The story of a friendship between a Boy and a magical, storytelling Tree.
Each day the Tree tells her tales to the Boy, stories of adventure, friendship, love and life. Everything is perfect, until the cruel Winds arrive and rid the Tree of all her leaves and their stories, leaving her broken and bare. It is now down to the boy to protect his friend at all costs.
Combining puppetry, music and storytelling, this wholesome show celebrates the importance of friendship and supporting one another.
Would you mind giving us a brief insight into what your show is?
“The Tree and Her Tale” follows a friendship between a Boy and a magical, storytelling Tree. Each day the Tree tells her tales to the Boy, stories of adventure, friendship, love and life. Everything is perfect until the cruel Winds arrive and rid the Tree of all her leaves and their stories, leaving her broken and bare. It is now down to the Boy to protect his friend at all costs.
Combining puppetry, music and storytelling, this wholesome show celebrates the importance of friendship and supporting one another, even through the darkest of days.
Tell us about the creative team and the process involved?
Jess Aquilina, the founder of Less Theatre, is an actor, puppeteer, theatre maker and workshop facilitator having worked on a variety of projects, collaborating with new and upcoming creatives as well as established companies, nationally and internationally.
Less Theatre is a company that devises original pieces of theatre, working predominantly with puppets and objects that are made from recycled and reused materials, aimed at family-based audiences. Stripping back to the fundamentals of storytelling, Less Theatre devises work that is visceral and visually beautiful and engages young audiences.
“The Tree and Her Tale” is an original story that Jess wrote over lockdown, as she found time to reconnect with nature, storytelling and those who brought joy to her over the toughest of months. After performing it at various open mic nights, it has now been adapted to bring the story to life in a sensorial way, truly lifting the words off the page and onto the stage.
How does it feel coming to the Fringe?
Exciting. Terrifying. Exhilarating, but like we are coming home. The Fringe is such a magical place with such a variety of truly pioneering work, and it feels great to be back in the mêlée of artists, all bringing something unique to this festival. It is such a supportive place to be launching new work and Less Theatre is very excited to be bringing work once again to the festival after so many years.
There are over 3,000 shows at the Fringe. So, what sets your show apart?
“The Tree and Her Tale” is an original show for families and young audience members. There still isn’t enough at Fringe for young audiences which engages, challenges and inspires them. “The Tree and Her Tale”, does exactly that. It subtly touches on the subject of mental health and how with friendship and support you can come through the other side. I want to make theatre for family audiences that is not only entertaining and magical but also brings to light some very real issues, in a non-judgement way.
Is there anything specific you’re hoping the audience will take away?
Less Theatre wanted to create this show to facilitate potentially the first conversations young people may have about mental health, and show that there is no shame in struggling and have to take the time to work on yourself. Using storytelling, music and puppetry, Less Theatre wanted to create a show that shows how support and empathy can be the two of the biggest healers when someone is at their worst.
Your ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t there…
This is a show for everyone! It’s a family show, so if you’re 3 or 30 or 300 hopefully you’ll find something in this show that you will enjoy.
It’s an intense month, so where you’re able, how do you plan to relax, and are there any other shows you intend to see or want to recommend?
I will definitely be checking out some of the other amazing shows at The Scottish Storytelling Centre. I can’t wait to see Niall Moorjani’s and The Suitcase Storytelling Company’s “Grow”. I missed it last year, so I’m hoping to catch it before it sells out again! I also can’t wait to see what’s on this year. I love finding those gems of the Fringe when you are up there.
Otherwise, I intend to spend my Fringe soaking up the city and of course making it up to Arthur’s Seat!
In your ideal world, how can we improve the Fringe, of performance, and the industry?
I think it is no big surprise to any, that the Fringe is becoming harder and harder financially for any company to bring up work. From high venue costs, accommodation that is pricing performers out of the city, as well as living costs in the city for the month, it is a shame that we see more and more companies, especially early established companies, pulling out or never experiencing the festival. Edinburgh Fringe is a vital springboard for many, so I think we should do whatever we can to bring and keep costs down.
Interested in being featured on our Have a Gander page? With many previews and Q&As lined up, we’re always happy to chat about including your show in future articles. Please do get in touch through the contact page to feature in an upcoming ‘Have A Gander’