PROGRAMME NOTES

“Laughs, heartbreak, war, regeneration, scented breezes, sparkling wit and the best dog puppet ever. Perfect for children and grown-ups. Terrific.” (The Guardian) This multi-sensory theatrical adaptation of Jean Giono's environmental classic tells the inspiring story of a shepherd who plants a forest, acorn by acorn, transforming a barren wasteland. As much a touching tale as it is a hilarious puppet show, THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES shows us the difference one man (and his dog!) can make to the world.

For adults and children aged 7+

CREDITS

co-directed by Ailie Cohen
script by Richard Medrington
Rick Conte
perfomers Rick Conte
Richard Medrington
set and puppets designed and built by Ailie Cohen
soundscape Barney Strachan
poster designed by Esther Cohen
technician Elspeth Murray

music:
Canarios by Johannes Kapsberger, performed by
Orphénica Lyra dir. José Miguel Moreno
album: Música en el Quijote on the Glossa label
Terre by Charles Trénet
album: A Portrait of Charles Trénet
Music Collection International

COMPANY BIOS

Rick Conte studied journalism at the University of Georgia and moved to Edinburgh in 1989. Since then he has toured with bands and worked with many of Scotland's top theatre companies, including National Theatre of Scotland, Wee Stories, The Edinburgh Puppet Company and Catherine Wheels. Accompanied by his creation, Lord Dennis Tippleworthy, Rick has addressed conferences on European Alcohol Policy at Warsaw, Leiden and Helsinki.

Ailie Cohen originally thought she would go to art college...then got sidetracked, did a live art degree, went to Moscow to study acting, joined a street theatre troupe that busked and starved its way round Europe, and was finally taken in by Symon and Kim of The Edinburgh Puppet Lab. She has worked with National Theatre of Scotland, Grid Iron, TAG, The Citizens, Puppet Lab, Vanishing Point, Wee Stories and her own shows include 'Rumpelstiltskin at the Fairytale Laundry', Jazz Mouse, 'The New Not New' and 'Rainbow Man'. www.ailiecohen.com

Elspeth Murray has learned almost everything she knows about stage lighting from three years' touring to countless theatres, village halls and school gymnasiums with The Man Who Planted Trees but she also retains lingering memories of directing Le Petit Prince, the first ever show to use an electronic lighting desk at the Bedlam Theatre in 1991 and of operating lights at Edinburgh club nights in the mid 1990s. She comes to Puppet State Theatre Company by way of a career in educational anthropology, health policy, performance poetry and marriage in 2005 to Richard Medrington. www.elspethmurray.com

Richard Medrington has been a touring puppeteer since 1984. His one-man shows include The Spider of Spindle Wood, The Christmas Cabbage, The Interrogation, The Adventures of Ivan the Slug (now available on DVD) and AA Milne's Winnie the Pooh, which toured the UK for five years "to packed houses", ending with a sell-out run at the Royal National Theatre. He moved to Edinburgh in 1992 and is a veteran of 15 Edinburgh Fringes.

ABOUT THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES

We came across Jean Giono's tale of a tree-planting shepherd in 2005 and were immediately struck not only by the beauty and simplicity of its message but also by its prophetic relevance to our times. The story has only rarely been dramatised for the stage and it was easy to see why: the gentle process of planting a forest over a period of 40 years is hardly high drama! And yet as we looked more closely we could see that world changing things were going on in the background: those 40 years - from 1910 to 1948 - were perhaps the most dramatic in human history, and the transformation that took place as a result of the shepherd's dedication in the face of many setbacks and obstacles was spectacular and inspiring. Then there was the problem of the main character's silent and isolated existence - not a lot of scope for pacey dialogue! But we noticed that Giono mentioned that the shepherd had A DOG. This was the key - the shepherd would remain silent, but the dog - his friend and confidant - could be our companion on the journey and tell us all we needed to know.
We have performed this show all over the UK and Ireland and in such far flung places as Bermuda, Kuala Lumpur, Ohio and just off Broadway in New York; in theatres large and small, schools, tents, churches and village halls; at festivals and conferences, in shopping malls and forests, front rooms and garden sheds. The story seems to strike a chord not just with children and young people, but with their parents and grandparents and the many adults who come accompanied only by their own inner child.
In such difficult times the popularity of this story is a source of great encouragement. As the author and environmentalist Wendell Berry said:
"Jean Giono's story surely belongs among the most moving and endearing statements of our hope."

ABOUT PUPPET STATE

Puppet State was founded in 2003 by Richard Medrington, who has worked as a professional puppeteer since 1984. In 2006 he teamed up with Rick Conte and Ailie Cohen to develop an adaptation of Jean Giono's The Man Who Planted Trees.
Aided by stage/office manager Elspeth Murray and administrator Jennifer Williams, the first three years of touring saw the show performed more than 800 times. In 2009, they appeared for the fourth time at the Edinburgh Fringe and were honoured to be part of the new Made in Scotland Showcase.
Touring to date has involved performing in all corners of the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands, Bermuda, Malaysia, and the USA.
Awards include the Eco Prize for Creativity 2007, Total Theatre Award for Story Theatre 2008, Victor Award for best show at the International Performing Arts for Youth Showcase in Cleveland, Ohio and Best Children's Show at the Brighton Festival 2009.
In October 2009, Puppet State was part of Scots on Broadway and performed to great acclaim at the New Victory Theater in New York.

POST SHOW NOTES

Note to Venues: Alert! The following notes are only to be given to audiences after the show. Distribution to an audience before the performance could diminish the impact of the story.

ABOUT THE STORY

Jean Giono was asked by the Reader's Digest to write something for a feature entitled 'The Most Extraordinary Person I Have Ever Known'. They loved his story until they discovered that Elzéard Bouffier, the main character, never actually existed. Giono said, 'If you didn't want fiction you shouldn't have come to a novelist'. They never printed the story. It was first published in Vogue and Giono subsequently gifted it to the public domain.

"I wrote this story to make people love trees, or more precisely to make people love planting trees. Of all my stories it is one of the ones of which I am most proud. It has never earned me a penny and for that reason it has accomplished the very purpose for which it was written."
Jean Giono, 1957

There is some debate, however, as to whether Giono based the character of Elzéard Bouffier on a real person. We recently met a headteacher on the Isle of Mull who used to work as a forester in France and told us that there were forested areas of Provence which according to the maps should be just scrub land. No-one knows where all these trees came from.

But this is much more than a story about forestry: it is a wonderful parable of life - the tale of a human being who saw a need and decided not to ignore it but to "put things right" . He received no payment or recognition, yet his life of dedication brought him great happiness and health. The story is also known as 'The Man Who Planted Hope and Reaped Happiness'.

We have tried to dramatise the story as Giono wrote it - i.e. as if it were a true story - and in many ways it is. Fiction can be full of truth.

Maybe we all have a supply of acorns hidden away somewhere...

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."
Anne Frank