11Mar

Review: Ajijaak on Turtle Island at The New Victory Theater

Ajijaak on Turtle Island

Beautiful and Elegant puppetry!

My girls were mesmerized by “Ajijaak on Turtle Island,” now playing at the New Victory Theater. If only I had been able to capture the amazement in their eyes and could show you their jaws dropped to the floor in wonder. They loved the puppets: the Turtle, the Whooping Cranes, the Buffalo, and the music! As a bonus, there was a song they taught us, a sure fire way into my kiddos hearts.

We are just beginning our theater indoctrination and what a great way to start. 

The story looks to explain the Chaos created by Man’s mistreatment of earth – a theme certain to resonate across all generations.

Told against the backdrop of an Indigenous/First Nations people, pulling from symbolism of deer, coyotes, buffalo  – “the two-legged, four-legged, winged rooted and finned”  We follow a young Whooping Crane, Ajijaak , as she searches along the migration path to reunited with her parents after a fire and other environmental catastrophes separate them.  As Ajijaak migrates south along Turtle Island (North America) she learns about the past and seeks a better future. 

Perhaps my young theatergoers – Aviv and Almah (aged 6 ½) described it best:

“I like the song that they taught us and the music”…  “even when they play the drums when like a scary part happened”

“It’s a story about a bird who loses her parents and has scary things happen. But she meets good friends and they help her and in the end she find her parents.”

“I give it a rating between one and 10. I think it is 10.”

“I liked the music and the dancing and that some of the dancers came from the audience and not from the stage.”

Disclosure: Lisa Gerstel was provided with complimentary tickets to facilitate this review. All opinions are her own.

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