRST LOOK: The Aesop Project Libretto
Read the first scene of Dave Lucas’ wonderful libretto for The Aesop Project! This beautiful text will be spoken by actor Mariah Burks as music plays and puppets by Ian Petroni move around the stage!
NARRATOR
In autumn, when the leaves have come undone,
scattered in patterns, and the drowsy sun
gutters like embers glowing in the hearth;
when fattened apples sway above the earth
in air as crisp as a thirsty man’s first sip,
and summer’s fruit is juiced to its last pip;
when the wind knocks for a howling cold to enter,
then men and women lay their beds for winter.
But beasts of burden long to winter out
into the twilit world, and nose about,
to sniff and hoof at frost-crusted ground,
braying and calling just for the joyous sound.
And so it was those many years ago
when the four beasts—in a story you may know–
set off for Bremen where, as they had heard,
livestock live free, and heed no human word.
Along the way those travelers stopped to rest,
becoming quite the unexpected guests
—But leave that legend for another day–
Here comes four figures now//
who make their way
from the dark wings to grace our humble stage,
en route to Bremen, making pilgrimage.
Each traveler knows the tale from nose to tail,
and follows in homage down that noble trail.
Here is a Donkey, headstrong but soft at heart–
sick of the ploughshare, now it pulls a cart
laden with everything these travelers need,
carrots and kibble, catnip and birdfeed.
Here is a Dog, steadfast to his pack-
animals, herding them to Bremen and back.
Here is a Cat whose coat’s a little shabby,
but fancies himself more tiger than house-tabby.
Here is a Bird-and what a song it sings
when Cat can keep from clawing at its wings.
From time to time along their pilgrimage
It seeks the safety of its golden cage.
Free of the rein of lordly men and women,
these pilgrim animals proceed to Bremen.
But Bremen is a long, long way away,
and every hour of travel seems a day.
To pass the time, they tell each other stories
of other brethren animals’ griefs and glories.