A Charming Tale About an Unlikely Friendship Between a Bear and a Caterpillar Comes To
PRESS RELEASE
18 January 2018
Immediate release
A CHARMING TALE ABOUT AN UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN A BEAR AND A CATERPILLAR COMES TO HALF MOON THEATRE
Theatre Hullabaloobring Bear and Butterfly, a charming tale of changing friendship for everyone aged four and above, to Half Moon Theatre on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 February.
When a grumpy Bear finds a cheery Caterpillar munching on the leaves of his tree one day,his first thought is to ask him to leave. Gradually however, they become best friends as Caterpillarmunches through heroic tales of Bear’s younger life. One day Caterpillar becomes sick. Bear fearshe will lose his friend, but instead he grows into a beautiful butterfly who flies high and has stories ofhis own.
Puppetry, live music and beautiful storytelling combine in Bear and Butterfly to produce a tender and gentle piece about friendship,which is the perfect introduction to theatre for children. At the end of the performance, the young people are invited onto the stage to helpBear gather leaves, which are scattered around, to feed the caterpillars.
Bear and Butterfly is based on an original story by Gordon Poad. It has been adapted for the stage by Playwright Annie McCourt and wasdeveloped with the help of children in a primary school in Darlington. The story is told by three performers – Bear, Butterfly and a live musician who accompanies the action on stage with a cello enhanced with a range of electronic media.
Miranda Thain, Artistic Producer at Theatre Hullabaloo, said: “Bear and Butterfly is a wonderful firsttheatre experience for children and families and explores themes of friendship whilst carefully andsensitively exploring themes around life cycles.”
Chris Elwell, Director of Half Moon, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Theatre Hullabaloo to Half Moon Theatre with Bear and Butterfly, their warm, funny and uplifting theatre experience for all the family. We look forward to listening to the enchanting live music and being immersed in this beautiful story about the changing seasons and the cycles of life.”
All tickets are priced at £7 and can be obtained by visiting the Box Office or by calling 020 7709 8900. Tickets are also available online at
ENDS
LISTINGS DETAILS
Theatre Hullabaloo and Theatre by the Lake present
Bear & Butterfly
Friday 9 February | 10.30am & 1.30pm
Saturday 10 February | 11am and 2pm
Ages 4-7 | 50 minutes
Half Moon Theatre
43 White Horse Road, London E1 0ND
Tickets: £7
Box Office:020 7709 8900 or online at
ON SALE NOW
NOTES TO EDITORS
CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM
Bear: Micky Cochrane
Butterfly:Simon Carroll-Jones
Owl:Dominie Hooper
Director:Dani Parr
Original story:Gordon Poad
Designer:Bek Palmer
Composer:Simon McCorry
Lighting:Will Evans
Movement:Simon Carroll-Jones
Stage Manager:Alice Longson
Script Advisor: Phil Porter
Puppetry Director:Alison McGowan
Scenic Artist:Nikki Jones
FURTHER DETAILS
For further information or to arrange interviews, photographs and press tickets please contact Stephen Beeny on 020 7709 8907 or
A selection of images can be downloaded from Dropbox:
ABOUT HALF MOON
Half Moon is the UK’s leading small-scale young people’s venue and touring company. It is a local organisation with a national remit, committed to supporting artists and young people at every stage of their creative development. Working from our base in East London, we specialise in new writing and artform development, acting as a gateway organisation that provides pathways for progression and experimentation. Our wide-ranging programme reaches 53,000 people annually and engages those who are often excluded from arts activity. Our activity includes a season of professional plays for young audiences, national touring productions and an extensive creative learning programme, including seven youth theatres. Half Moon is a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England and receives regular funding from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
Half Moon’s digital archive is available at
@HalfMoonTheatre
For press enquiries please contact:Stephen Beeny
Communications Manager
020 7709 8907