HOLDEN & ARTS ASSOCIATES
SHARING STORIES AND CREATING PARTNERSHIPS SINCE 1983
WHEN WE WERE WILD
Produced by Cahoots NI
From Belfast, Northern Ireland
Resources
About the Company
A wood filled with magic and memories. Home to wild creatures – the Fox, the Owl, the Badger…and brothers Jim and Pete.
Farmers. Old now. Very old. With bad backs and welly boots.
An old wardrobe in the barn contains all the mysteries of their childhood, when they would sleep beneath the stars and become one with the wild world around them. The owl on her midnight watch, the badger scuffling out of the dark, the fox watching from the woods with its orange eyes…
The brothers have grown up and gone their separate ways. Will they ever find a way back to the wonder they once felt when they were young, and wild?
With astonishing animal puppetry from Helen Foan and live music from Kyron Bourke, this tale of growing up and the importance of nature and art is told in a moving new play written by Charles Way, directed by Paul Bosco Mc Eneaney and created by Cahoots.
Best for Grades 3rd+
Audience Size: Medium to Large Venues
Highlights trailer
Please contact us to watch an archival full length recording.
Curriculum Connections
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Fine Arts: Drama, Puppetry, Music
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Science: Animals and their environments
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Emotional/Social Development: Self Awareness, Self Management, Identifying Emotions, Empathy, Respect for Others, Reflection and Perspective-Taking, Relationship Skills, Social Engagement, Relationship-building, Team-work and cooperation, Choices and Consequences.
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Load In Time: 4 hours (with prehang)
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Crew Needs: 2 crew members
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Min. Stage Size: 24’w x 24’d x 18’ h -can be adapted slightly for both smaller and larger spaces (minimum height is 12 ft) but the est up is very different and requires advance conversation and approval by the company.
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Load Out Time: 2 hours
Minimum Tech Specs
Artistic Team
Written By - Charles Way
Created and Directed by - Paul Bosco Mc Eneaney
Puppetry Designer & Puppetry Director - Helen Foan
Original Music by - Kyron Bourke
Original Cast:
Kyron Bourke
Ruairi Conaghan
John Paul Connolly
Helen Foan
Iris Schmid
Audience & Critical Acclaim
" a thoughtful and timely parable for young and family audience…. families with young children who have read Charles Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse will find much to be enthralled by in When We Were Wild." - Michael Quinn for The British Theatre Guide
"When We Were Wild is an imaginative production that will thrill young (and not so young) audiences with beautiful puppeteering and an indoor exploration of the great outdoors." – Alan in Belfast
"Cahoots’ own way of painting a concise and detailed picture of something that really matters…It’s like Cahoots have gone back to the past to point Jim, Pete and the audience forward to a brighter future - and we are all so much better for it.” - Simon Fallaha, Si Arts NI
Company Background
Past Tours: Secrets of Space, Penguins, Shh! We Have a Plan, Egg , Danny Carmo's Mathematical Mysteries, Nivelli's War, and Lights, Camera, Math!
Cahoots NI is at the forefront of Northern Irish theatre and is the leading professional theatre company producing work for children. Since beginning operations in November 2001, Cahoots NI has produced original, boldly innovative work for children, some staged in conventional theatre venues and some in purpose-designed sites or specific locations, including schools and healthcare settings. Its work concentrates on combining the visual potential of theatre with the age-old popularity of magic and illusion.
For more information, please visit the company’s website.
Past Productions
