Jeff Parry and Annerin Productions is mounting another production of A Dinosaur Tale, this time at the Bella Concert Hall in Mount Royal University. The play is written by Calgary’s theatre critic Louis B. Hobson and premiered in September at the Jubilee Auditoriums.
The play tells of a school teacher (Anne Hodgson), Miss Henshaw, who takes her grade 8 science students on a field trip to the Badlands, to be paleontologists for the day. She pairs two students together, Declan and Lisa, in her mind ensuring that Declan doesn’t destroy the scenery. But something happens, wormholes are opened and dinosaurs are brought back to the present day.
“Miss Hinshaw keeps coming to check on Declan and Lisa, but things get kind of crazy because they’re trying to hide these dinosaurs from her,” Hodgson says.
All the dinosaurs are animatronic and have actors working them from the inside. Every actor has ten to fifteen different sounds at their disposal, and can move the dinosaur’s head and arms and tails.
“They are wonderful,” says Hodgson.
Children responded so well to the dinosaurs when the play was mounted in September.
“The animatronic dinosaurs and the fact that they are so technologically advanced, and seem so real, yet are funny and fun,” says Hodgson when asked what’s the appeal of the play for children.
There is also children’s humour in the script. There might be a fart joke or two.
“I think I think the humor, the actual dinosaurs, the staging of it is amazing. And the special effects, like when the wormhole opens, it’s done with lights. And it’s incredible,” Hodgson adds.
A Dinosaur Tale runs December 28th and 29th. More information is available online.