courageous and often improbable executions of hair-brained ideas in order to make beauty for this brave new world

Birdbone Theatre

Birdbone Theatre makes puppet shows from scratch and plays them live for the young and the old. We strive to make puppet theatre that might become a house for beauty, for remembering old songs and stories, for wild imaginings and for laughter in hard times. We keep in mind that theatre is a way by which we can know the times we live in, and a way by which the times might recognize us.

We craft our shows with materials at hand, layering techniques, and a vast musicality. We do not banish the unfinished and imperfect in our shows, instead we often play our work in its experimental stages to learn about it. We play music, sing and dance to keep it company. Birdbone theatre is Possibilitarian at heart because it was forged at the Bread and Puppet Theatre under the work of Peter Schumann, and also because it has no choice.

Birdbone Theatre is Aleksandra Bragoszewska (puppeteer, artistic director) and Alison Gowan (puppeteer, musical director). Alison Boyce works with us on a per-project basis. The theatre is based in Lyndhurst, Ontario.

Collaborators

In 2024, we welcome the magnificent Ekaterina, talented and accomplished songstress whose breadth of work can be heard in her ensembles BLISK and Meden Glas, folk metal group Protokult, and Russian folk-rock band Katüsha. We will study Slavic traditional and composed music with her to braid into the musical landscape of Broom Dance.

As we tour Broom Dance this winter, we welcome also multi-faceted magician Haley Sarfeld, musician and writer, creator of the Lindworm’s Cabaret, who is enthusiastically rowing the little cardboard boat of our operation over the strange waters of ‘social media’, fashioning rickety little bridges for little old us to reach some of you across the topography of technological advancement.

History

Birdbone Theatre has toured original works nationally and internationally. We play theatres and festivals and also enjoy making theatre wherever we are invited. We have performed our work in kitchens, bike shops, schools, cafes, squatted hospitals, barns and driveways, as well as at Montreal’s Phenomena Festival, Cafe Concret, Chants de Vielles, the Picton Ice Box Festival, The Department of Illumination’s Lantern Festival, the Skeleton Park Arts Festival. We have toured our work across Ontario, Quebec, the Maritimes, the eastern states of the U.S.A., and in theatres in Athens, Ioanina and Patras, Greece.

When we can, we love to share and hone our craft by offering workshops to people of all ages and persuasions.

The company was founded by Alison Boyce and Aleksandra Bragoszewska in 2012 to apprentice courageous storytelling by way of puppet spectacle. Artist and puppeteer Kristine White, hurdy gurdy player and multi-instrumentalist Alison Gowan, and percussionist Christos Smirnios made and toured shows with us in 2015 and 2016. In 2017 the theatre underwent a structural reorganization.

Our Supporters

We are grateful to receive generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts to develop and perform Broom Dance. This project would likewise not be possible without the support of The Maitland Tower Imaginarium and of CFRC 101.9 FM. Our deep gratitude to Laura Murray, Owen Fernley and Julia Krolik for making room in their houses for a year of paper cutting, getting Broom Dance on its feet.

CFRC 101.9 FM

Operated by Radio Queen's University, CFRC 101.9FM is Kingston’s only campus and community radio station. CFRC is a not-for-profit, volunteer-powered media outlet that fills the gap in music and locally-driven news and topical spoken word content not covered by the mainstream media. Help CFRC continue showcasing local creators through its news programming, concert and event calendars, and live music studio sessions. Donate today via cfrc.ca.

Maitland Tower

Birdbone Theatre is honoured and grateful to have the support of Maitland Tower. In 2024, we will further develop Broom Dance in studio at the newly transformed Dirty Paws Living Lab, part of the emerging Maitland Tower complex on the banks of the St. Lawrence River.

It is the perfect time and place to bring our puppet show to life, as we will be the first to breathe new life into this reimagined building at the water’s edge. We count ourselves very fortunate that independent puppet theatre figures into the vastness of owner Philip Ling’s entrepreneurial vision.

Canada Council for the Arts

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

The Canada Council for the Arts contributes to the vibrancy of a creative and diverse arts and literary scene and supports its presence across Canada and around the world. The Council is Canada’s public arts funder, with a mandate to “foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.” The Council’s grants, services, initiatives, prizes, and payments support Canadian artists, authors, and arts groups and organizations. This support allows them to pursue artistic expression, create works of art, and promote and disseminate the arts and literature. Through its arts funding, communications, research, and promotion activities, the Council fosters ever-growing engagement of Canadians and international audiences in the arts. The Council’s Public Lending Right (PLR) program makes annual payments to creators whose works are held in Canadian public libraries. The Council’s Art Bank operates art rental programs and helps further public engagement with contemporary arts through exhibition and outreach activities. The Council is responsible for the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, which promotes the values and programs of UNESCO to contribute to a future of peace, reconciliation, equity, and sustainable development.