Timber Creek Falcon Theatre has been hard at work rehearsing their production of the award-winning play, “The Old Man and The Old Moon”. Performances will be held on Sept. 20-22 at 7 p.m. and Sept. 23 at 2 p.m. and will be the first ever showings outside of the original company’s. Tickets will cost $5 for students and $8 for adults.

“The Old Man and The Old Moon” utilizes shadow puppetry, folk music and creative storytelling to capture the epic seafaring adventure of an old man who must abandon his duties of filling the moon with liquid light in order to search for his missing wife.

The play was originally produced by the seven member PigPen Theatre Company. This glorious group of guys met as college freshmen and quickly banded together to form their own unique brand of theatre, music and film. They have since produced numerous original plays, performed in New York and toured across the country. They have made a name for themselves due to their imaginative storytelling that breaks the boundaries of traditional performance.

“I loved this show from the first trailer video I viewed of PigPen Theatre Company’s original production. It’s unlike anything I’ve directed,” said theatre director Lance Morse, a firm believer in the magical qualities of theatre.

To put a spin on the originally all-male cast, Falcon Theatre decided to make this a masked performance to allow for a non gender specific casting as well as to emphasize physical storytelling.

“We are covering [the masks] with clay and paper-mache to harden them,” said Samantha Bajonero, a member of the mask-making crew. “My favorite part of this process is kind of the collaboration between everybody and coming up with new ideas.”

As an extra element of creativity, Celtic inspired folk music is interwoven throughout the play. The musicians will play a variety of folk instruments, ranging from the accordion to violin to guitar and even more. According to singer Ruth Ngeny, the choir is both an audience to the show as well as being a part of the story.

To top it all off, “The Old Man and The Old Moon” also uses shadow puppetry to depict the old man’s journey across the seas. Falcon Theatre was glad to take on this new challenge.

“It’s a lot of trial and error, and a lot of playing with what you’re doing,” said Lucas Bradanini, lead creative designer of the shadow puppeteering crew. “We’re using lots of flashlights on material to give us images instead of using projections… And even though it’s my first tech experience, I can tell this is already going to be one of the most memorable experiences that I’ve had.”

Bradanini, alongside crew member Maddie Ott, will actually be onstage to move some of the shadow puppets during performances. While these and a few other props will move during the show, the rest of the set is stationary and rather intricately designed, even featuring a few piers that extend out into the audience.

“[Theatre director Zachary] Elms and his crew has done an amazing job on designing and realizing our set,” said Morse. “All I asked him for was a nondescript set which looked like old wooden docks, and projected piers out into the house. He ran with these ideas, and made it happen!”

Overall, “The Old Man and The Old Moon” is a timeless tale told through theatre, music and shadow puppetry. Falcon Theatre invites everyone to come experience this beautifully eccentric play that is sure to leave everyone in awe.

View photos from The Creek Yearbook photographers of the show’s Sept. 17, 2018 dress rehearsal: