January 11-14, 2024
“The Old Man and The Old Moon,” a 2012 story-telling play with folk music, is a whimsical origin story for how the Moon came to wax and wane. For ages 8-108, a delightfully imaginative story to share.
Performance Times and Location
January 11-13 @ 7:30 p.m.
January 14 @ 2:00 p.m.
Welsbacher Theatre
WSU Metropolitan complex (Door F)
5015 E. 29th Street North
Wichita, KS 67220
What to Expect
“The Old Man and The Old Moon,” a story-telling play with folk music, developed by the PigPen Theater Company in 2012, tells the epic tale of an Old Man who abandons his lifelong duty — filling up the moon with liquid light — to cross seas and skies in search of his missing wife. Delightfully imaginative and whimsical, for ages 8-108.
“This is a story of time and tides and quests, the sort of fable on which mythologies and religions are founded … [PigPen] asks us to appreciate the finer arts of wild storytelling, while speaking to the childish mind in all of us.” – Ben Brantley of The New York Times
2017 SD CRITICS CIRCLE NOMINATION OUTSTANDING TOURING PRODUCTION
2015 IRNE AWARD FOR BEST VISITING PRODUCTION
2014 JEFF AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC IN A PLAY
2014 JEFF AWARD FOR BEST SOUND DESIGN
2014 JEFF NOMINATION FOR BEST ENSEMBLE
2013 HENRY HEWES AWARD NOMINATION FOR PRODUCTION DESIGN
2012 OFF BROADWAY ALLIANCE NOMINATION FOR BEST UNIQUE THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE
Cast
JunHoe Choo
Boatswain One, Llewellyn, Dog
James Earlywine
Butcher, Ben, Callahan, Rebel Two, Perry
Abri Geist
Fishmonger, Clerk, Cookie, Rebel One, Bartender, Solomon
Matthew Gwinner
The Old Man
Cody Proctor*
Matheson
Amy Shelden
The Old Woman, Boatswain Two, Captain, Bartley, Young Woman
Jo Smith
Mabelu, Mickey, Ghost Singer
*Cody Proctor appears through courtesy of the Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Creatives
Dr. Julie Longhofer
Director and Costume Design
Stan Longhofer
Scenic Design and Technical Direction
Kirk Longhofer
Sound Design
Kinsey McDaniel
Production Stage Manager
Jamison Rhoads
Lighting Design
Mathew Hale
Musical Director
Director’s Notes
THE OLD MAN AND THE OLD MOON was created by seven college freshmen of immense talent, but it isn’t their talent which defines this “pay with music.” Instead it is the creators’ complete disregard for boundaries. Let me put that a different way: We dream BIG when we are young, and anything is possible. Age brings wisdom, but what if we get stuck in our ways or stagnate… What if we forget the dreams which seemed easy when we were young?
In this sense, THE OLD MAN AND THE OLD MOON is equal parts thrilling and terrifying — after all, the epic plot takes us on the sea, in the air, in the belly of a giant fish, rocking on a little boat and climbing a cliffside. Brining these kinds of adventures to brilliant life on stage is what true theatricality is. The piece has required a precise sense of execution and artistry — and had felt like jumping out of an airplane!
We live in a time where we don’t always have time (or make time) to be a human being. There is room to “Be Human” here tonight. Enjoy this unexpected and epic heartwarming story so you can go home to dream.
