It’s been years since Sarah Wheeldon has played with stuffed animals, but now that she’s got her hands on them again, she’s really enjoying the chance to relive that part of her childhood.
“It’s fun, because you can kind of squeeze them and flop them,” Wheeldon said. “When you do one thing, a lot of other things sort of flip and flop and react.”
The Calgary performer is currently rehearsing with stuffed animals for her part in Quest Theatre’s new children’s show Flibbertigibbet’s Story Exhibit.
In a segment of the show that might normally feature conventional puppets, the performers are using stuffed animals.
“It’s how children play, it’s how they tell their stories,” Quest Threare artistic director Nikki Loach said. “And kids can really relate to that.”
“I go back to when I was a kid and how I would play with stuffies,” performer Alixandra Cowman said. “And when they’re telling these stories to themselves, they’ll use stuffies.”
The performers are finding pleasant surprises as they work with the toys.
“I’m just doing a bit of gesticulation with the arms,” Wheeldon said. “But it’s getting this amazing head roll, which I love for this dancing section of the song.”
Quest Theatre will travel to various parts of Calgary to present the show, expecting an audience made up mostly of preschoolers.
The first performance is Friday, Oct. 4 at the Brookfield Residential YMCA in Seton, with shows continuing there and in three other locations until Oct. 12.
The performers don’t mind that sometimes the stuffed animals are bound to steal the show.
“I love working with puppeteers and getting real puppets made,” Loach said. “It’s just so expensive – we just bought (these) at the store.”
Members of the theatre company don’t think the young audiences will mind one bit that more conventional puppets have made way for the toys.
“I find them super expressive,” Loach said. “And it’s super appealing to young people.”